According to the original decision of the Swedish Academy in 2018, amid a major scandal that year, the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2018 was awarded to whom?

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: No one (the prize was not awarded that year)

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
The Nobel Prize in Literature is one of the most prestigious international awards for writers. In 2018, the prize became the subject of worldwide discussion because the Swedish Academy faced a serious scandal that affected its ability to proceed as usual. This question checks awareness of that unusual situation by asking to whom the Nobel Literature Prize for 2018 was awarded according to the original decision of that year.


Given Data / Assumptions:
- The year under consideration is 2018.
- The category is the Nobel Prize in Literature.
- A scandal affected the Swedish Academy around that time.
- The options include names of well known writers and a statement that no one received the prize that year.
- The focus of the question is the original 2018 decision, not later retrospective changes.


Concept / Approach:
In 2018, due to allegations and internal issues involving members of the Swedish Academy, the body responsible for the Literature prize decided not to award the Nobel Prize in Literature that year. It announced that the prize would be postponed. For competitive exam purposes, the key fact is that no laureate was announced in 2018 for the Literature prize. Therefore, the best answer is the option stating that no one received the prize that year. Later, the Academy named a laureate for 2018 in a later year, but the original news question is based on the unprecedented decision to skip the award in 2018.


Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that there was a scandal around the Swedish Academy in 2018 involving allegations of misconduct and governance problems. Step 2: Remember that, as a result, the Academy publicly announced that the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2018 would not be awarded in the usual way that year. Step 3: Look at the options and identify the statement that reflects this situation: "No one (the prize was not awarded that year)". Step 4: Confirm that the other options list names of writers who received Nobel or other literary honours in different years, but not as the 2018 Literature laureate announced at that time. Step 5: Select the option indicating that no one received the award in 2018 as the correct answer.


Verification / Alternative check:
To verify, consider the broader pattern of Nobel announcements. In other years, a single laureate or sometimes multiple laureates are announced, but in 2018 the Literature prize was explicitly postponed. This difference was widely reported and discussed in media and exam guides. While later the Academy retrospectively assigned a 2018 Literature laureate, competitive exams that refer specifically to the original 2018 announcement treat the correct answer as no award that year.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Bob Dylan: He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in an earlier year, not in 2018.
Shashi Tharoor: A noted Indian writer and politician, but he has not been announced as a Nobel Literature laureate.
George Saunders: A fiction writer who received the Man Booker Prize, but he is not the writer associated with the 2018 Nobel Literature decision mentioned here.


Common Pitfalls:
One pitfall is to think that every Nobel Prize year must have a winner and therefore select one of the names given. Another source of confusion is mixing up the Nobel Literature prize with other major literary awards such as the Booker Prize. Students should remember the exceptional case of 2018, when the Nobel Literature prize was postponed due to an institutional crisis, making the correct exam answer that no one received the prize that year.


Final Answer:
Thus, according to the original decision made in 2018, the Nobel Prize in Literature for that year was awarded to No one (the prize was not awarded that year).

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