Holberg International Memorial Prize for 2004 awarded to Professor Julia Kristeva

Julia Kristeva is director of the Sciences des textes et documents Department at the University of Paris 7 (Jussieu). She is awarded the Holberg Prize for 2004 for her innovative work on issues at the intersection between linguistics, culture and literature. Her work has had major significance for feminist theory and has had major influence on many subjects in the arts and humanities and social sciences. Kristeva has published more than 20 books and is still very active. In recent years, she has been particularly interested in women writers and intellectuals.

“It is a great pleasure for us to be able to award the first Holberg Prize to such an important scholar as Professor Julia Kristeva. With her broad interdisciplinary approach and her in-depth studies of fundamental properties of human communication and interaction, Julia Kristeva not only transcends the traditional boundaries between academic disciplines; she also demonstrates how advanced theoretical research can also play a decisive role in public social and cultural debate in general,” says Jan Fridthjof Bernt, chairperson of the Board of the Ludvig Holberg Memorial Fund.

The Nils Klim Prize for 2004 goes to Associate Professor Claes de Vreese

The Board of the Ludvig Holberg Memorial Fund also awards the Nils Klim Prize for younger Nordic researchers in the same academic fields as the Holberg Prize. The prize is worth NOK 250,000 (approx. € 30,100/$36,100). The Board has chosen to award the Nils Klim Prize for 2004 to Claes de Vreese. At the age of only 29, Claes de Vreese has distinguished himself as an independent, innovative and internationally recognised scholar. He combines different theoretical insights and methodological approaches from communication research in both the arts and social sciences. His research work is carried out at an important juncture between political science, communication research and media studies. Claes de Vreese is from Denmark, but currently works as Associate Professor at the Department of Communication Science, University of Amsterdam.

The prizes will be officially awarded on 3 December 2004 at a formal ceremony in the Håkon’s Hall in Bergen, at which H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon will make the formal presentation. The Norwegian government will host a banquet in honour of the prizewinners the same evening.

Photos of the Laureates can be downloaded from: www.holberg.uib.no