Joan-Carles Mèlich receives the National Essay Award
Joan-Carles Mèlich, lecturer in the Department of Educational Theories and Social Paedagogyat the UAB, received the National Essay Award from the Ministry for Culture and Sport, for his book La fragilidad del mundo (Tusquets). The awards ceremony was held on 10 October at the Reina Sofia National Art Museum in Madrid.
The jury of the award valued the work for being “a deeply knowledgeable essay on the contemporary world”, as well as a “courageous” essay where the author “performs a healthy critical exercise that reminds us that we are not the sole owners of the planet; a necessary thought in an era like the present, in which individualism is so much defended”. The prize, which is endowed with 20,000 euros, is awarded to works that, according to the ministry, stand out “for their creativity, concern for language, originality of treatment and literary expression”, in addition to their scientific values.
Mèlich is professor of philosophy of education and member of the group Cos i Textualitat of the UAB Faculty of Arts & Humanities. He is the author of other works such as Filosofía de la finitud (2002), Ética de la compasión (2010), Lógica de la crueldad (2014) and La sabiduría de lo incierto (2019). In his award-winning work, La fragilidad del mundo. Ensayo sobre un tiempo precario, he discusses the possibility of relearning how we see the world in a time marked by the accelerated development of technology and communication.
The awards ceremony was attended by the Minister for Culture, Ernest Urtasun, and the author Luis Landero, winner of the National Award for Spanish Literature and representative of the 2022 awards; and of the 2023 winners, artist Teresa Lanceta. In addition, a musical performance was given by Rodrigo Cuevas, winner of the 2023 National Award for Contemporary Music.