I just came across these pointed criticisms by Jon Elster of how the lucrative prize is being handled (they are several years old).  As "French charlatans" go, Kristeva is certainly far from the worst, of course.  From the article:

Elster now thinks that the prestige of the Holberg Prize is falling, due to the constitution of the committee and their choice of prize winners. The University of Bergen appoints the members of the Holberg committee. Three of four members are Norwegian, the fourth is Danish. Elster argues that the members are more aware of their own academic traditions and personal contacts than finding prize winners among the international scientific elite. However, he finds last year‘s winner Jürgen Habermas a good choice. 

I was surprised, actually, by Elster's favorable appraisal of the Habermas prize given Elster's own work in the Marxian tradition.