The obsession with the Booker Prize is in tandem with India’s fixation for foreign awards
Like every year, the Booker Prize shortlist has garnered a lot of attention in India. We also have an Indian-born author on the shortlist. Regardless, Booker Prize announcements are awaited with keen interest primarily by a minority community in the country largely comprising English language publishers, booksellers, critics, academics and readers. The Booker Prize-winning work is then translated into multiple Indian languages which is a pure economic decision rather than an artistic choice.
A kind of neo-colonialism
The obsession with the Booker is in tandem with our fixation for foreign awards and nominations. A kind of neo-colonialism or an imperialism of the mind is established when books and authors are considered important only vis-à-vis their mentions in the foreign press and…