& # 8217 ; Entry To Booker Prize Seen As Betrayal Essay, Research Paper
US writers & # 8217 ; entry to Booker value seen as betrayalThe literary constitution sharpened its talons last dark as Booker award Judgess warned that programs to Americanize the esteemed award would do irreparable harm to a great British tradition. The award, Britain & # 8217 ; s most sought-after literary award, was last month renamed the Man Booker value in honor of its patron, the Man fund direction house. The patron fleetly announced that the & # 163 ; 50,000 award, for Commonwealth authors merely, could be opened to US authors by 2004. It has been four old ages since an English author won & # 8211 ; Ian McEwan with Amsterdam in 1998 & # 8211 ; and Canadians, Australians, and South Africans have frequently been chosen. But to make away with a tradition of Commonwealth literary competition so near to the jubilee has irked faculty members. Lisa Jardine, a lector in Renaissance surveies, and chair of this twelvemonth & # 8217 ; s judging panel, said the move to include US writers was a treachery of British civilization and heritage. & # 8220 ; The Booker will go as British an establishment as English gems in US supermarkets, & # 8221 ; she jeeringly told the Times. & # 8220 ; It will go more blandly generic, as opposed to specifically British. This will compl
etely change the character of the prize.” Prof Jardine said that judges each waded through 130 Commonwealth novels before arriving at a shortlist; the amount that would need to be skimmed and selected from America’s output would make the prize unworkable. She also suggested that the tone and nature of British, Australian, Irish, and African entries would be undermined by the vast canvases on which US authors painted. “With someone like Roth at his best, I can’t see how an Amis or a McEwan would touch them.” It was important Commonwealth literary voices were heard in a sacred space of their own that the Booker provided. Some might argue that the big hitters who have taken home the prize in recent years – the Australian Peter Carey, for the True History of the Kelly Gang, and the Canadian Margaret Atwood for The Blind Assassin – could hold their own against America. But it seems the Booker sponsor has a long way to go to convince its judges. The firm’s five year ?2.5m sponsorship deal was made partly with a view to increasing its profile in the US, where Booker winners have a big readership. A spokesman said any changes to the prize would not harm its character, and a four person consultation group was debating any additions or alterations.
