Booker Prize goes Hollywood?

[Tobytook]

A fittingly weighty piece of news to get this section of The Book Forum going.

A hoo-hah blew up in UK literary circles this week about the future of the Booker Prize. (For users not familiar with the Booker, just think Pulitzer and dress it in Commonwealth clothes.) Following the announcement by its new sponsors that the prize might be thrown open to North American nominees this year, the fit hit the intellectual shan.

So, are the Brits just being childish and insecure, or are there legitimate concerns in play?

For a quick overview of this story, and a rough idea of the politics behind it, click here.

Tobytook

 

[Ell]

My preference would be to keep the Booker choices within the Commonwealth nations.

Not because it would become too "blandly generic", as stated in the article, but because it affords some non-American authors the recognition and exposure they might not get ordinarily. US authors already have an array of renowned literary awards (eg. Pullitzer, Pen/Faulkner, National Book Award) that provide great worldwide exposure without need of the Booker.

I'd like to know the real reasons for wanting to expand the title selections to American novels. I.e. if it's not about raising the profile of the sponsor in the US, then why?

I was also somewhat curious at Professor Jardine's comment about the Booker being "... specifically British". I think most non-British Commonwealth countries view themselves as being quite different and distinct from the British (eg. Australia, India, Canada, New Zealand) which, in my view, is what makes the Booker uniquely international in scope.

Your thoughts?

Ell

 

[Darren]

I too think that the Booker Prize should remain open only for Commonwealth authors. As you say Ell there are other prizes for American authors to compete for.

There may well be "hidden agendas" here. Many people try to "corner the US market" to increase their profile and sponsorship deals.

I don't agree with the name change to "The Man Booker Prize" either. Ok, so the Man group have donated £2.5 million, but I'd rather they keep the prize money lower than the name change to include sponsorship details.

 

[Tobytook]

To share or not to share...

Good points, both of you, but it did strike me as unattractively juvenile that people, some of whom had decried the Booker for years as meaningless and flawed, suddenly started shouting the equivalent of "It's our game and you're not joining in!"

(Worse, one of the underlying reasons for this outrburst seemed to be "Because you just might be able to play it better than us, and we're not having that!")

I'm not saying that's the absolute truth of it, or even that it's a part of the truth - but it certainly sounded a bit suss.

Having written that, I should say that I agree with you both - and even the more vociferous and somewhat psychologically transparent nay-sayers (sour grapes or not).

As you point out, Darren, there are business agendas to consider. However, as James Wood suggested, writing in The Guardian last Saturday, "... Americanisation would almost certainly diminish the Booker's prestige in America, where at present the prize is treated with that peculiar reverence Americans offer all things British."

The best way to keep someone interested in something is to tell them they can't have it. The sponsors want American attention? Easy. Just keep it non-American.

I agree with you about not changing the name, too. From a purely pragmatic business point of view, it would only weaken its global recognition.

Tobytook

 

[Tobytook]

Does size matter?

One week after the initial furore and many minds are still pre-occupied with this matter - although perhaps they don't even realise it.

Yesterday I was reading DJ Taylor on American author Stephen L Carter's new novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park, only to find him using the review as, basically, a platform to talk about modern American fiction.

He generally praises the American contingent: "... protocols, etiquettes, patterns of collective behaviour; a free admission to... teeming, alternative worlds... the American novel has always seemed to bring it off on the grand scale."

However, like many others, he appears vaguely uncomfortable with giving too much (employing, perhaps unconsciously, the qualifier "seemed to") - as if doing so would correspondingly denigrate the British.

I think this supports my idea of a collective inferiority complex on the part of the Brits, and (like it or not) goes some way towards explaining their reluctance to admit Booker nominations from America.

(As an aside, the book in question - which would surely be a candidate if the Booker were to, so to speak, go Hollywood - looks very promising. Here is the review link to an edited version of DJ Taylor's otherwise engrossing article.)

Tobytook

 

[DATo]

I'm an American and I think they should leave the Man Booker Prize as it is. The U.S.A. does not allow for people outside the U.S.A. to win Pulitzers so why should the Man Booker be made available to us? Perhaps a good compromise would be to allow ALL books from ALL countries to be eligible for ALL prizes EVERYWHERE. Then we would know the best of the best as perceived by the judges of all countries.

 

[Peder]

Unfortunately, the number of slurs I have seen in this forum through the years directed against Americans, as Americans, suggests to me that there is yet another reason at work for opposing the inclusion of American writing.

PS Wasn't this just a recent issue also?

 

[Meadow337]

Whilst there may be such issues at play, from a totally non-partisan perspective ie I am neither British or American, I don't see what is wrong with 'local' competitions, awards and prizes. There is a distinct difference in film, art, literature from different places in the world and for me, it is important to acknowledge and celebrate that. The world is increasingly homogenous, and our similarities draw us together but it is our differences that make life interesting.

 

[Ell]

What an old thread to have been resurrected!

An update for those interested: As of 2013, the Man Booker is open to all books written originally in English and published in the UK.