COUNTER VIEW: Juries have to look beyond literary merit

11 Oct 2008, 0016 hrs IST, KAUTILYA KUMAR The Nobel committee bureaucrat has touched upon a fundamental issue in literature: Do prizes reflect literary greatness? Horace Engdahl's understanding of American writers can be disputed, as many have already done. However, his larger point that prizes shouldn't go to insular writers makes sense, especially in the context of the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Prize for literature is a coveted international recognition and that makes it impossible for the prize to be given solely on literary merit. It has always been loaded with political overtones and that's inescapable. It's just a coincidence that great writers have also got the Nobel. Russian author Boris Pasternak was awarded the Nobel at the height of the Cold War for 'Doctor Zhivago', a novel that subtly criticised Soviet communism.... [read full story]