Why literary awards still matter

The 2024 Nobel Prize in literature was awarded to South Korean novelist and short story writer Han Kang. The Noble Prize committee, in its remarks on the award, said that Kang was awarded for her “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life”. She is the 18th woman to have won this award.

At a time when global recognition can come in many forms, even the Nobel Prize seems to have lost some of its value and sheen.

This is owing to two important reasons: the access of a variety of opinions on the Internet makes one particular award less consequential, and there is a general distrust of western-based organisations which are not always seen to be objective in their evaluations and worldview.

For example, in the sciences, a common criticism is the lack of diversity in terms of gender and region – in the STEM areas,12 per cent of awardees have been women so far and 13 per cent of awards have gone to universities in the developing world, according to PBS (Public Broadcasting Service).

The picture in literature is not very different. 18 women have won the award since its inception in 1901. 80 per cent of all the awards have been to writers in European languages, with French on top of the list.

But in spite of the general skepticism surrounding these awards, they still matter – largely because they lead to exposure and visibility. Just being nominated for a literary prize, studies show, increases readership by at least 60 per cent. The exposure can be seen by the book’s reach – it is stocked at airports, it becomes popular on social media interactive sites like Goodreads, and it begins to be talked about by students and teachers in literature classes, maybe even beyond.

Literary prizes are also important because they shed light on a particular region and its people with Kang’s award, for example, a whole milieu of Korean literature will share the limelight, along with the author’s own novels like ‘The vegetarian’ and ‘Human acts’. A CNN report stated that these novels had sold more than 70,000 units within the first 12 hours of winning the award.

It is a fact that even Kang recognises: “I grew up with Korean literature, which I feel very close to. So I hope this news is nice for Korean literature readers, and my friends and writers,” she said after the announcement was made.

The literary award also comes at a time when there is increasing interest in all things Korean – K-pop, Korean drama and Korean cosmetics have all been ruling on multiple spaces and there is curiosity about Korean society and culture. An award to Kang contextualises this interest even more by giving a background, history and insight into this world and its people.

One of the biggest challenges in ensuring wider readership is translation. ‘The Vegetarian’ was translated by Deborah Smith and her other word ‘We do not part’ will be translated by E Yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris. Without the vital role played by translators, these works would never be known to an international, largely English readership. It is in recognition of this fact that the Booker prize for literature has a specific route for literature in translation as well.

This is why these awards matter. Conversations about visibility and recognition are important to ensure that there is wider equality and representation in institutions that establish such awards as the Nobel prize. But the awards themselves are valuable because they lend credibility to writers from across the world and reflect on the variety of cultures around us that are waiting to be explored.