The Impact of the Booker Prize on the Evolution of Postcolonial Indian Fiction in English

Abstract

Postcolonial scholars consider India as a fertile research ground due to the country's lengthy colonial past and vibrant modern culture. In addition, in comparison to other colonial powers, Britain's imperialism is rather pragmatic. The goal here is to maximize profit, not spread the gospel. Under the rise of Orientalism, India was the first Nation to lay literary imprint on the West, such an equation was later reversed under colonial intervention. Writers of the Indian diaspora, starting with Salman Rushdie, have received and continue to receive significant critical acclaim. The Bloomsbury group befriended Mulk Raj Anand, but before Rushdie there was Raja Rao and R.K. Narayan. Women authors such as Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai, Bharati Mukherjee, and Chitra Banerjee are now often included in anthologies and syllabi. Kamala Markandaya, Nayantara Sahgal, Anita Desai, and Shashi Deshpande came before them. This study aims to examine how modern Indian English literature is progressing in its depiction of postcolonial themes via fiction. Making an effort to assess the writers' thematic concerns and critical research from a postcolonial viewpoint is appropriate. This study contributes to our appreciation of the subtleties present in modern Indian literature. Female Indian authors who have won the Man Booker International Prize are also discussed.