The Winner Takes it All: Gender Inequality in Literary Prize Culture

Abstract

This thesis sets out to research gender inequality in literary prize culture by analysing the Man Booker Prize, the Women’s Prize for Fiction, and the Stella Prize. The central question of this research is: “In what ways do literary prizes specifically for women shape and transform the literary field, and specifically how do they relate to the problem of gender inequality in literary prizes?”. The effect of women’s prizes in the literary field will be measured by analysing the journalistic capital of each prize, as well as providing a detailed analysis of the prize’s structure.