The Price of Dignity by Azizi Haji Abdullah: Contesting the Judgment on an Award-Winning Novel

The novel The Price of Dignity (the Malay original is Harga Sebuah Maruah, henceforth Tpd) by Azizi Haji Abdullah came in second place in the Writing Competition in Honour of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of The Institute of Language and Literature 2006. According to the official competition report, the strength of the novel lies in its storytelling aspects, such as its technique, sequencing of events, seamless flow, the compact nature of its plot, as well as the lack of authorial intrusion in its narrative development. This article uses as its analytical framework a number of key ideas from Persuratan Baru, especially the differentiation between knowledge and the story, and the emphasis on the usage of discourse as the medium for the transmission of knowledge. This article analyses the extent to which the judging panel complied with their own criteria in their evaluation of the novel, and in their justifications for the award of the second prize to Tpd. In relation to that, the article also analyses Tpd to explore the extent to which the novel itself can be considered as having adhered to the criteria outlined by the panel, and corresponded to their justifications. The article contests the panel’s judgment which is seen as debatable because of a confused understanding of the nature of thought and the narrative structure in a creative work.