Self-conscious fiction

This short story is very good, but self-conscious.

Last week I sent a friend this commentary on how many Indian novels seem to be written for foreigners, that the kind of things that are explicitly written out are already obvious to anyone who knows the country. And that's what I mean by self-conscious: a Nigerian might like the above short-story, but I imagine he or she would find it overstated. Perhaps not; what do I know?