BREAKING NEWS The 2024 #NobelPrize in Literature is awarded to the South Korean author Han Kang “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”
한 강 Han Kang – awarded the 2024 #NobelPrize in Literature – was born in 1970 in the South Korean city of Gwangju before, at the age of nine, moving with her family to Seoul. She comes from a literary background, her father being a reputed novelist. Alongside her writing, she has also devoted herself to art and music, which is reflected throughout her entire literary production.
This year’s #NobelPrize laureate in literature Han Kang began her career in 1993 with the publication of a number of poems in the magazine 문학과사회 (‘Literature and Society’). Her prose debut came in 1995 with the short story collection 여수의 사랑 (‘Love of Yeosu’), followed soon afterwards by several other prose works, both novels and short stories.
2024 #NobelPrize laureate Han Kang’s major international breakthrough came with the novel 채식주의자 (2007; ‘The Vegetarian’, 2015). Written in three parts, the book portrays the violent consequences that ensue when its protagonist Yeong-hye refuses to submit to the norms of food intake. Her decision not to eat meat is met with various, entirely different reactions. Discover more about the literary world of this year’s laureate: https://bit.ly/4egWKu7
Literature laureate Han Kang’s physical empathy for extreme life stories is reinforced by her increasingly charged metaphorical style.
희랍어 시간 (‘Greek Lessons’, 2023) from 2011 is a captivating portrayal of an extraordinary relationship between two vulnerable individuals. A young woman who, following a string of traumatic experiences, has lost the power of speech connects with her teacher in Ancient Greek, who is himself losing his sight. From their respective flaws, a brittle love affair develops. The book is a beautiful meditation around loss, intimacy and the ultimate conditions of language.