South Korean author Han Kang has been awarded the Nobel Prize in literature for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life. She becomes the first South Korean writer to win the prestigious award. Han’s work, including novels like “The Vegetarian” and “Human Acts,” has been praised for its physical empathy for vulnerable characters and its lyrical, tender, and sometimes surrealistic prose.
Han’s writing often explores themes of humanity, violence, and the connections between body and soul. In “The Vegetarian,” she delves into the consequences of a woman’s decision to stop eating meat, while “Human Acts” is based on the real-life killing of pro-democracy protesters in her home city of Gwangju in 1980. Han’s work has been recognized internationally, with her winning the International Booker Prize in 2016 and being a finalist in 2018.
The Nobel committee has been criticized in the past for its focus on European and North American writers, as well as its male-dominated laureates. Han’s win marks a shift towards more diverse and inclusive literary recognition. The Nobel Prize carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million) and the ceremony for the laureates will take place on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.
The announcement of Han Kang as the Nobel literature laureate comes after a week of Nobel Prize announcements, with awards in medicine, physics, and chemistry being presented. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday, followed by the economics award on Oct. 14.
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