Traditionally, the Academy's permanent secretary Mats Malm announced to a gathered press corps at the Stock Exchange Building in Old Town who will be awarded this year's literature prize – the somewhat unexpected name Han Kang. The Academy's motivation reads:
"For her intense poetic prose, which confronts historical traumas and exposes human vulnerability".
Made her debut 30 years ago
Ellen Mattson, who sits on the Nobel Committee, tells TT that it felt right to highlight Han Kang's authorship this year. And that despite her relatively young age, she already has a substantial bibliography behind her.
She has been at it for a long time. You can mistake it, but she debuted over 30 years ago and has published very many books, even if not everything has been translated yet.
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Han Kang was born in 1970 in Kwangju, South Korea. She began her career in 1993, but the major international breakthrough came with the novel "The Vegetarian" which was published in 2007. In it, the violent consequences are depicted when the main character Yeong-hye decides to no longer eat meat.
Last year, the novel was staged as a play at Dramaten. Then, the choice not to include actors of Asian origin was criticized.
According to the Swedish Academy, it is characteristic of Han Kang's authorship "the double exposure of pain, where there is a correspondence between mental and physical suffering with deep connections to Eastern thinking". The Academy also describes her as a "renovator of prose".
"No thought behind it"
The Academy has been criticized for awarding the prize predominantly to male authors, but in recent years, it has been alternating between women. Last year, the prize went to Jon Fosse, the year before to Annie Ernaux.
There is no such thought behind it, even if I can understand that it looks that way. But there is nothing that prevents it from being two women in a row in the future, says Ellen Mattson.
What do you recommend to start reading by Han Kang?
I think you should start with "Living and Dead", which is about the Kwangju massacre. And then continue with "I Don't Say Goodbye", which came out this year. There, she works beautifully and poetically with the theme.
Born in 1970 in Kwangju, South Korea, but moved with her family to Seoul at the age of nine.
Began her career by publishing poems, her prose debut came in 1995 with "Love for Yeosu".
The major international breakthrough came with the novel "The Vegetarian" which was published in 2007.
Works in Swedish: "The Vegetarian", "Living and Dead", "The White Book", "I Don't Say Goodbye". (All published by Natur & Kultur publishing house.)
