NOBEL PRIZES 2024: The Literature Prize for «A Unique Understanding of the Connection Between the Soul and the Body»

Photo by Alexander Mahmoud, 2018. Art design: Olena Burdeina (FA_Photo) via Photoshop

If you haven’t yet read the novels of South Korean writer Han Kang, they are worth exploring. Not only because in 2024, she became a Nobel Prize laureate in literature but also because her novel Dear Son, My Beloved was selected as one of the 100 books chosen for the art project «The Library of the Future».

First and foremost, it is worth getting to know her work because Han is an exceptional writer, remarkably sensitive to the state of the modern human soul. In this article, we aim to give you an insight into Han Kang’s phenomenon and path to literary fame.

Han Kang / Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach / nobelprize.org

THE HOMELAND OF POETRY AND FREEDOM

an Kang was born in 1970 in the ancient city of Gwangju, founded as far back as the 1st century BCE. This city holds great significance in South Korean history and culture. It is the birthplace of kasa — a genre of medieval epic poetry that recounts the most important historical events and figures. Gwangju can also be seen as the cradle of South Korean freedom and democracy.

It was here, in 1929, that a student uprising against Japanese colonizers took place. In 1980, the city witnessed a rebellion against the military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan. The U.S. at that time helped his government suppress the uprising, which was accompanied by mass killings and rapes.

Ultimately, the South Korean dictator became such a toxic figure that President Ronald Reagan had to urge him to initiate democratic reforms personally. The events of those years left a profound impression on Han Kang. For her, as a true native of Gwangju, poetry and freedom became almost synonymous.

WRITING IS IN HER BLOOD!

In a way, she was destined to become a writer — not only because of her birthplace but also because of the creative atmosphere in her family. Her father, Han Seung-won, was quite a popular author in the 1980s and 1990s.

From a young age, he instilled a love for literary creation in Han and her brother, Dolim. However, it so happened that Han achieved the greatest success in this field out of the three writers in the family.

Her studies at one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious universities — Yonsei University — had a significant impact on her. For Koreans, a degree from this university is considered a ticket to a successful career and entry into the cultural and managerial elite.

At the university, Han studied Korean literature in depth. She then began writing poetry and short stories herself, and after some time, she started teaching creative writing at the Seoul Institute of the Arts.

REBELLION AGAINST VIOLENCE

Her first novel, The Convict’s Love, was published in 1995. This talented writer’s works repeatedly won Korean literary contests and received prestigious international awards.

In 2016, Han Kang won the International Booker Prize for her novel The Vegetarian. The protagonist lives an ordinary life in a typical patriarchal family during the day, but suffers from nightmares at night when she is alone. There is no escape from the violence imposed on the individual, either internally or externally. Her dissatisfaction with her existence leads to rebellion — the protagonist renounces meat in the hope of becoming a plant.

In 2018, her book Human Acts, about the Gwangju Uprising, was honored with the prestigious Dublin Literary Award. The novel begins with the death of a 15-year-old boy searching for his friend’s body, who was killed during the uprising. Years later, his mother, trying to understand the tragedy, reconstructs the past through the most minor details.

LAYERED REALITY

In 2021, Han Kang was awarded the French Prix Médicis for her novel I Do Not Say Goodbye. The novel describes events from the 1940s on Jeju Island, which was under U.S. military administration. The island’s residents rebelled against the division of Korea into North and South.

The government brutally suppressed the rebellion, making it a bloody prelude to the Korean War. In this novel, we once again encounter Han Kang’s characteristic layered reality: a polyphony of voices, a focus on personal experiences, and a lack of chronological order in the narrative.

Typically, Han Kang does not narrate historical events directly — we see them through the eyes of different characters, which gives the story a more nuanced and objective perspective. This distinctive feature also explains why the author seems to avoid writing directly about the most painful issue for Koreans — the division of the country into North and South.

It is not difficult to imagine how a South Korean reader might react to a North Korean perspective presented as «equally valid».

OVERCOMING HISTORICAL TRAUMA

In 2024, Han Kang rightfully received a new award, which became the pinnacle of her literary career. The Nobel Committee awarded her the Literature Prize «for her rich poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and reveals the fragility of human life».

It was also noted that the writer is a pioneer of contemporary prose, exploring in a poetic and experimental style a «unique understanding of the connections between the soul and body, the living and the dead». At the same time, Han Kang addresses painful and uncomfortable topics for Korean society, which most authors prefer to avoid.

She boldly speaks about the crisis of values: the patriarchal family, historical memory, democratic institutions, cultural traditions, and gender roles.

CULTURE AS A HEALING FROM «MUTENESS»

Han Kang became the 18th woman in the history of the Nobel Prize to receive this award. However, she is the first female laureate not only from South Korea but also from all of Asia. To date, she has authored 18 books translated into English, German, French, and other languages worldwide. Incidentally, Han has not overlooked the theme of cultural dialogue, either.

In her novel Greek Lessons, the protagonist loses the ability to speak her native language and seeks healing from muteness by learning ancient Greek. Perhaps no less can be said about the healing power of culture for the human soul in Han Kang’s novels and stories, where the traumatic experience of existence is overcome by affirming enduring human values: freedom, creativity, and personal dignity.