VU Experts Help to Understand: The Nobel Prize in Literature Has Been Awarded to South Korean Writer Han Kang

On Thursday, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to South Korean writer Han Kang, best known for her book “The Vegetarian”. She is the first writer from her country to receive this prestigious award. According to Jevgenija Driuk, a Korean Studies expert at Vilnius University’s (VU) Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies, Han Kang focuses on human life and emotions.

“The most famous and the first of the author’s novels translated into English, ‘The Vegetarian’, is a moving, shocking, yet highly poetic story about a woman’s decision and her confrontation with social norms in modern South Korea,” says J. Driuk.

According to the scholar, the novel explores a woman’s choice to become a vegetarian from various perspectives. At times, the protagonist’s motivations are shocking, but she must prove her point.

Another of the author’s popular novels in her homeland, “Human Acts”, portrays South Korea’s recent and painful history – the Gwangju Uprising (1980). Using a narrative that delves into the sensitive nature of humanity, it examines how violence affects not only individuals but also society as a whole.

“Han Kang explores the human being. She is concerned with what it means to be an individual, how they live, what they feel. Moreover, this exploration of individuality is always connected with society. South Korean society is collectivist, so it is very characteristic of contemporary South Korean literature to rethink the relationship between the individual and the collective,” says the Korean Studies expert.

According to her, metaphors or tropes familiar to Western literature are common, whereas Korean literature often presents scenes that are openly unpleasant. Primarily, these literary strategies serve as cultural tools to capture attention and convey ideas. On the other hand, they simply depict what is natural.

“Han Kang’s prose is also characterised by poeticism, pauses, and silences. Although this is a broader aesthetic trend typical of Southeast Asia, in her works, one must read between the lines very carefully. Her prose is highly poetic and musical, with pauses playing as important a role as the words,” emphasises J. Driuk.

The scholar believes that contemporary Korean literature is an excellent way to understand the country’s culture: “Most of Han Kang’s works have been translated into Lithuanian. The universality of her prose shows that we all face similar challenges, despite coming from different cultures. Since most people are introduced to South Korea through pop culture – dramas, music – literature provides a great counterbalance.”

Han Kang was born in November 1970 in Gwangju, South Korea’s sixth-largest city. She comes from a literary family, with her father being a famous writer. Her elder brother also writes poetry, essays, and short stories. When Han Kang was ten, her family moved to Seoul, where the future writer studied Korean literature at Yonsei University. She later attended the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, where she honed her writing skills. Han Kang began her writing career in 1993 when her poems were published in a South Korean literary journal.

In 2016, Han Kang’s novel “The Vegetarian” was awarded the international “Man Booker” prize. It was the author’s first work published in English.
The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded since 1901. So far, it has been given 116 times to 120 laureates – 103 men and 17 women. The last woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature was French author Annie Ernaux in 2022.

The laureate, announced by the Swedish Academy, will receive 11 million Swedish kronor (around €9.7 million) at the prestigious awards ceremony on December 10th.”