SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
A lot has
been written about 53-year-old Han Kang for she is the first South Korean to
win the Nobel Prize in literature. Her books have been selling out and the entire country is celebrating her win. Who is Han Kang? The best way to
know her is from her work. Perhaps, that’s why sales in Kyobo Book
Centre have shot up. To quote Min Jin Lee, ‘Han Kang is a brilliant novelist
who reflects our modern condition with courage, imagination and intelligence.’
Sung-il Kim
says “If one Korean novelist must win the Nobel Prize in literature, it would
have to be Han Kang.” She is already on the best-seller list. The Kyobo site
has 9 bestsellers out of 10 featuring Han’s works. It’s a proud moment for the entire South Korea because a writer represents the history and emotions of a nation.
Being the face of the nation, it belongs to, Han’s works are a testament to historical
traumas. Human Acts published in 2014 is about Gwangju uprising in 1980.
Next, to be published in English in the year 2025 is We Do Not Part. It
is about Jeju uprising in 1948-49. Painfully scripting discrimination,
atrocities and prejudices, Han Kang hails from the Honam region. Kim Dae-Jung,
the President of South Korea between 1998 and 2003, was also from the Honam
region. He was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000. Honam and Gwangju
have weathered a troubled past. Kim Dae- Jung in his regime and Han Kang
in her works showcased the idea of democracy developed against harsh times.
The
Vegetarian,
published in South Korea in 2007, was her first novel. It was published by
Portobello Books in 2015. A small press publishing that took it upon itself to
introduce Han’s work to a wider audience. Now that Han has won the Nobel, it emphasizes
the important role of small press publishing. The Vegetarian makes for a
bold read for its explicit imagery. A young woman in the wild, resisting the
new reality. These characters and their struggle in microcosm make for a read
that is enjoyed by the international audience for its relatability.
Why I also
highlighted The Vegetarian amongst all her works because besides
winning the International Booker Prize, it highlighted the partnership of Han
and her translator Deborah Smith who at the time of the translation process was
a PhD student. From the prize money, Smith founded Tilted Axis Press focusing
on East Asian writers. Deborah further translated two of Han's works: the first
was Human Acts and the second was The White Book.
Han’s ‘intense poetic prose’ that ‘exposes the fragility of human life’ had a beginning in 1993 when a few poems were published in ‘Literature and Society’, a magazine. Her career took a quantum leap with The Vegetarian and has never looked back since. Who knew that the breakthrough would pave the way for the Nobel Prize?