On October 10, 2024, BTS members RM and V shared their excitement on Instagram to celebrate novelist Han Kang’s momentous accomplishment of winning the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature. RM expressed his joy through a story featuring playful emojis, while V shared an article about the award along with a heartfelt message:
“I read this in the military. Congratulations.”
Born on November 27, 1970, in Gwangju, South Korea, Han Kang is the first South Korean woman and the eighteenth female novelist to receive the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature. Her literary contributions, which span novels, essays, and short stories, often explore themes of patriarchy, violence, and the essence of humanity.
According to the Nobel Prize’s official website, the 53-year-old author was honored for:
“Her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”
Her noteworthy work, The Vegetarian, originally published in 2007, was translated into English by Deborah Smith in 2015 and later earned the International Booker Prize in 2016.
Coming from a lineage of writers, Han Kang’s father was also a novelist
Han Kang’s literary heritage is notable as she is the daughter of a prominent novelist. Beyond writing, she has poured her artistic passion into music and visual arts, enriching her diverse body of works.
Her literary career began in 1993 when she published her first poems in the magazine Literature and Society. In 1995, she made a significant impact with her short story collection, Love of Yeosu, followed by a series of prose publications that showcased her storytelling prowess.
One of her acclaimed novels is Your Cold Hands, published in 2002, which highlights her love for artistic expression. However, it was her 2015 novel The Vegetarian that brought her significant international acclaim. This compelling narrative, divided into three parts, portrays the drastic consequences faced by the protagonist Yeong-hye as she defies societal norms concerning food.
Another major work, The Wind Blows, Go, released in 2010, is a rich and layered tale that explores themes of friendship and creativity while addressing loss and the quest for change. The author’s empathy shines through with her profound, metaphorical language.
In her 2016 masterpiece, Human Acts, Han Kang delves into a significant historical event, focusing on the tragic massacre of unarmed students and civilians by the South Korean military in Gwangju in 1980. This powerful narrative seeks to amplify the voices of those who suffered, employing a poignant realist approach akin to witness fiction.
More recently, her work We Do Not Part (2021) unfolds against the backdrop of a mass execution that took place in the late 1940s on Jeju Island, illustrating the suffering experienced by countless innocents, including children and the elderly.
Additional notable titles by Han Kang include Convalescence, The Boy is Coming, The White Book, and Han Kang. Series: The Essential Collection.
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