Nobel Prize in Literature 2024: South Korea's Writer Honored for Her 'intense poetic prose'

The Nobel Prize 2024 in Literature has been announced today, October 10. South Korean writer Han Kang has been granted this award "for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life."

The Nobel Committee at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the award on Thursday.

Nobel Committee’s Announcement on X

Kang's work is "characterized by this double exposure of pain, a correspondence between mental and physical torment with close connections to Eastern thinking," according to the Nobel Prize on its X account.

The Nobel Prize committee further said, “In Han Kang’s short story (2012; ‘Europa’, 2019), the male narrator, himself masked as a woman, is drawn to an enigmatic woman who has broken away from an impossible marriage. The narrative self remains silent when asked by his beloved: “If you were able to live as you desire, what would you do with your life?” There is no room here for either fulfillment or atonement.”

Han Kang’s Contribution to Literature

Deeply rooted in Eastern philosophy, Han Kang's work is distinguished by a twofold investigation of pain that emphasizes the interaction between mental and physical suffering.

In "Europa," a short story by Han Kang, a male narrator posing as a woman is drawn to a mysterious character who has fled an abusive marriage. When his true love asks, "What would you do with your life if you could live as you desire?" The narrator doesn't say anything.

Kang bases her novel "Human Acts" on the historical Gwangju massacre, which occurred in the area where she was raised. The South Korean military murdered hundreds of unarmed people and students in 1980.

Nobel Prize in Literature 2024: Women Laureates 

Between 1901 and 2023, 120 laureates received 116 awards of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to 18 women in total. Selma Lagerlöf, a Swedish writer, was the first to receive the honor in 1909. Notably, she received an award from the Swedish Academy, which chooses literature Nobel laureates, five years prior to her election.

ALSO READ: Nobel Prize 2024: Which Two Scientists Won Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovering miRNA

ALSO READ: Nobel Prize 2024 in Physics: Scientists Honored for Advancing Machine Learning