Han Kang's Nobel win: A moment of triumph for Korea as political turmoil continues

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Han Kang's Nobel win: A moment of triumph for Korea as political turmoil continues

Published: 11 Dec. 2024, 17:18 Updated: 11 Dec. 2024, 19:57

LEE JIAN
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Nobel laureate in literature Han Kang speaks during the Nobel Banquet at City Hall in Stockholm, Sweden, on Dec. 10. [AP/YONHAP]

Wednesday night marked a rare optimistic moment for Korea — a nation currently mired in political turmoil — as Han Kang, 54, glided across the signature blue carpet of the Stockholm Concert Hall in Sweden to accept her Nobel Prize in Literature.

"The work of reading and writing literature stands in opposition to all acts that destroy life," Han said at the Nobel Banquet that followed the awards ceremony. "I would like to share the meaning of this award, which is for literature, with you standing here, in opposition to violence together. Thank you."

She is the first Asian female author to win the accolade and the second Korean to receive a Nobel Prize, following President Kim Dae-jung (1924-2009), who was awarded the Peace Prize in 2000.

Donning a simple yet elegant silk black gown, Han received her medal and diploma from the Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf with a warm smile earlier in the day. She will also receive prize money of 11 million Swedish kronor, or $1.07 million.

The Nobel laureates in physiology or medicine Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, the Nobel laureate in literature Han Kang and the Nobel laureates in economics Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson attend the Nobel Prize ceremony at the Concert Hall in Stockholm, Sweden on Dec. 10. [AFP/YONHAP]

The opening address of the Nobel Prize awards ceremony, given by the Chair of the Board of the Nobel Foundation Astrid Söderbergh Widding, described Han's works as "a profound exploration of human frailty against the backdrop of historical trauma, where the abyss is always as close as is the longing for transformation, sheds light upon the fatal condition of humankind."

Ellen Mattson, a Swedish writer and a member of this year's Nobel Committee for Literature, underscored the visceral pain that coexists with hope and life in another speech that preceded Han's award.

"Two colors meet in Han Kang’s writing: white and red," Mattson said. "The white is the snow that falls in so many of her books, drawing a protective curtain between the narrator and the world, but white is also the color of sorrow and of death. Red stands for life, but also for pain, blood, the deep cuts of a knife."

Han Kang accepts her medal and diploma for the Nobel Prize in Literature from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf at the Stockholm Concert Hall, Sweden, on Dec. 10. [NEWS1]

She continued, "While her voice can be seductively soft, it speaks of indescribable cruelty, of irreparable loss. Blood flows from the bodies piled up after the massacre, darkens, becomes an appeal [and] a question that the text can neither answer nor ignore.

"How should we relate to the dead, the abducted, the disappeared? What can we do for them? What do we owe them? The white and the red symbolize a historical experience that Han returns to in her novels."

Mattson also introduced Han's book "We Do Not Part" (2021) as a novel that is "played out within a snowstorm where, in piecing together her memories, the narrative self glides through layers of time, interacting with the shadows of the dead and learning from their knowledge — because ultimately it is always about knowledge and seeking out the truth, unbearable though it may be."

Mattson had originally planned to give a part of her speech in Korean but reportedly reverted to giving the whole presentation in English due to pronunciation difficulties.

Han Kang's Nobel diploma for literature [YONHAP]

The 80-minute ceremony, livestreamed on YouTube and various broadcasts, began at midnight on Wednesday in Korea and 4 p.m. in Stockholm. Some 1,300 people, including the Swedish Royal Family and their guests, government representatives and international dignitaries were present in the audience.

The crowd rose to its feet as King Carl XVI Gustaf entered, followed by the laureates who walked past the statue of Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) and seated themselves on the stage. The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra performed Mozart's "March in D Major."

After Widding's opening address, award recipients, starting with the laureates for the Nobel Prize in Physics, were introduced and called to center stage to accept their prizes.

In addition to Han, John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton received the physics prize; David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper the chemistry prize; Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun the physiology or medicine prize; and Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson the economics prize. The Nobel Peace Prize, given to Nihon Hidankyo, was presented in Oslo, Norway, on the same day, as per the Swedish award's tradition.

The ceremony came to a close as participants sang the Swedish national anthem, and celebrations moved to the City Hall of Stockholm's Blue Hall for the annual Nobel Banquet.

Nobel laureates in physics John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton, Nobel laureates in chemistry David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, Nobel laureates in physiology or medicine Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, Nobel laureate in literature Han Kang and Nobel laureates in economics Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson attend the Nobel Prize ceremony along with Sweden's King Carl Gustaf, Prince Daniel, Queen Silvia and Crown Princess Victoria in the Concert Hall in Stockholm, Sweden, on Dec. 10. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Ahead of the dinner, Han walked up to the podium after being introduced in Korean, and delivered a brief 4-minute speech in English that emphasized the power of literature and language against violence and its ability to bridge humanity.

Recounting a story from when she was eight, Han said she was heading home from an abacus class when a sudden downpour began and she was huddling under a roof along with a dozen others.

Across the street, she saw a similar small crowd "almost like looking at a mirror" and experienced an epiphany, which the author described as a "moment of wonder."

"Watching that streaming rain, [feeling] the damp soak in my arms and cuff, I suddenly understood. All these people standing with me, shoulder to shoulder and all those across [from] me were living as an 'I' in their own right.

"Looking back over the time that I spent reading and writing, I have relived this moment of wonder again and again, following the thread of language into the depth of another heart, an encounter with another interior, taking my most vital and most urgent questions, trusting them to that thread and sending them out to other[s]."

Nobel laureate in literature Han Kang poses for the cameras before dinner at the Nobel Banquet at City Hall in Stockholm, Sweden, on Dec. 10. [YONHAP]

She continued, “Ever since I was a child, I have wanted to know the reason we are born [and] the reason suffering and love exist. These questions have been asked by literature for thousands of years and continue to be asked today: What is the meaning of our brief stay in this world? How difficult is it for us to remain human, come what may?

"In the darkest night, there is language that asks what we are made of that insists on imagining into the first-person perspectives of the people and the living beings inhabiting this planet — language that connects us [to] one another."