In a deeply personal Nobel Lecture delivered in Stockholm, South Korean author Han Kang unveiled the intimate landscape of her writing journey, transforming a moment of literary recognition into a profound meditation on human connection, per brandonsun.com.
Han, the first Asian woman and South Korean to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, captivated her audience with a remarkable revelation about her creative process. Discovering an old shoe box containing childhood diaries, she reflected on a childhood poem that embodied the raw essence of her future literary prowess.
The Nobel Committee’s recognition celebrates Han’s extraordinary ability to explore human pain through intense, poetic prose. Her acclaimed novels, including “The Vegetarian” and “Human Acts,” have been praised for confronting historical traumas and exposing the delicate nature of human existence.
During her lecture, Han shared a deeply sensory approach to writing that transcends traditional narrative boundaries. “When I write, I use my body,” she proclaimed, describing how she integrates all sensory experiences into her storytelling—seeing, listening, smelling, tasting and feeling emotions across a spectrum of human experience.
Her most profound moment came when discussing the invisible “thread of language” that connects writers and readers. Han expressed gratitude for those moments when she successfully transmits vivid sensations, creating an “electric, living” connection that bridges individual experiences.
Delivered in Korean and translated into English and Swedish, Han’s lecture was more than an acceptance speech—it was a testament to literature’s power to heal, understand and unite. Her words resonated with a universal truth: that storytelling is fundamentally an act of human empathy.
The Nobel Prize ceremony and banquet, scheduled for the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death, will formally celebrate Han’s remarkable contribution to globall iterature.
