The Nobel for literature goes to South Korea; Cărtărescu is still waiting

The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded in 2024 to South Korean writer Han Kang "for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical trauma and exposes the fragility of human life." Placed among the favorites, Mircea Cărtărescu has to wait for a possible Nobel success.

Han Kang was born in 1970 in the South Korean city of Gwangju before moving with his family to Seoul at the age of nine. She comes from a literary background, her father being a renowned novelist. In addition to writing, he also devoted himself to art and music, which is reflected in his entire literary output. Han Kang began his career in 1993 with the publication of poems in Literature and Society magazine. His prose debut came in 1995 with the short story collection "Love of Yeosu", followed shortly by several other prose works, both novels and short stories. Among them is the novel "Your Cold Hands" (2002), in which Han Kang's interest in art is evident. The book reproduces a manuscript left behind by a missing sculptor who is obsessed with making plaster casts of female bodies. Han Kang's big international breakthrough came with the novel "The Vegetarian", 2015. In his work, Han Kang confronts historical traumas and invisible sets of rules, and in each of his works, he exposes the fragility of human life. She has a unique awareness of the connections between body and soul, between the living and the dead, and through her poetic and experimental style she has become an innovator in contemporary prose, is the characterization of Anders Olsson, president of the Nobel Committee.

The Nobel Prize for Literature has not been awarded on seven occasions: in 1914, 1918, 1935, 1940, 1941, 1942 and 1943. The statute of the Nobel Foundation states: "If none of the works considered proves to have the importance indicated in first paragraph, the prize money will be reserved until the following year. If, even then, the prize cannot be awarded, the amount will be added to the restricted funds of the foundation". During World War I and World War II, fewer Nobel Prizes were awarded. The Nobel Prize for Literature has been shared between two people only on four occasions. The last time was in 1974. The four occasions when the Nobel was shared in literature were: 1904 - Frederic Mistral, Jose Echegaray, 1917 - Karl Gjellerup, Henrik Pontoppidan, 1966 - Shmuel Agnon, Nelly Sachs, 1974 - Eyvind Johnson, Harry Martinson. To date, the youngest winner of the prize for literature is Rudyard Kipling, known for The Jungle Book, who was 41 years old when he received the prize for literature in 1907. The oldest winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature to date is Doris Lessing, who was 88 years old when she received the award in 2007. On the other hand, 17 women have received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was the first woman to receive the prize, in 1909. Selma Lagerlöf was awarded five years before she was elected to the Swedish Academy, the institution that awards the Nobel Prize and is responsible for selecting the laureates Nobel Prize for Literature. Two people have so far refused the Nobel Prize for Literature: Boris Pasternak in 1958, "he first accepted, but was later determined by the authorities of his country (Soviet Union) to refuse the prize", and Jean Paul Sartre, in 1964, because he constantly refused all official honors. No one has received the Nobel Prize for Literature more than once.

Alfred Nobel had vast cultural interests. During his youth, he developed lifelong literary interests. His library contained a rich selection of books in different languages. Literature was the fourth field of prizes mentioned by Nobel in his will.