Nobel Literature goes to South Korean Han Kang, 18th woman to be awarded

Sweden [Stockholm]: The 2024 Nobel Prize in literature has been awarded to South Korean author Han Kang “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”

With this award a total of 18 women have been awarded the literature prize so far.

Prize announced by Swedish Academy
The Literature Prize was announced by the Nobel Committee at the Swedish Academy on Thursday and follows announcements for three preceeding days of Nobel prizes honouring works in Medicine, Physics and Chemistry 
In her oeuvre, Han Kang confronts historical traumas and invisible sets of rules and, in each of her works, exposes the fragility of human life. She has a unique awareness of the connections between body and soul, the living and the dead, and in her poetic and experimental style has become an innovator in contemporary prose, the Academy said.

Novel ‘The Vegetarian’ 
Born in 1970, Han Kang’s major international breakthrough came with the novel ‘The Vegetarian’ (2015).
Written in three parts, the book portrays the violent consequences that ensue when its protagonist Yeong-hye refuses to submit to the norms of food intake. Her decision not to eat meat is met with various, entirely different reactions.

Norwegian writer Jon Fosse was given the Literature Nobel last year for writing in Nynorsk, one of the two official written versions of the Norwegian language, that prize organizers said gives “voice to the unsayable.”

The Literature Nobel has been awarded 116 times since 1901. Unlike in other disciplines, the award has never gone to a single recipient twice, It has been shared by two individuals on four occasions.

Previous women who won Nobel
Previous women who won the Nobel in Literature include Annie Ernaux (2022), Louise Glück (2020), Olga Tokarczuk (2018), Svetlana Alexievich (2015), Alice Munro (2013), Herta Müller ((2009), Doris Lessing (2007), Elfriede Jelinek (2004) Wisława Szymborska ((1996), Toni Morrison (1993), Nadine Gordimer(1991),  Nelly Sachs ((1966), Gabriela Mistral (1945), Pearl Buck (1938), Sigrid Undset (1928), Grazia Deledda (1926), Selma Lagerlöf ((1909)

As guidelines for the distribution of the Literature Prize the Swedish Academy had the general requirement for all the prizes – the candidate should have bestowed “the greatest benefit on mankind” – and the special condition for literature, “in an ideal direction”.

Alfred Nobel had broad cultural interests. During his early youth, he developed his literary interests which lasted throughout his life. His library consisted of a rich and broad selection of literature in different languages. During the last years of his life, he tried his hand as an author and began writing fiction. Literature was the fourth prize area Nobel mentioned in his will.

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Seven women awarded prize so far
A total of seven women have been awarded the literature prize so far. The last woman to win was Annie Ernaux of France, in 2022.

Nobel announcements opened on October 7 with Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun winning the medicine prize.

John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton won the Physics Nobel on Tuesday and yesterday three scientists who discovered powerful techniques to decode and even design novel proteins were awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Nobel Prize Economics awarded Oct 14
The Nobel Peace Prize is set to be announced tomorrow and the Nobel Prize for Economics will be awarded on October 14.

The Nobel Prize carries a cash award of  11 million 11 million Swedish crowns (USD 1.1 million) from a bequest left by the award’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel. The laureates are invited to receive their awards at ceremonies on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death.

In his last will and testament, he specifically designated the institutions responsible for the prizes he wished to be established.

While the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences hands out the Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry, the Karolinska Institutet awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and the Swedish Academy awards the Nobel Prize in Literature.

A Committee of five persons elected by the Norwegian Parliament (Storting) decides on the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901 but the Nobel in Economics known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences was first awarded in 1969.

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Since 1901, the Nobel Prizes have been presented during the Nobel Week which culminates in the Nobel Prize ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall in Sweden and the Oslo City Hall in Norway on December 10, which marks the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.

While the Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine and literature are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, while the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.

Between 1901 and 2023, the Nobel Prizes and the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel were awarded 621 times to 1000 people and organisations.

According to the statutes of the Nobel Foundation, each laureate shall be presented with a gold medal. The front of the Nobel Prize medals depict Alfred Nobel. The image on the reverse varies according to the institution awarding the prize.

Each Nobel Prize diploma is a unique work of art where the design is decided by the prize-awarding bodies. The literature diploma is written on parchment, ie specially treated leather, using largely the same technique as those of medieval book illustrators. The diplomas given to the other laureates are produced on specially ordered handmade paper.

In Stockholm the week's highlight is the Nobel Prize award ceremony and banquet where laureates receive their diplomas and medals.

At the banquet where Nobel Prize laureates are guests of honour and sit with the Swedish royal family. Every year, the banquet differs in both decor and menus. (with Agency inputs)

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