Han Kang (born 1970) is a South Korean writer.
1. Life
Born in Gwangju in 1970, Han Kang made her literary debut as a poet in 1993 by publishing five poems including "Seourui gyeoul" (서울의 겨울 Winter in Seoul) in the quarterly Literature and Society. The following year saw her win the Seoul Shinmun New Writer's Contest for her short story "Bulgeun dat" (붉은 닻 Red Anchor). She published her first short story collection entitled Yeosuui sarang (여수의 사랑 Yeosu) in 1995. She participated in the University of Iowa International Writing Program in 1998 with support from the Arts Council Korea.
Her publications include the short story collections, Nae yeojaui yeolmae (내 여자의 열매 Fruits of My Woman), Norangmunui yeongwon (노랑무늬 영원 Fire Salamander); the novels Chaesikjuuija (채식주의자 The Vegetarian), Huirabeo sigan (희랍어 시간 Greek Lessons), Sonyeoni onda (소년이 온다 Human Acts), Huin (흰 The White Book), and Jakbyeolhaji anneunda (작별하지 않는다 I Do Not Bid Farewell); and the poetry collection Seorabe jeonyeogeul neoeo dueotda (서랍에 저녁을 넣어 두었다 I Put the Evening in the Drawer). She has received numerous awards including Today’s Young Artist Award, the Korean Fiction Award, the Yi Sang Literary Award, the Hwang Sun-won Literary Award, the Manhae Literary Award, the Kim Yu-jeong Literary Award, the Man Booker International Prize and the Malaparte Prize.
2. Writing
The works of Han Kang have been enthusiastically received by both critics and readers alike for their profound exploration of human nature through the author’s delicate yet powerful writing style.
As if to say that our daily lives, the limited socially accepted ideas that support those lives, and furthermore, the condition of being human itself constitute an unbearable violence, Han's characters embrace their vivid, painful sensations and navigate their lives with refined fortitude.
The Vegetarian, Han’s first novel to appear in English, is a story in three acts: the first showing protagonist Yeong-hye’s decision and her family’s reaction; the second focuses on her brother-in-law, an unsuccessful artist who becomes obsessed with her body; the third on In-hye, the manager of a cosmetics store, trying to find her own way of dealing with the fallout from the family collapse. Across the three parts, we are pressed up against a society’s most inflexible structures—expectations of behaviour, the workings of institutions—and we watch them fail one by one. The novel repeatedly shows the frictions between huge passion and chilling detachment, between desires that are fed and those that are denied.[1]
Human Acts looks back at South Korean history from 1979 through the 1980s, when there was a dictatorship and assassinations, torture, civil unrest, and the slaughter of protesters. Han focuses on the infamous Gwangju Uprising and personalizes the resulting events through the death of a young boy. By integrating personal stories (based on her family’s experiences) with historical details, Han peels back layers of problems that have not been fully acknowledged or rectified with South Korean society and government.[2]
Han's latest novel, Jakbyeolhaji anneunda, is inspired by the civilian massacre on Jeju Island on April 3, 1948. Gyeong-ha, the protagonist, travels to Jeju at the request of her friend, In-seon. She is confronted with the family's painful past, notably that of In-seon's mother, Jeong-sim, who spent decades trying to find her brother who went missing in the 1948 massacre. The "utmost love" that Han speaks of is first and foremost found in Jeong-sim. But it also travels from Jeong-sim to her daughter In-seon, and from In-seon to her friend Gyeong-ha, neither of whom can escape the grip it has on their lives, despite the agony it entails.[3]
