The Vegetarian Han Kang
Literatur Solasaldiak Tertulias literarias Literary Circle Errenteriako Biblioteka 16.02.2022
Han Kang
Han Kang is the daughter of novelist Han Seung-won. She was born in Kwangju (1970) and at the age of 10, moved to Suyuri (which she speaks of affectionately in her work "Greek Lessons") in Seoul. She studied Korean literature at Yonsei University. She began her writing career when one of her poems was featured in the winter issue of the quarterly Literature and Society. She made her official literary debut in the following year when her short story "The Scarlet Anchor" was the winning entry in the daily Seoul Shinmun spring literary contest. Since then, she has gone on to win the Yi Sang Literary Prize (2005), Today's Young Artist Award, and the Korean Literature Novel Award. As of summer 2013, Han teaches creative writing at the Seoul Institute of the Arts while writing stories and novels.
The virgin suicides The Vegetarian is a South Korean three-part novel written by Han Kang and first published in 2007. Based on Han's 1997 short story "The Fruit of My Woman", The Vegetarian is set in modern-day Seoul and tells the story of Yeonghye, a part-time graphic artist and homemaker, whose decision to stop eating meat after a bloody, nightmarish dream about human cruelty leads to devastating consequences in her personal and familial life. Published on 30 October 2007 in South Korea by Changbi Publishers, The Vegetarian was received as "very extreme and bizarre" by the South Korean audience. "Mongolian Mark", the second and central part of the novel was awarded the prestigious Yi Sang Literary Prize. It has been translated into at least thirteen languages, including English, French, Spanish, and Chinese.
Reviews • “Sentence by sentence,The Vegetarian is an extraordinary experience.” (The Guardian) · • “Han Kang is well served by Deborah Smith's subtle translation in this disturbing book.” (The Independent)
Selected works • • • •
Convalescence (2013) The Vegetarian: A Novel (2015) Human Acts (2016) The White Book (2017)
Interesting Links · “Han Kang and the Complexity of Translation” https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/15/han-kangandthe-complexity-of-translation “Han Kang on Violence, Beauty, and the (Im)possibility of Innocence” https://lithub.com/han-kang-on-violence-beauty-andtheimpossibility-of-innocence/ Literary Podcast https://elrefugiodepapel.com Our coordinator´s blog https://donostiabookclub.blogspot.com