Han Kang and the Vegetarian

It could be said that Han Kang's literary career only truly flourished after the publication of his book of around two hundred pages: The Vegetarian.

In just under ten years, Han Kang's name has risen beyond South Korea, becoming the latest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. However, *The Vegetarian* reached Vietnamese readers more than 10 years prior. - Photo: Publisher

This work brought her international fame, much like the name of the award that introduced her to the world : the International Booker Prize.

From home to the world

Before discussing vegetarians and Han Kang, it's necessary to briefly mention this award, as it played a significant role in shaping the story of Han Kang that we see today.

When it was first established, the Booker International Prize was awarded to authors as a way of honoring their literary careers. Looking back at the recipients of the Booker International Prize before 2016, it's clear they were all prominent figures with established careers. Since 2005, the prize has been awarded every two years, successively to Ismail Kadare, Chinua Achebe, Alice Munro, Philip Roth, Lydia Davis, and László Krasznahorkai.

Alice Munro received the International Booker Prize in 2009 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013.

From a relatively young award, evolving in a different direction from the Man Booker Prize (which was only for authors from the Commonwealth, Ireland, and Zimbabwe), the International Booker Prize has become a prominent literary award.

In 2016, Booker International marked a shift, moving from awarding prizes to prizes for works of fiction translated into English.

The £50,000 prize money was split equally between the author and the translator. And *The Vegetarian* was the first work to mark this shift. At the same time, Han Kang also became the first Asian author to receive the International Booker Prize.

Before winning this award, Han Kang was a relatively unknown name to readers worldwide. After the award, everything changed. Her success probably surprised even her home readers. But this partly reflects the speed of today's era, with its ability to transform a local writer, writing in a less common language, into an international literary star.

The Nobel Prize in Literature awarded to Han Kang also reflects the results of the South Korean government's systematic and long-term investment in the cultural industry. This event can also be seen as the culmination of the "Korean Wave"—from music and film to literature—all achieving high international recognition.

Han Kang was born in 1970 in Gwangju. Her pen name means "Han River". In 2024, she became the first Korean to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.

A reunion after more than ten years

Returning to *The Vegetarian*, the newly published Vietnamese translation is the second translation of the work. In 2011, Hoang Hai Van's translation first introduced *The Vegetarian*, as well as Han Kang, to Vietnamese readers.

Han Kang was then introduced as a notable contemporary writer in South Korea. However, Vietnamese readers paid little attention to this work. Proof of this is that after The Vegetarian won the International Booker Prize, it wasn't difficult to find copies from several years prior still available in bookstores.

Interest in the name Han Kang only returned to our country when she won the award. Following that, her novels *The Nature of Man* and *White* were published in Vietnam, expanding on many other aspects of this female writer's career.

In the 2025 translation of *The Vegetarian*, translator Kim Ngan included an "author's note." Han Kang further shared that the two stories *The Vegetarian* and *The Blue Birthmark* in the book were handwritten by her because she suffered from arthritis at the time and couldn't type, so she needed help and it took a lot of time. After nearly two years, she tried holding the pen upside down to type on the keyboard and completed *The Flame of Plants* - the third story in *The Vegetarian*.

In its previous edition, *The Vegetarian* was introduced on the cover as a "series of stories." The three stories, seemingly unrelated, actually form a narrative that Han Kang truly wanted to tell.

The book evokes an atmosphere of unease in a developing South Korean society and the lasting impact it has on individuals during that process.

Over time, the issues raised by Han Kang not only become clearer but also more relatable. From a Korean story, it has taken on a global dimension.

While it's difficult to call it a masterpiece, in its own way, it quickly became fashionable, frequently appearing on lists of must-reads when discussing Korean literature.

The vegetarian novel played a significant role in Han Kang's Nobel Prize win. In his Nobel Prize announcement, Anders Olsson, chairman of the Nobel Committee, praised Han Kang as an innovator of contemporary prose.

Back to the topic

HUYNH TRONG KHANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/han-kang-va-nguoi-an-chay-20250706085305936.htm