Delving into the meaning of the prize awarding

We should question, not judge. Can this be too much to ask?

Shin June-bongThe author is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo. The afterglow remains hot a month after Han Kang won the country’s second Nobel Prize and the first in literature for an Asian woman. It can be easily witnessed in any big bookstore. At Kyobo Book Centre in southern Seoul, a wall devoted to the enshrined writer is decorated with over a hundred posts by visitors rhapsodizing her feat. Some express happiness with living under the same sky with a Noble laureate. A 10-year-old girl admits she’s too young to understand her book but promised to read it thoroughly when she is older.

Her three book publishers such as Changbi, Munhakdongne and Moonji are also on cloud nine following the extraordinary boom. The Nobel laureate’s books and collections of short stories and poems — 1 million copies of which flew off shelves in the six days since the award’s announcement on Oct. 10 — had sold 3.38 million as of last week. Changbi has printed 800,000 copies of “Human Acts” and 700,000 copies of “The Vegetarian” since its author won the prize.

The publisher has readied enough stock to last until January, hoping for renewed attention after Han delivers a reception speech at the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10. Whether the goal is reached or not, it is breaking records in publishing history. The Han Kang fever will last at least until the release of her next book, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of next June.

We should be reflecting on the meaning of the award alongside its winner. Does a Nobel Prize make Korea a cultural powerhouse? How did the award make its way to a Korean author and, specifically, Han?

Having one Nobel laureate does not define Korea as a literary powerhouse. Nevertheless, it is a “monumental event," as veteran literary critic Kim Hwa-young noted. Conservative Europeans may know and buy Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor products, but they regard the written works of Koreans to be as exotic as African ones.

Another literary critic, Jeong Gwa-ri, found extraordinariness in this year’s choice of a 53-year-old for a Nobel Prize that usually goes to senior writers in their ripe stage. Yoon Sang-in, a professor emeritus at Seoul National University’s Department of Asian Language and Civilizations, observed the Nobel Prize to be “brutally unfair.”

The selection is rigorous, with the birthplace and the gender of writers taken into account as well as political circumstances. The question of fairness may arise since factors beyond literary works get involved. The rise of Korean culture and economic clout could have influenced this year’s choice. It may take a decade or so for the award to go to another female or an Asian writer as it had been 12 years since the prize came to an Asian after China’s Mo Yan. The award may not reach Asian candidates Can Xue of China (born in 1954) and Haruki Murakami (born in 1949) in their lifetime.

The laurel wreath brings a permanent rank. An overseas event will now have to pay Han an honorarium of about $20,000 and reimburse the cost of a business flight ticket and at least a five-star hotel stay for her presence, according to Kwak Hyo-hwan, former president of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea.

I had the honor of interviewing Han before she became a global celebrity. I still remember the second interview in May 2016, shortly before she won the International Booker Prize for “The Vegetarian” (2007). I found her more careful and meticulous than before. She demanded a rework of the interview text in more “dignified” language. She was extremely guarded against purely aesthetic and sensual connotations about the Mongolian Mark chapter of The Vegetarian. She has become sensitive upon realizing “how terrifying” it can be for a work to be read by “random multiples."

The gist of the interview was that, to her, a novel is a “200-page” question. “If a novel was read as one question, no novel would be difficult to read,” she said. “I try to linger long on the hard, uncomfortable, and painful questions. The process is my way of writing a novel.”

Maybe from the Nobel Prize halo, her answers, in hindsight, feel extraordinary. Her approach to novels may explain the philosophy behind her writing. She may have earned the Noble honor thanks to such painstaking and perfectionist commitment.

Han’s conscientious approach to her work should inspire other fields like politics. Clashes and disputes are unavoidable when we assume we know instead of questioning the intention of others. We should question, not judge. Can this be too much to ask?

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.