The 2016 Man Booker Award has been bestowed on South Korean Writer, Han Kang for her book The Vegetarian. This one of the most prestigious awards she got in London.
This award has brought her the whopping amount of 50 thousand pounds besides world-wide acclaim.
The Novel ” The Vegetarian” is a very powerful novel by this South Korean novelist, which depicts the the strong mentality of Yeonghye, a dutiful wife from Korea, who one day disclosed her uncommon decision to be vegetarian in a country where this looks awkward.
As a result of this decision, she becomes the part of her own family leading to the tension within it, affects her social relationships. All her life gets a radical change due to the dream about blood-soaked images. It is her decision to be the part of act of subversion.
Kang got this Prestigious award after beating a group of very talented authors with the likes of Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk besides International Best-seller Elena Ferrante.
Her novel was the selection from 155 books for the award. The Vegetarian is an excerpt of Portobello Books. Deborah Smith with whom she shared this award translated the book.
Man Booker Winner 2016 South Korean woman
It is also note-worthy that The Man-Eater is Kang’s first novel which has become translation work. The Translator is English man who had started learning the Korean language from a few years.
The novel has three parts which show woman’s oppose of human brutality and that’s why shun flesh eating. These three parts show her mental strength and boldness when forced to face the stern relationships with her own people.
This novel is an allegorical of Modern Korea at one hand and reflects a story of obsession, violence, choice etc on other hand.
Kang is teacher of creative writing at the Seoule Institute of the Arts. She is enjoying a very good reputation in her country.
Besides she has bagged a no of other reputed awards such as Yi Sang Literary Prize, Today’s Young Artist Award and the Korean Literature Novel Award. May be some of her other books can be translated in to English very soon.
Venue of Award Giving Ceremony – London UK