Why Han Kang refused to celebrate her personal accomplishment: Nobel Prize in literature

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*

South Korean Nobel laureate Han Kang has declined to celebrate and refused to address a press conference after winning the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, citing the deaths, destitution, pain, and suffering of people affected by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. As reported by the Korea Times, Han Kang’s father Han Seung a renowned Korean writer conveyed her daughter’s message that “with the war intensifying and people being carried out dead every day, how can we have a celebration or a press conference?” She said that “she won’t hold a press conference”.

Her father has further added that he was planning for a party, but his daughter did not allow to celebrate her accomplishment. She said that “please don't celebrate while witnessing these tragic events (referring to the two wars). The Swedish Academy didn’t give me this award for us to enjoy, but to stay more clear-headed”.

Her refusal to celebrate personal accomplishments reflects the idealism and conviction of a writer who wishes to emphasise the collective suffering of humanity over individual achievements.

Han Kang received the Nobel Prize "for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life" in her writings. What are the social, economic, political, religious and cultural conditions breed trauma and make human life fragile?

Imperialist wars, colonial resource conflicts, capitalist exploitation, feudal culture, and the spiritual imprisonment of individuals through religion and its violent fundamentalisms all contribute to trauma in human life, making it fragile.

Additionally, cultural repression, political dominance of majoritarianism, all forms of exploitation and inequalities, the marginalisation of working people, exploitative and dictatorial regimes, and deprivation based on gender, race, caste, class, and sexuality, as well as natural disasters, further aggravate human alienation and fragility.

Individual experiences of trauma are not isolated or singular; rather, they are a collective experience shaped by life under capitalism. It promotes various interpersonal and systemic conditions that breed both human and environmental traumas, making the lives of both humans and animals fragile in the contemporary world under various forms of capitalism.

Therefore, it is the responsibility of all working people including writers, intellectuals, teachers, journalists, lawyers, political activists, and leaders to generate mass consciousness for the struggle against capitalism and its systems, institutions, and processes in order to establish a peaceful and harmonious world free from war, exploitation, and inequality.

Such a global consciousness underscores Han Kang’s refusal to celebrate her personal accomplishments like the Nobel Prize for literature.

A writer is defined not merely by the act of writing, but by the idealism of promoting social, political, economic, and cultural transformation for peaceful coexistence and solidarity.

Han Kang is one such writer, whose idealism and compassion triumph over imperialist war machines. Her idealism offers hope to millions of idealists who face vilification campaigns aimed at undermining their principles. Reactionary elements with loud voices continue to spread rumours against idealists in society, seeking to erode all forms of idealism in order to thrive as social, political, cultural, and economic parasites.

As a public intellectual, Han Kang embodies hope for a new generation of thinkers, writers and idealists

Narcissists and their followers reject all forms of idealism, surviving by exploiting others and tarnishing its value. These unproductive and lumpen elements in society construct false narratives to justify their actions, defame idealism, and perpetuate their own self-serving agendas of everyday survival by lies.

The capitalist system has transformed intellectual activities into mere sources of livelihood within an individualistic culture of self-pleasure where competitive consumerism has undermined the power of the pen, leading intellectuals to become mere typewriters for those in power.

As a public intellectual, Han Kang embodies hope for a new generation of thinkers, writers and idealists who will continue to fight for the people by opposing all forms of exploitation and inequalities that undermine human idealism based on reason, science, and the secular values of human life.

Han Kang’s refusal to celebrate her achievements as a literary and political act helps to revive the role of public intellectuals in standing with the people and rejecting all forms of power.

History is the witness to the triumphs of idealism against all odds in life. Han Kang’s Nobel Prize for literature is a collective celebration of idealism based on global consciousness against all forms of wars, conflicts, exploitations, inequalities and human sufferings.

—

*Scholar based in UK

Comments

When a lake becomes real estate: The mismanagement of Hyderabad’s waterbodies

By Dr Mansee Bal Bhargava* Misunderstood, misinterpreted and misguided governance and management of urban lakes in India —illustrated here through Hyderabad —demands urgent attention from Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), the political establishment, the judiciary, the builder–developer lobby, and most importantly, the citizens of Hyderabad. Fundamental misconceptions about urban lakes have shaped policies and practices that systematically misuse, abuse and ultimately erase them—often in the name of urban development.

'Serious violation of international law': US pressure on Mexico to stop oil shipments to Cuba

By Vijay Prashad In January 2026, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security—a designation that allows the United States government to use sweeping economic restrictions traditionally reserved for national security adversaries. The US blockade against Cuba began in the 1960s, right after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 but has tightened over the years. Without any mandate from the United Nations Security Council—which permits sanctions under strict conditions—the United States has operated an illegal, unilateral blockade that tries to force countries from around the world to stop doing basic commerce with Cuba. The new restrictions focus on oil. The United States government has threatened tariffs and sanctions on any country that sells or transports oil to Cuba.

When grief becomes grace: Kerala's quiet revolution in organ donation

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Kerala is an important model for understanding India's diversity precisely because the religious and cultural plurality it has witnessed over centuries brought together traditions and good practices from across the world. Kerala had India's first communist government, was the first state where a duly elected government was dismissed, and remains the first state to achieve near-total literacy. It is also a land where Christianity and Islam took root before they spread to Europe and other parts of the world. Kerala has deep historic rationalist and secular traditions.

Bangladesh goes to polls as press freedom concerns surface

By Nava Thakuria* As Bangladesh heads for its 13th Parliamentary election and a referendum on the July National Charter simultaneously on Thursday (12 February 2026), interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus has urged all participating candidates to rise above personal and party interests and prioritize the greater interests of the Muslim-majority nation, regardless of the poll outcomes.

Beyond the conflict: Experts outline roadmap for humane street dog solutions

By A Representative In a direct response to the rising polarization surrounding India’s street dog population, a high-level coalition of parliamentarians, legal experts, and civil society leaders gathered in the capital to propose a unified national framework for humane animal management. The emergency deliberations were sparked by a recent Suo Moto judgment that has significantly deepened the divide between animal welfare advocates and those calling for the removal of community dogs, a tension that has recently escalated into reported violence against both animals and their caretakers in states like Telangana.

Why 20 years later, Rang De Basanti feels less like cinema, more like warning

By Mohd Ziyaullah Khan* This Republic Day , the Rang De Basanti , starring Aamir Khan , completed 20 years since its release. I first watched it in a single-screen theatre in my city—at a time when multiplexes were only just beginning to appear and our town was still waiting for one. It remains my favourite film, and I often revisit it on OTT platforms or television around Independence Day or Republic Day, when the air is thick with rehearsed patriotism. A few days ago, I noticed it streaming again on Jio Hotstar . Released in 2006, it is a film I have watched many times over the years. Yet, like all powerful cinema, returning to it at different stages of life offers a different experience. Twenty years ago, I found it deeply inspiring. In 2026, watching it again felt suffocating. At its core, the film follows a group of Delhi University friends who challenge the might of the central government after one of their own, a flight lieutenant, is killed in a MiG aircraft crash alleged...

Stray dogs, an epsilon (ϵ) problem: Of child labour, and the art of misplaced priorities

By Bhaskaran Raman The Greek alphabet ϵ (epsilon) is used in maths and science to denote a quantity which is not zero, but extremely small *** Since the Supreme Court's interim order on the issue of stray dogs came out on 07 Nov 2025, there have been a range of opinion pieces speaking for the voiceless. Most of them take the stance that there is a "problem" with stray dogs, but that we need a humane solution. I agree with this broadly, but I think we need new terminology to talk about this.

A. R. Rahman's ‘Yethu’ goes viral, celebrating Tamil music on the world stage

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* Good news for Tamil music lovers—the Mozart of Madras is back in the Tamil music industry with his song “Yethu” from the film “Moonwalk.” The track has climbed international charts, once again placing A. R. Rahman on the global stage.

Constitution vs. mining: The trial of environmental justice in Pachama Dadar

By Raj Kumar Sinha* The auction process for the Pachama Dadar bauxite block in Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh, was initiated in 2023. Yet a closer examination of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report submitted for this proposed mining project reveals serious procedural and substantive failures that call into question the legitimacy of the entire exercise.

Search This Blog