Chris Elford to Present Nobel Prize Symposium Talk The assistant professor of Chinese will discuss the Nobel Prize in literature presented to Korean writer Han Kang on Jan. 14.

By Brian Laubscher
December 16, 2024

Chris Elford, assistant professor of Chinese at Washington and Lee University, will speak on the 2024 Nobel Prize in literature presented to South Korean novelist and poet Han Kang. The talk is free and open to the public and will be held at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 14, in room 128 of the Harte Center for Teaching and Learning, located in Leyburn Library. Snacks and refreshments will be provided.

Han, known for her powerful novels exploring trauma, human suffering and resilience, became the first Asian woman writer and the first Korean writer to receive the prestigious award. Her works often delve into personal and historical pain, particularly reflecting on South Korea’s turbulent modern history. Her internationally acclaimed books, including “The Vegetarian,” “Human Acts” and “The White Book,” have been translated into multiple languages and have garnered critical acclaim for their unflinching examination of personal and historical pain.

“Han’s literary works capture the beauty and fragility of human life through the lens of the human body,” says Elford. “She shows, in astonishing and often gruesome detail, how vulnerable our bodies are to the social, political and historical forces that traverse them. We can wrench our bodies free of these forces only at the cost of great suffering.”

Born in Gwangju, South Korea in 1970, Han grew up in a literary family and went on to earn a degree from Yonsei University’s College of Arts and Sciences. She began her career as a poet but has since written mainly novels and short stories. In her oeuvre, she confronts historical traumas and invisible sets of rules and, in each of her works, exposes the fragility of human life. She has a unique awareness of the connections between body and soul, the living and the dead, and in her poetic and experimental style has become an innovator in contemporary prose.

Learn more about all of the 2024 Nobel Prize winners.