The Swedish Academy announced on Thursday (Oct. 9) that this year's Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai.
Krasznahorkai is a renowned Hungarian novelist and screenwriter, famous for his postmodernist dystopian themes. He won the prestigious International Booker Prize in 2015. The Nobel Committee praised Krasznahorkai "for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art."
Krasznahorkai was born in 1954 in Gyula, a small town in southeastern Hungary near the Romanian border, into a middle-class family. He initially studied law at the public University of Szeged in Hungary before switching to literature, linguistics, and mass education. After graduating, Krasznahorkai briefly worked as a librarian and also held editing positions, becoming a freelance writer in 1984.
In 1985, Krasznahorkai's debut novel, Satantango, caused a sensation upon its release. The novel depicts a decaying Hungarian village where residents struggle with poverty and despair. A messiah, rumored to be dead, suddenly returns, seemingly offering a plan of salvation to lead the villagers out of their plight and enticing them to invest their life savings. However, this journey of hope turns out to be an elaborately designed deception, revealing the fragility of human nature in the face of greed and betrayal.
In 1987, Krasznahorkai temporarily left Hungary and spent a year residing in Germany, later traveling to East Asia for inspiration. In 1989, his second major work, The Melancholy of Resistance, was published. This work exhibits a more unique apocalyptic utopian tone, skillfully hinting at a society losing order and descending into chaos through the premise of a mysterious circus bringing a giant whale carcass to a desolate town. It highlights the gap between people's expectations for a new life and reality during times of great change.
Complex and challenging style
In his writing, Krasznahorkai's novels frequently employ extremely complex, lengthy sentences, some spanning multiple pages. His style is generally classified as postmodern, with themes of dystopia and melancholy, incorporating philosophy and black humor, which makes it abstruse and challenging. With works like War and War, Krasznahorkai successively won renowned awards, gradually gaining international acclaim.
Hailing from Central Europe, Krasznahorkai also turned his gaze to the Eastern world, integrating Eastern philosophical thought into many of his works, creating a more delicate and serene narrative style that showcases a diverse and unique literary vision. His 2003 novel A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East, set in Kyoto, Japan, tells the story of a mysterious journey to find a secret garden, with prose noted for its lyrical beauty. In his 2008 novel Seiobo There Below, the opening image of a heron standing silently in the middle of Kyoto's Kamo River, faintly visible amidst the bustling crowds, left a deep impression on many readers and became a classic metaphor for the artist's seclusion within the city.
Continuing the tradition of central European writers like Kafka
Krasznahorkai is hailed as a representative figure of Central European epic literature. His works continue the tradition of Central European writers like Franz Kafka and Thomas Bernhard, adept at depicting absurd and grotesque themes with profound and highly tense strokes. Over the years, his works highlight his deep exploration of issues such as human destiny and the nature of art, establishing him as an important voice in contemporary literature.
Krasznahorkai is the second Hungarian ever to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Predestined bond
It is worth mentioning that Krasznahorkai has always had a strong interest in Chinese culture and Eastern cultures. His friend, Chinese translator Yu Zemin, who has translated several of his books, noted that as early as 1991, Krasznahorkai visited China as a journalist. In 1998, he revisited China, traveling through 10 Chinese cities, saying that he felt a strong connection with China, to the extent that even his writing carried a touch of "Chinese flavor."
After his first visit to China, Krasznahorkai could not forget the experiences from his travels there. Drawing inspiration from this, he wrote a prose-style travelogue, The Prisoner of Urga. Yu recalled that Krasznahorkai not only conveyed his longing for China through his writing but also reminisced about this experience in the details of his daily life.
"He once announced to his family that he would switch to using chopsticks for meals, collected various books related to China, and paid attention to news and information about China. For over a year, he ate Chinese food outside, listened to Beijing opera at home, and no matter who he chatted with, the topic always turned to China."
Yu mentioned that Krasznahorkai was particularly fascinated with ancient China and admired the poet Li Bai.
"When he was in China, he interviewed many ordinary people on the streets, often asking just two questions: Have you read Du Fu's poetry? What do you think was the relationship between Li Bai and Yang Guifei?"
Yu also said that Krasznahorkai always hoped his works could be published in Chinese. "He believed this was his dialogue with the Chinese culture he admired. His words, like the faces he saw, carried a smile."
Before winning the prestigious International Booker Prize in 2015, a few of Krasznahorkai's books were published in China, and Yu had been promoting the translation of Krasznahorkai's works in China.
"Hungary is a country with a population of less than 10 million, but its literary potential is enormous. In the republic of literature, there truly exists a certain fairness."
(With input from Wen Wei Po; English Editor: Darius)
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