Han Kang on How Language Misses Its Mark

  • 📰 NewYorker
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 54 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 25%
  • Publisher: 67%

United States Headlines News

United States Latest News,United States Headlines

“I started my writing career as a poet, and have since harbored mixed emotions about language, an impossible tool,” Han Kang says, while discussing her story “The Middle Voice.”

,” in which a woman mysteriously loses the faculty of speech, and signs up for ancient-Greek lessons as a possible remedy. The character says that she did not choose the language specifically—she would have chosen one written in an even more unfamiliar script, like Burmese or Sanskrit, had it been available—but was there something about Greek in particular that attracted you?

It seems important to the character that the classes are in a “dead language,” that is, one that is no longer spoken. What is the relationship between speech and language for her? Yes, there’s an aspect that overlaps between those two characters. The protagonist of “The Vegetarian,” Yeong-hye, refuses violence and eating meat—and, eventually, refuses food altogether—to save herself, whereas the protagonist of this story pushes away language while striving to retrieve it at the same time. There are times when our emotions are tattered, and the language that conveys them is also in tatters.

But there’s a different kind of personal experience that influenced me to think about a protagonist struggling to deal with the language. Before writing this novel, I took about a year off from writing. I had some complicated emotions about language back then, although not as much as the protagonist. I read only books on science—astrophysics in particular—as I was unable to read fiction, and watched only documentaries, as it was unbearable to see fiction movies.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 90. in US

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

New 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' Trailer Shows Scott Lang Vs. KangIt's Scott Lang vs. Kang in a new trailer for 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.'
Source: Collider - 🏆 1. / 98 Read more »

New Ant-Man & Wasp Quantumania Trailer: Kang Has Killed Avengers BeforeA new AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania trailer hints that Kang has killed Avengers before, making the villain appear all the more dangerous. Of course he has. After watching He who remains, I knew everything was a loop. He's conquered entire universes. Of course he has killed Avengers lol I don’t understand the question, “Have I killed you before?” Kang should be the one in the better position to know whether he’s killed a version of Antman before.
Source: screenrant - 🏆 7. / 94 Read more »

Kang Is A Totally Different Character From He Who Remains, Says MajorsJonathan Majors says AntMan3's Kang & Loki's He Who Remains are so different, he thinks of them as completely separate people 😯 'I did play Kang the Conqueror second... I didn't even look at the He Who Remains template regarding Kang. On purpose.'
Source: screenrant - 🏆 7. / 94 Read more »

MPS holds second annual Middle School Robotics TournamentThis past Friday, eight Montgomery Middle Schools participated in the second annual Hyundai Initiative for Robotics Excellence Middle School Robotics Competition.
Source: wsfa12news - 🏆 338. / 59 Read more »

High-level U.S. diplomatic mission to Middle East overshadowed by violenceU.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken had hoped to broach a wide agenda in the Middle East. But after deadly attacks in the region, security again tops the list. Violence here or there?
Source: latimes - 🏆 11. / 82 Read more »

The political middle is getting things done in OKCAs Americans, we are routinely told that our political discourse is polarized, that we are utterly divided. In Oklahoma City, we’re choosing a different path.... “Nonwhite residents represent almost half of our city.” Is that what makes OKC good? David Holt looks European but he claims to be Osage. OKC is very corrupt, from jails to turnpikes; urban renewal to the urban league. The Thunder are losers just like the city.
Source: dallasnews - 🏆 18. / 71 Read more »