Quote by Han Kang: “The world becomes a world only when we are there to observe it.”

This philosophical statement suggests that reality itself is shaped and given meaning by human consciousness and perception. It implies that without our presence and interpretation, the world would merely exist, devoid of its human-assigned significance.

A reflection on memory, trauma, and the individual's role in constructing meaning in a shattered world, often discussed in contemporary literature grappling with historical atrocities.

South Korean novelist and Nobel Prize in Literature laureate in 2024. Her novel The Vegetarian, translated into English in 2015, examines bodily autonomy, violence, and resistance through a woman's refusal to eat meat in conformist South Korean society.