The 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded to László Krasznahorkai “for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art”. Krasznahorkai is considered one of the most important authors in Hungary. He has written novels, short stories, essays and plays. Many of his books have also been made into movies.
Help us improve the content – Five quick questions and a comment
Slideshow or text for students (10 minutes)
Choose whether you want to show the slideshow and talk about the prize with the support of the speaker’s manuscript, or let the students read the text on their own.
Video with Nobel expert (10 minutes)
Student assignments (5-10 minutes)
Finish by having the students carry out one of the following assignments:
Summarise
Summarise the prize in your own words, in pairs or smaller groups.
Discuss
Many of Krasznahorkai’s books have an undertone of criticising society. Based on the description you have heard/read about the novel The Melancholy of Resistance – what do you think the criticism of society consists of in this book?
Find out
The Swedish Academy calls Krasznahorkai a great “epic writer”. The novel War & War is described as “picaresque”, and his stories are characterised by “absurdism”. What do these terms mean?
Epic/epic writer
Picaresque
Absurdism
Writing assignment
Have the students write 5–10 lines where they describe their day so far: morning routines, dialogues they have had, something special that happened, etc. The text should have a stylistic flow and may contain commas, but only a single period at the end.
Help us improve the content – Five quick questions and a comment