Milan Kundera’s immortality : a novel of lack and limited representation.

• Main Author: Siti Zahrah Syafiah Jailani.
• Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities::Literature
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/49610
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In this study, I argue that Milan Kundera’s Immortality - as his exemplary notion of a ‘moral’ new novel - is a metaphor for lack in its endeavour of love in the Platonic tradition in response to the era of Knowledge and Modern Science; the morality of which though is largely undermined by the blatant disembodiment of the female body to act as a mere vehicle for his theories. The new novel here simply points to the idea of how the Postmodern novel as exemplified in Kundera’s work is a reaction to the current era of Kitsch. The structure of this essay is as follows. Firstly, I introduce the link between writing and the endeavour of love using Plato’s Symposium. Then, I continue to explore the different forms of lack that is couched in both the form and narrative of the text to the effect of exploring the reasons behind their existence while working closely with Kundera’s The Art of the Novel and The Curtain. Thirdly, I will be discussing the blatant misrepresentation of women in the text with Levinas’ theories on “The Face” and “Responsibility for the Other” to inform my reading. The arguments of this essay strive to expound not only the underlying allusions to lack as a means to an end but to also look at the limitations of Kundera’s writing, that is his apparent lack of ethics in writing the female body.