Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera
(1929.4.1-2023.7.11)
Major works
"Joke" (1967)
Living Elsewhere (1973)
Farewell Waltz (1976)
"Laughing and Forgot" (1979)
The Unbearable Lightness of Life (1984)
Immortal (1990)
"Slow" (1995)
"Identity" (1996)
Celebrating Meaninglessness (2014)
"Joke":
From the Czech Republic to France
On April 1, 1929, Milan Kundera was born in the Czech city of Brno, Czech Republic, and he was born on April Fool's Day, and later wrote his famous work "Joke", which can be said to have a sense of fate. According to French media reports, Milan Kundera died at his home in France on July 11, local time, at the age of 94.
Kundera's father was a pianist and professor at the Academy of Music and Arts. Growing up in a small country is an advantage in his view, because being in a small country is "either a poor, narrow-sighted person" or a well-informed "cosmopolitan person". As a child, he learned to compose and received a good musical education and education. When he was a teenager, he began to read world literary masterpieces extensively. In his youth, he wrote poems and screenplays, painted, engaged in music and taught film. In short, in his own words, "I have been fumbling around the art field, trying to find my direction." ”
In the early 50s, he entered the literary world as a poet, publishing poetry collections such as Man, A Vast Garden (1953), Monologues (1957) and The Last May. But poetry is clearly not his long-term pursuit. Finally, when he wrote his first short story at the age of 30, he was convinced that he had found his way and embarked on the path of fiction writing.
In 1967, his first novel, The Joke, was published in the Czech Republic and was a huge success, publishing three editions in a row with an astonishing print run and selling out within a few days each time. The author's important place in contemporary Czech literature has since been determined. But the good times did not last long. In 1968, after the Soviet invasion of the Czech Republic, "Joke" was banned as a banned book. Kundera lost his position at the film school. His literary creation was difficult to proceed. Under these circumstances, he and his wife left the Czech Republic in 1975 for France. In 1981, he became a French citizen.
As a writer of French Czech origin, Milan Kundera has always oscillated between two identities, and for various subtle reasons, he prefers to be regarded as a French writer. Because most of his works, such as "Laughing and Forgoting" (1979), "The Unbearable Lightness of Life" (1984), "Immortality" (1990), etc., first became popular in France, and then attracted the attention of the world literary circle.
After settling in France, he quickly became one of the favorite writers of French readers and became increasingly popular internationally. In addition to his novels, Kundera has published three anthologies on the art of fiction, of which The Art of the Novel (1986) and The Betrayed Will (1993) have circulated widely around the world.
Kundera is adept at using irony and humorous tones to describe the human condition. His works are light on the surface and heavy in substance; The surface is casual, the substance is delicate; The surface is popular, the substance is deep and witty, full of life wisdom. Because of this, in many countries around the world, "Kundera fever" has been set off again and again.
Milan Kundera's introduction, dissemination and acceptance in China began in 1985. According to Xingxing, editor-in-chief and translator of World Literature, the first article published in China to introduce Kundera with certain academic weight and aesthetic value was an article entitled "Two Witnesses of World Literature: The Inspiration of South American and Eastern European Literature to Modern Chinese Literature" published by the Chinese-American scholar Li Oufan in the fourth issue of Foreign Literature Studies in 1985. In it, he praised Kundera's work as "philosophical but light." Many major problems in life, he often brushed off, and a few slight details, he tirelessly repeated the narrative, so light and heavy is also a symbol of contrast between his style and thought, content and form... It is written about small people, but it is used with a big hand, which is worthy of being a master of world literature."
In 1987, the Beijing Writers Publishing House published Jing Kaixuan and Xu Naijian's translation of "The Party for Farewell" (later translated as "Farewell Waltz"), followed by the famous writer Han Shaogong translated and published "The Unbearable Lightness of Life" (later translated as "The Unbearable Lightness of Life"), which aroused widespread repercussions. Subsequently, Kundera's other works such as "Joke", "Living Elsewhere", and "Laughing and Forgetting Book" ("Laughing and Forgetting Book") have been translated into Chinese. By 2002, Shanghai Translation Publishing House had fully acquired the copyright of Milan Kundera's works, re-translated and introduced Kundera's major works, and now has 16 titles. At the same time, at least two Chinese translations of Milan Kundera's biography have been obtained.
"Living elsewhere":
Kundera fever in China
Since the 80s of last century, Chinese readers' interest in Kundera has not diminished. The wisdom of thought, the sharpness of criticism, and the charm of his unique novel style have made Kundera widely available to a wide audience around the world. Looking back at the history of the dissemination and translation of Milan Kundera's works in China, we will find that Kundera's works not only sell well all year round, but also attract readers of all levels, truly achieving elegant and popular appreciation.
In China, Kundera was the enlightenment of foreign literature for many, influencing generations of Chinese literary youth. The famous poet Huang Lizi was deeply influenced when he first read his "Living Elsewhere", "Kundera wrote about the relationship between youth, love and revolution, which provided us with a corresponding reading, and life turned out to be with us. When I went to Prague in 2015, I still had his book with me and I had the feeling of being there. Of course, his "Betrayed Testament" influenced my writing, giving me a new understanding of the world, language, and heart. ”
"His work looks at the essence of life, human nature. He critique kitsch, showing not reality but existence, while fully revealing the complexity of modern society. My favorite is The Unbearable Lightness of Life, a turning point in Kundera's writing, in which his literary career became the history of the human mind. Huang Lizi said.
In 2022, scholar Yang Miaoyan re-read "The Unbearable Lightness of Life" more than 20 years later, and still sighed that "always reads and always new" (Yang Miaoyanwen "Often Read Changxin's "Light" and "Heavy", May 2022 issue of "Book City" magazine). Yang Miaoyan writes:
Combining love stories, political commentary, aesthetic exploration, and contemplation of the paradox of human existence, Unbearable Lightness of Life in Kundera's style leads to a series of compelling human stories and a provocative meditation on the meaning of existence, human destiny and desire.
The reason why it is provocative is because today's society seems to be more torn than it was more than fifty years ago, the meaning of existence and human desires are stronger and more disorderly, how to find a way out in this increasingly harsh living environment, this novel that deconstructs the basic dialectics of human existence: love and sex, sincerity and betrayal, art and kitsch, and the light and heavy meaning of life, should be a mirror, worthy of our serious gaze.
And almost all of Kundera's works use his unique brushstrokes to explore the human dilemma, he inspires people to think, but does not give answers. Perhaps this is why Kundera still has a wide audience around the world.
Written by: Nandu reporter Zhu Rongting
Photo courtesy of Shanghai Translation Press