HISTORICAL-POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT IN THE SELECTED NOVELS OF MILAN KUNDERA

Diplomsko delo obravnava izbrane romane Milana Kundere, enega najbolj prepoznavnih češko-francoskih avtorjev sodobnega časa, z vidika vloge politično-zgodovinskega ozadja na življenje in odločitve junakov v njegovih romanih. Pri tem ugotavljamo, da Kundera svoje teoretsko delo uspešno prepleta s svojim pisanjem. Izbrane zgodovinsko-politične okoliščine, h katerim pristopa izredno ekonomično, so v izbranih delih Milana Kundere postavljene kot abstraktna scenografija, ki junaka romana nujno pripelje v eksistencialen položaj. Kundera sam pravi, da ga opis zgodovine kot take ne zanima, česar se v svojem pisanju dosledno drži. Izkušnja emigranstva predstavlja skupno točno vseh obravnavanih del, ki so bila napisana po letu 1975, ko je moral Kundera zaradi političnih pritiskov na Češkem emigrirati v Francijo. V vseh obravnavanih delih je čutiti močno osebno noto avtorja, ki ima izkušnjo vpliva zgodovinsko-političnih dogodkov na posameznikovo življenje, v vseh izbranih delih, ki so nastala po pisateljevi preselitvi, se avtor posveča polemiziranju problematike emigranstva. V Kunderovih romanih najdemo izrazito veliko političnih dogodkov, ki spodbujajo sociološke, zgodovinske ali ideološke interpretacije, kar avtor spretno uporabi za kritiko totalitarističnih oblasti in njihovega odnosa do izobražencev, v svoja dela pa, kar je neznačilno za romaneskno formo, vključuje tudi veliko lastnega razmišljanja. Sam te zastranitve poimenuje romaneskni eseji, ki so sestavni del Kunderovih romanov, sami po sebi pa ne morejo obstajati. Žanrsko lastno pisanje opredeli kot misleči roman.This diploma paper discusses selected novels of the Czech-French writer Milan Kundera, one of the most respectable writers of the late 20th century in terms of political and historical context and its influence on life and decision-making of the main characters in his works. What is more, Kundera successfully combines his theoretical knowledge with his writing abilities. The political and historical circumstances in his complete works are set as an abstract scenography that lead the main characters to their existential situations. Kundera writes that historical descriptions as such do not interest him, which results in his writing elements as well. Emigration is a common point to all of his works, which were written after 1975, when he was forced to leave the Czech Republic and move to France due to political intolerance towards his beliefs. A strong personal note can be recognized in all of his works, especially the influence of both political and historical events on the life of an individual as well as the polemics of exile. Numerous political events in his novels stimulate sociological, historical, and ideological interpretations and are used as a means of criticism of totalitarian regime and its relation towards intellectuals. He includes his own thinking as well, which is on the other hand very atypical for a remanseque point of view. Kundera refers to this element of writing as a type of Romanesque essays, which are a constituent part of his novels, but cannot self-exist. He defines this personal genre of writing as a thinking novel