Identitate şi memorie la Milan Kundera
Identity and Memory in Milan Kundera’s Work

Summary/Abstract: Identity is foregrounded as a major literary theme in Milan Kundera’s novels Ignorance and Identity, where it echoes the identity dilemmas of an author torn between two cultures, the Czech and the French. In his novel Ignorance Kundera deals with a construction of identity through narration: Ulysses, the archetypal adventurer, defines himself by means of the discourse that narrates his exploits. It is the narrative that reveals the hero’s identity. In Kundera’s novel Identity a love quiproquo ends up by shattering the integrity of the characters’ identity. It is the male gaze that defines feminine identity, as women constantly relate to it. Identity is not a stable and steady identity of the Self, but is perceived in its continuous change. In the novel this identity-as-process will eventually result in the couple’s amorous disenchantment. The couple’s volatile memory is in constant need to be validated by the others.

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