Kitsch, unoriginal and mass produced product (often art) designed to appeal to the masses or unrefined taste is a theme explored in The Unbearable Lightness of Being but major similarities can also be seen in Zamyatin's We.
Examples of kitsch of a totalitarian regime in We include; the mass produced sonatas and propaganda in the form of poetry.
Examples of Kitsch in The Unbearable Lightness of Being include; the May Day parade and sex.
Sabina tells Tomas that he is "the complete opposite of kitsch" because of his light attitude towards sex. There is this detachment of love from sex which also appears in We where chiphers are allowed to be registered to anyone they desire.
There is also the heavy appearance of propaganda in both novels. The opening record of We we are exposed to the propaganda in their newspaper. However it is propaganda in art form which becomes totalitarian kitsch. In We this is found in their poetry and in The Unbearable Lightness of Being it is found in visual arts.
In We music is turned into kitsch. Their obsession with efficiency and mass production means even music can be mass produced. By doing so it lacks the passion and creativity even though they have used all the correct structures and cadences.
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