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.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring (Czech: Pražské jaro, Slovak: Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Slovak Alexander Dubček came to power, and continued until 21 August when the Soviet Union and members of its Warsaw Pact allies invaded the country to halt the reforms. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Spring)
During Prague Spring in 1968, restrictions on media and art were tempriarily removed. This allowed artists to truely be creative and reduce to amount of Communist kitsch. However, after the Russian invasion the restrictions were again put in place, the main reason Sabina leaves for America.
During Prague Spring in 1968, restrictions on media and art were tempriarily removed. This allowed artists to truely be creative and reduce to amount of Communist kitsch. However, after the Russian invasion the restrictions were again put in place, the main reason Sabina leaves for America.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Kitsch
Because we find the lightness of our lives so unbearable we give it weight which does not really exist. This is the ascribe concept kitsch: as we pretend something is more beautiful and meaningful than it truly is.
An example of this in The Unbearable Lightness of Being is Communism Kitsch in the form of the May Day parade. The enthusiasm of the people are wrongly interpreted into the support of Communism. "The May Day ceremony drew its inspiration from the deep well of the categorical agreement of being." Meaning all the support for the May Day parade does not mean that there is support for a Communist regime. The Communism leaders used "Long live life!" to attract supporters then gives the parade a weighty beauty of the strong support for Communism which does not exist.
An example of this in The Unbearable Lightness of Being is Communism Kitsch in the form of the May Day parade. The enthusiasm of the people are wrongly interpreted into the support of Communism. "The May Day ceremony drew its inspiration from the deep well of the categorical agreement of being." Meaning all the support for the May Day parade does not mean that there is support for a Communist regime. The Communism leaders used "Long live life!" to attract supporters then gives the parade a weighty beauty of the strong support for Communism which does not exist.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Eternal Return
At the very beginning of The Unbearable Lightness of Being we are introduced to this philosophical concept of "Eternal Return".
It is explained to us that in this universe, time is infinite therefore time goes on in a linear line. However, the matter in this universe is finite meaning eventually things will reoccur as time continues as there are only a certain number of combinations of matter before things begin to return, thus an infinite cycle.
Nietzsche links eternal return with heaviness, the more things return and reoccur the more meaningful and remembered it becomes, it becomes a "solid mass, permanently protuberant, its inanity irreparable." With weight, it "crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground... the woman longs to be weighted down by the man's body... The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become."
"Conversely, the absolute absence of a burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into the heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant."
Our human lives are short and considered quite insignificant (therefore it is light), this we find unbearable which is why we add un-necessary weight on our lives. An example of this is when the narrator mentions the African war in which "a hundred thousand blacks perished in excruciating torment." I personally had no idea of this war, however I do know about the 2005 London bombings in which only 52 people lost their lives.
Throughout the rest of this novel Kendera explore contrasting cases of heaviness and lightness through Tomas. Tomas is involved in many mistresses, going from one to the other in a light manner until he meets Tereza who weighs him down with heavy burdening love. Sabina is one of Tomas's regular mistresses who understands Tomas and he enjoys being with her, however their encounters are only ever light and Tomas later goes on with life without her. However even though Tomas and Tereza continue to be unhappy together, they cannot live apart and keep returning to each other making their love even heavier, weighing them both down.
It is explained to us that in this universe, time is infinite therefore time goes on in a linear line. However, the matter in this universe is finite meaning eventually things will reoccur as time continues as there are only a certain number of combinations of matter before things begin to return, thus an infinite cycle.
Nietzsche links eternal return with heaviness, the more things return and reoccur the more meaningful and remembered it becomes, it becomes a "solid mass, permanently protuberant, its inanity irreparable." With weight, it "crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground... the woman longs to be weighted down by the man's body... The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become."
"Conversely, the absolute absence of a burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into the heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant."
Our human lives are short and considered quite insignificant (therefore it is light), this we find unbearable which is why we add un-necessary weight on our lives. An example of this is when the narrator mentions the African war in which "a hundred thousand blacks perished in excruciating torment." I personally had no idea of this war, however I do know about the 2005 London bombings in which only 52 people lost their lives.
Throughout the rest of this novel Kendera explore contrasting cases of heaviness and lightness through Tomas. Tomas is involved in many mistresses, going from one to the other in a light manner until he meets Tereza who weighs him down with heavy burdening love. Sabina is one of Tomas's regular mistresses who understands Tomas and he enjoys being with her, however their encounters are only ever light and Tomas later goes on with life without her. However even though Tomas and Tereza continue to be unhappy together, they cannot live apart and keep returning to each other making their love even heavier, weighing them both down.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Femme Fatale
A femme fatale is : "An alluring and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype or stock character of literature and art. Her ability to entrance and hypnotize her male victim was in the earliest stories seen as being literally supernatural, hence the most prosaic femme fatale today is still described as having a power akin to an enchantress, vampire, female monster or demon." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femme_fatale)
I-330 is the femme fatale of We. D-503 finds the "fire" in I-330 strangely attractive. He senses the danger and is "frightened" he wants to "quarrel with her, to scream at her..." however still goes with her to the Ancient house, D-503 is still unable to "restrain [himself]" from her. D-503 keeps using the metaphor of humans being like apartments, you can't see through the walls, except through the windows which are the eyes. In One State privacy no longer exists, the walls are entirely constructed out of glass. Which makes I-330's "two terrifyingly dark windows, and within them the very unknown" more appealing and seductive to D-503. She uses this allure to draw D-503 out of his comfort zone and into the unknown.
I-330 is the femme fatale of We. D-503 finds the "fire" in I-330 strangely attractive. He senses the danger and is "frightened" he wants to "quarrel with her, to scream at her..." however still goes with her to the Ancient house, D-503 is still unable to "restrain [himself]" from her. D-503 keeps using the metaphor of humans being like apartments, you can't see through the walls, except through the windows which are the eyes. In One State privacy no longer exists, the walls are entirely constructed out of glass. Which makes I-330's "two terrifyingly dark windows, and within them the very unknown" more appealing and seductive to D-503. She uses this allure to draw D-503 out of his comfort zone and into the unknown.
Ancients vs Moderns
The Green wall symbolizes the distinct separation between the city and the wild, the separation of values and lifestyles.
Inside the green wall is the city, life in the city is organised and controlled. All the buildings are made out of glass and ciphers walk in fours to eliminate privacy, each individual’s schedule is organised in the "table of hours" which merges each individual into a "million-handed body" turning the "I" into "we". The ciphers inside the city become brainwashed by the Benefactor in believing that order and logic are superior to freedom and individuality.
While on the other hand the revolutionary group outside the green wall (the Mephi) have opposite beliefs and share similar values to us. They believe in freedom, privacy and individuality.
These are two contrasting values expressed in We. D-503 is taken through a journey which opens his eyes to both sides of the green wall which makes him question his life inside the Green wall.
Inside the green wall is the city, life in the city is organised and controlled. All the buildings are made out of glass and ciphers walk in fours to eliminate privacy, each individual’s schedule is organised in the "table of hours" which merges each individual into a "million-handed body" turning the "I" into "we". The ciphers inside the city become brainwashed by the Benefactor in believing that order and logic are superior to freedom and individuality.
While on the other hand the revolutionary group outside the green wall (the Mephi) have opposite beliefs and share similar values to us. They believe in freedom, privacy and individuality.
These are two contrasting values expressed in We. D-503 is taken through a journey which opens his eyes to both sides of the green wall which makes him question his life inside the Green wall.
Self Discovery Through Writing
D-503 begins is journey through writing his records and begins to discover himself through writing. The use of first narration will help gain a richer understanding of the text, even allowing us to see into D-503’s subconscious. Because the culture of One State and our culture are so different, by seeing the world in their eyes it provides a more emotional, personal attachment to the D-503 and his journey throughout the novel.
We see in the beginning D-503 is a loyal follower of One State, however an internal conflict arises; the battle between “I” and “we”. In record two, D-503 writes very poetically “sweet dust parches on your lips”. Here we are exposed to the internal conflict emerging in D-503. He sees the beauty of the world outside the green wall and unconsciously starts to admire it. However his faithful dedication to the One State soon kicks in to remind him that “this somewhat interferes with logical reasoning.” This makes it evident that this attraction to nature, to spring is a part of being human. Another example of human nature is how when D-503 writes, he naturally says “I love” then corrects himself and says “we love” It becomes instinctively clear that it humans naturally think as an individual and use “I” and “my” instead of “we” and “us”. The Benefactor has dehumanized all the ciphers by forcefully robbing them of their individuality and freedom. This links to the nature verses nurture debate and proves that when forced into unnatural conditions, the nature of human behaviour will always rebel. This is a highly significant concept that will be the basis of the events throughout this book.
This dehumanization of ciphers of One State becomes the solution to revolution. It becomes clear that constant change becomes a human need.
We see in the beginning D-503 is a loyal follower of One State, however an internal conflict arises; the battle between “I” and “we”. In record two, D-503 writes very poetically “sweet dust parches on your lips”. Here we are exposed to the internal conflict emerging in D-503. He sees the beauty of the world outside the green wall and unconsciously starts to admire it. However his faithful dedication to the One State soon kicks in to remind him that “this somewhat interferes with logical reasoning.” This makes it evident that this attraction to nature, to spring is a part of being human. Another example of human nature is how when D-503 writes, he naturally says “I love” then corrects himself and says “we love” It becomes instinctively clear that it humans naturally think as an individual and use “I” and “my” instead of “we” and “us”. The Benefactor has dehumanized all the ciphers by forcefully robbing them of their individuality and freedom. This links to the nature verses nurture debate and proves that when forced into unnatural conditions, the nature of human behaviour will always rebel. This is a highly significant concept that will be the basis of the events throughout this book.
This dehumanization of ciphers of One State becomes the solution to revolution. It becomes clear that constant change becomes a human need.
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