Term of Award
Spring 2013
Degree Name
Master of Arts in English (M.A.)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Literature and Philosophy
Committee Chair
Tomasz Warchol
Committee Member 1
Elizabeth Butterfield
Committee Member 2
Candy Schille
Committee Member 3
Candy Schille
Abstract
Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a novel written in response to the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's myth of eternal return. Through questioning Nietzsche's myth, Kundera creates an existential framework that rejects eternal return and illustrates his foundational concepts of lightness and weight. Kundera posits that in the absence of eternal return, life becomes meaningless because all of the moments of a person's life disappear the moment that life ceases to be. In order to combat this terrifying prospect, Kundera suggests that a person must combat fate. Likewise, a person may discover how to give significance to life through the pursuit of lightness or weight. This thesis examines the function of lightness and weight and uses them to explore films that visualize Kundera's key concepts. Because the novel has a limited scope, it is difficult to examine the breadth of these concepts and fully unlock their complexities. Removing them from Kundera's novel and using them as a lens to examine films allows the ideas to move from the hypothetical sphere so that they can become fully meaningful.
Recommended Citation
Milton, Angela C., "Irreconcilable Oppositions: "Es Muss Sein" and The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 40.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/40
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
