Persecuted at Home for Participating in the 'Prague Spring'
Exiled to France, Engaged in Writing
Recognized for Literary Merit but Missed the Nobel Prize in Literature
Milan Kundera, the author well known for the novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being, passed away on the 11th (local time) in Paris, France. Milan Kundera was born in 1929 in Brno, Czechoslovakia, during the Nazi invasion. After experiencing hardships due to his participation in the 1968 democratization movement known as the 'Prague Spring,' he fled to France in 1975 to escape communist oppression and lived there for over 50 years until his death. He was stripped of his Czechoslovak citizenship in 1979 but regained it in 2019.
He entered the literary world in 1963 with the publication of the short story Funny People. While teaching literature and film at university, he continued his writing activities and published his first novel The Joke in 1967. However, following his involvement in the 'Prague Spring' in 1968, his works were confiscated, and he faced restrictions on writing, which led to his exile to France in 1975. At that time, he stated that he had chosen France as his homeland as a writer. From 1993 onward, he wrote in French rather than his native Czech.
He rose to global literary prominence with his 1984 work The Unbearable Lightness of Being. The novel is set against the backdrop of the 1968 Czech democratization movement, the 'Prague Spring,' and explores modern life and love. Through four protagonists, it depicts the process of overcoming the weight of life?sometimes heavy, sometimes light?in a bleak era, which garnered great popularity.
The novel became known in South Korea in 1988. After being featured in the autumn issue of the quarterly World Literature that year, it was published as a standalone book in November. Coinciding with the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the end of the Cold War, it was widely read in Korean universities under the abbreviation 'Chamjonka.' In 1988, it was also adapted into a film directed by Philip Kaufman, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Juliette Binoche, attracting attention. The film was released domestically under the title Prague Spring.
Subsequently, he published works such as the novels Life Is Elsewhere, Immortality, Identity, The Festival of Insignificance, and prose works like The Art of the Novel, The Curtain, and Encounter, most of which have been translated and published in South Korea. His recent work includes the essay Kidnapped West Europe, released in November last year. During his lifetime, he received awards such as the M?dicis Prize, the Clement Luce Prize, the Europe Prize, the Czech Writers' Prize, and the Commonwealth Prize. However, he was never listed among Nobel Prize in Literature laureates.
Meanwhile, following the news of Milan Kundera's passing, Czech President Petr Pavel expressed his condolences on the 12th (local time) via social media, stating, "(He was) a world-renowned writer who influenced generations," and added, "Kundera's legacy will continue through his works."
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