Milan Kundera, Renowned Novelist, Passes Away at 94

Milan Kundera (1929–2023), the celebrated Czech-born novelist, passed away on July 11, 2023, in Paris, France, where he had been residing. Born in Czechoslovakia in 1929, Kundera went into exile in 1975 and later acquired French citizenship. His creative freedom was stifled following the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968, an experience that profoundly influenced his seminal work, "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," published in France in 1984.

Kundera was an ardent member of the Communist Party from the age of 18 but grew disillusioned with Stalinist totalitarianism. His first novel, "The Joke," written in 1963, tells the story of an intellectual whose life is upended due to a seemingly trivial jest.

For many years, Kundera's works were banned in his homeland, and in 1979, he was stripped of his citizenship. It wasn't until the fall of Czechoslovak communism in 1989 that his books were finally published there. Although he had several opportunities to regain his citizenship, he declined until he accepted it again in 2019 after persuasion from the Czech government.

"The Unbearable Lightness of Being" was first available in South Korea before it was published in the Czech Republic, with the Korean translation released in 1988. The book became a bestseller, selling over a million copies in Korea alone. In 2013, a complete collection of Kundera's works was published in 15 volumes by Minumsa, and a special edition commemorating the 30th anniversary of the book's translation was released in 2018.

The film adaptation of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," titled "Prague Spring" in Korea, was introduced in the Chosun Ilbo on June 29, 1989. The article described the film as a portrayal of a surgeon's romantic escapades against the backdrop of the 1968 Prague Spring, contrasting his lighthearted approach to life with a woman's quest for true love.

Kundera reportedly had mixed feelings about the film, criticizing its explicit sexual content.

Since the 1990s, Kundera has been regarded as one of the most captivating foreign authors by Korean literary figures. Literary critic Park Hae-hyun noted that Kundera's works explore the tragic dualities of existence—individual versus collective, existence versus history—while employing a spirit of philosophical humor, blending comedy and tragedy in the human experience.

Kundera was a staunch opponent of totalitarian violence, whether political or religious. In his essay "The Art of the Thinking Being," he defended author Salman Rushdie, who faced a death sentence from Islamic fundamentalists, stating, "Rushdie did not blaspheme the divine. He did not attack Islam. He wrote a novel."

The news of Kundera's passing was prominently featured in the cultural section of the Chosun Ilbo on July 13, 2023. The article highlighted a poignant quote from Kundera's essays: "The only thing left for us, faced with this unavoidable defeat we call life, is to strive to understand that defeat."

Professor Bang Mi-kyung from Catholic University praised Kundera for his ability to express serious themes in a humorous and absurd manner, stating, "The more serious and heavy the subject, the more he could depict it comically, exploring the absurdity and seriousness of life simultaneously."