The Czech cities from the exile: Milan Kundera

Abstract

In this article we analyze the image that Milan Kundera offers of the Czech cities in two novels, The Joke, published in 1965 and The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, whose publication cost him the loss of the Czech citizenship in 1981. The author describes dark, sad and dirty cities. This pessimistic vision of his homeland is opposite to his opinion on the Western cities, with which a clear contrast is established. In both novels historic events, personal livings and subjective opinions of the exiled author are reflected.

Keywords

• Milan Kundera
• exilio
• ciudades checas
• La broma
• Libro de la risa y el olvido