Poetry, Thought, History: Antithesis And Synthesis In Milan Kundera's Poetics On Novels

This dissertation deals with the topics in the poetics on novels of Czech- French novelist Milan Kundera (born in 1929). With the aid of cultural perspective and overall thinking, the dissertation offers an analysis and interpretation of Kundera抯 theory, novel and criticism; and tries to feature out the main ideas, the structure, the aesthetic characteristics and the cultural roles of his poetics, as well as its inspiration to the future writing of novels. This dissertation is divided into eight chapters. The first chapter discusses the context, and raises topics about Milan Kundera抯 poetics. The second chapter is devoted to Kundera抯 polyphonic forms; the third, his style of humor; the fourth, the significance of his metaphor; the fifth, his ideas of being; the sixth, the historical consciousness in his poetics; the seventh, his historiography of novels; the eighth, the conclusions of the dissertation. The synthetic structure of poetry, thought and history in the analysis is inspired by the same typical quality implicated in Kundera抯 poetics. This dissertation concludes as follows: 1. As an aesthetic-existential 憄oetics, Milan Kundera抯 is full of characteristics of innovative formalism, existential metaphysics and less-plot historicism. 2. Kundera does not restrain his speculation within all the concrete techniques concerning styles, genres and structures, but goes further to meditate on novels metaphysically, and advocate a rational, critical and relative novelistic wisdom in contemporary context. 3. Kundera?s meditation stimulates an opening and dialogical forum for the coexistence of different styles and spirits in novels. With the advocating of the polyphonic spirit, the pluralism will take the place of the momsm.