Milan Kundera and Feminist Criticism: Dangerous Intersection

by John O'Brien

'Eliot to Derrida is a book which should be read by all students contemplating enrolment for a university course in modern English or European literary studies.' - Times Higher Educational Supplement This study offers the first extensive critique of the problematic representation of women in the fiction of Milan Kundera, in particular the apparent reliance on simplistic binary oppositions in the representation of women (beauty/ugliness, Madonna/whore, free will/fate, and others). Without waving away these concerns, this study goes on to show that a feminist criticism attentive to poststructural theoretical perspectives is able to engage Kundera's work most fully. While remaining ambivalent about a number of Kundera's representational strategies, this consideration of Kundera suggest that Kundera exposes the very narrative practices and representational strategies that he seems to proliferate himself on the misogynist surface of these expansive novels. Using an eclectic perspective that draws on the insights and methodology of feminist criticism, poststructuralism, and deconstruction, O'Brien argues that the character of Sabina herself offers the most effective paradigm for reading Kundera's work. Suggesting a dual vision of surface/depth, this understanding of Kundera accounts for the simplistic surfaces and ambiguous depths, both of which pose serious problems for the feminist reader.

191 pages, Hardcover

Published July 12, 1995

About the author

Librarian Note: There are many authors with the name John O'Brien. This profile contains various authors. See below for disambiguated authors.

John 2^ O'Brien : Author of Leaving Las Vegas
John 3^ O'Brien : Children's Book Author & Illustrator
John 4^ O'Brien : Pseudonym of Patrick Joseph Hartigan, Poet
John 5^ O'Brien : Pioneer of Person Centered Planning
John 6^ O'Brien : Co-Founder and Editor of Review of Contemporary Fiction
John 7^ O'Brien : GR Author, Horror, Post Apocalyptic, Science Fiction
John 8^ O'Brien : GR Author, Environment
John 9^ O'Brien : John O'Brien OFM, GR Author, Religion, Christian
John 10^ O'Brien : Biography, author of At Home in the Heart of Appalachia
John 11^ O'Brien : Business, Investment
John 12^ O'Brien : Crime
John 13^ O'Brien
John 14^ O'Brien
John 15^ O'Brien: New Zealand children's book author