Milan Kundera's The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

Written in a style of creative nonfiction, Milan Kundera completed “The Book of Laughter and Forgetting” in France in 1978, exploring the theme of stepping from a restrictive society to freedom. Knowing that he lost his Czech readership (he was stripped of his Czech citizenship by the Communist government and all his works were removed from bookstores, libraries and universities), he embarked on a new approach to novel writing with this book. Acclaimed as one of the most influential pieces in literature by Western critics, Kundera became the novelist of the world. He created a historic shift in the way readers should regard novels.

This class will study his style that combines a diverse mix of literary forms, variety of characters, personal essay, autobiography, fantastic tales, biblical references, commentary, etc., while exposing the life behind "the iron curtain," as well as in France. Students will be encouraged not to be afraid to try writing their own novel.

Karen von Kunes, Ph.D., has taught Milan Kundera: The Czech Novelist and French Thinker at Yale University for over two decades. She is the author of “Milan Kundera’s Fiction: A Critical Approach to Existential Betrayals” and the editor of the forthcoming multi-authored study, Milan Kundera Known and Unknown. Other publications include “Czech: An Essential Grammar,” a novel on diaspora, “Among the Sinners,” literary criticism, film, lexicography and translations. Karen received her Ph.D. at McGill University and taught at Harvard where she reinvigorated Czech Studies. She has received many academic awards including recognition in The Princeton Review of The Best 300 Professors. She is fluent in five European languages.