The Uncanny and the ‘Great Return’ from Exile: Unheimlich (Un)homecomings in Milan Kundera’s Ignorance

Catherine MACMİLLAN

Makale detayları

The Uncanny and the ‘Great Return’ from Exile: Unheimlich (Un)homecomings in Milan Kundera’s Ignorance

Yazarlar:

Catherine MACMİLLAN

Yayıncı:

Istanbul University

Ana Başlıklar:

Edebiyat

Dergi:

Litera: Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies 2021 Vol.31 Issue 1, pp.121-136

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

6/2021

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2000516221

Sıklık:

Aylık

eISSN:

2602-2117

Özet:

 

This  paper  analyses  Milan  Kundera’s  novel  Ignorance,  which  focuses  on  the  return  of  two  emigrés,  Irena  and  Josef,  to  the  Czech  republic  following  the  collapse  of  the  Communist  regime  there.  The  novel  is  explored  from  the  perspective  of  the  uncanny, the unheimlich, literally the unhomely. The uncanniness of the experience of migration, for both the migrant and the host society, has been famously explored by  critics  such  as  Homi  Bhabha  and  Julia  Kristeva.    However,  arguably,  not  only  the  experience  of  migration  but  also  that  of  homecoming  can  be  uncanny.  In  this  context,  based  on  work  by  Boscaljon  et  al.  (2016),  this  paper  focuses  on  the  uncanniness  of  Irena  and  Josef ’s  return  to  their  country  of  origin.  For  Boscaljon  et  al. homecoming following a long period abroad can be profoundly uncanny, in that the familiarity of home has become, to an extent, unfamiliar after years of absence; both  the  emigré  and  their  home  have  changed  in  the  meantime.  Moreover,  the  return home can be uncanny in that the emigré may effectively be confronted with their  own  eerie  doubles  in  the  form  of  abjected  past  or  alternative  selves.  In  this  context, Irena and Jozef find a profoundly changed Prague on their return, and their reencounter with their families and old friends, with their language, and even with their own past selves is arguably one of an uncanny (un)familiarity. .

Makale detayları

The Uncanny and the ‘Great Return’ from Exile: Unheimlich (Un)homecomings in Milan Kundera’s Ignorance

Yazarlar: Catherine MACMİLLAN

Yayıncı: Istanbul University

Ana Başlıklar: Edebiyat

Dergi: Litera: Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies 2021 Vol.31 Issue 1, pp.121-136

Belge Tipi: Makale

Yayın Tarihi: 6/2021

Belge Dili: İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.): 2000516221

Sıklık: Aylık

eISSN: 2602-2117

Sayı

Yazarlar:

Catherine MACMİLLAN

Yayıncı:

Istanbul University

Ana Başlıklar:

Edebiyat

Dergi:

Litera: Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies 2021 Vol.31 Issue 1, pp.121-136

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

6/2021

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2000516221

Sıklık:

Aylık

eISSN:

2602-2117