Betrayed Will

Author: Milan Kundera
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-02-01
Features: In my opinion, great works can only be born within the history of the art they belong to and participate in that history. Only in history can people grasp what is new, what is repetitive, what is invention, and what is imitation. In other words, only in history can a work exist as a value that people can discern and cherish. For art, I believe there is nothing more terrible than falling outside its history, because it would then fall into a chaotic state where no aesthetic value can be discovered anymore. For me, becoming a novelist is not just practicing a certain "literary genre"; it is also an attitude, a wisdom, a stance; a stance that excludes any assimilation with any politics, any religion, any ideology, any ethical morality, or any collective stance; a conscious, stubborn, and furious differentiation, not as escape or passivity, but as resistance, rebellion, and challenge. In my opinion, great works can only be born within the history of the art they belong to and participate in that history. Only in history can people grasp what is new, what is repetitive, what is invention, and what is imitation. In other words, only in history can a work exist as a value that people can discern and cherish. For art, I believe there is nothing more terrible than falling outside its history, because it would then fall into a chaotic state where no aesthetic value can be discovered anymore. For me, becoming a novelist is not just practicing a certain "literary genre"; it is also an attitude, a wisdom, a stance; a stance that excludes any assimilation with any politics, any religion, any ideology, any ethical morality, or any collective stance; a conscious, stubborn, and furious differentiation, not as escape or passivity, but as resistance, rebellion, and challenge.