Summary
‘KITSCH’
The better to earth what follows, let me begin with an image from the novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera. The character described here, Sabina, is a Czech artist, one of those who emigrated in 1968. The passage from which this is taken is headed ‘Parades’. It speaks of her feelings about political demonstrations.
During her studies, Sabina lived in a dormitory. On May Day all the students had to report early in the morning for the parade. Student officials would comb the building to ensure that no one was missing. Sabina hid in the lavatory. Not until long after the building was empty would she go back to her room. It was quieter than anywhere she could remember. The only sound was the parade music echoing in the distance. It was as though she had found refuge inside a shell and the only sound she could hear was the sea of an inimical world.
A year or two after emigrating, she happened to be in Paris on the anniversary of the Russian invasion of her country. A protest march had been scheduled, and she felt driven to take part. Fists raised high, the young Frenchmen shouted out slogans, but to her surprise she found herself unable to shout along with them. She lasted no more than a few minutes in the parade.
When she told her French friends about it, they were amazed. […]
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- Hegel's Political Theology , pp. 1 - 15Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1991
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