What does #YOLO mean to you?

Our discussion today about the myth of eternal return got me thinking about that God awful acronym "YOLO" (i.e. "you only live once"). I've been having to examine the deep, meaningful philosophy behind this phrase as it is the topic of one of my college essays: "What does #YOLO mean to you?" (Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is the kind of education that we will be paying $50,000+ for in a year's time.) Analyzing "YOLO" with Unbearable Lightness in mind, I see two possible interpretations. First, that life is fleeting - light - and, as such, you should take all the chances and risks possible  in your short life. Second, that we have been given the gift of life and must take it seriously, leaving as great a mark on the world as possible - weight. I personally subscribe to the latter way of thinking; however, it seems to me that the former philosophy is a direct result of what Kundera names the "unbearable lightness of being." Does the popularity of YOLO-ideals spring from our inability to deal with our own transience?

So, my fellow classmates, I now ask you, "What does #YOLO mean to you?"

Is Kundera a Communist snitch?

While conducting additional research on Milan Kundera, I discovered some startling allegations made by Respekt, a Czech newspaper. According to the New York Times in 2008, Milan exposed Western intelligence agent, Dvoracek, to Czech Communist police when he was twenty-one years old. Not only does this accusation reopen previous Czech history, but also hinders Milan's reputation as a writer. Milan, like Alex explained, fled his native country to become a French citizen in 1975. Many Czech citizens have refused to forgive him for exiling his home country. Hearing that Milan potentially aided the Communist Party simply adds salt to a wound that Milan previously created for himself in the hearts of the Czech. Kundera outrightly condemns totalitarianism, so why did he reveal this Western agent to the Czech Communist police?

Kundera, naturally, denies such accusations and proclaims the story an "assassination" against himself. Many support Kundera, scolding the Respekt for creating public uneasiness about investigating past Communist issues. Others agree that other authors are simply jealous, and refuse to accept Kundera as simply an informer. Vojtech Ripka, head of New York University's documentation department in Prague, claims that Kundera's documents were found purely by accident when investigating agents of the 1950s. The case gets even deeper when friend of Kundera, Dlask, is revealed to have supposedly reported Dvoracek to police as well. Who's the real culprit? Who caused Dvoracek to spend twenty-two years in prison and fourteen years in uranium mines? Hey Kundera, perhaps stay incognito for the unbearable time being...

Link- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/18/world/europe/18kundera.html?_r=0

Incest and 100 Years of Solitude

When we were discussing all of the incestuous relationships in 100 Years of Solitude, this news story I recently heard of popped into my head. it was about a couple who had been married for a good amount of time, around ten years, had a child together, and had another kid on the way when they found out that they were brother and sister. They have recently decided to stay together. Although I think it's strange, I sympathize with the couple. Imagine being in a long-term, committed, loving marriage and then finding out your spouse is your sibling. It would be difficult to find a solution to the problem. Divorcing the person you love when you are both very much still in love must be heartbreaking.

When looking for the link to this story to post on the blog, I came across the link to this video, about a different couple entirely. (See the link below.) This woman had children of her own, and decided that they should meet her father, their grandfather, whom she had only met twice in her life herself. After getting back in touch with him, she met him in person for the third time ever. She began to fall in love with him and he with her. I do not sympathize with this relationship whatsoever. The fact that they both knew of their blood-ties and yet still had the desire to be a couple is bizarre to say the least. (Oedipus complex, much?) Hopefully if this father-daughter couple end up having a child the kid won't be born with a pig's tale like Amaranta Úrsula and Aureliano Segundo's son. I hear pig tales greatly increase the probability that the child will be eaten by ants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgaarP11kAI  

Oepidus/Electra Complex?

So our discussion about the Moses allusion in Unbearable Lightness today got me thinking about Freud (still mad...) and specifically about the Oedipus complex. Tereza and Tomas definitely do not have a typical romantic relationship or a father-daughter relationship. So what is it? I did a little research on the Oedipus complex, or the Electra complex as it is called in young females, and found that the complex is largely driven by a psychological drive in a young female to compete with her mother for her father's affection. While Tereza's father is never discussed, her feelings toward her mother could be seen as competitive if Tereza's mother represents lightness. If we make Tomas the "father" figure, Tereza feels that she must compete with the lightness (i.e. her mother) in order to keep Tomas' love. This may seem like a stretch, but Kundera's reference to Oedipus later in the book (p. 175) convinced me that there is some connection. Thoughts?

Kundera rejecting his home?

I found this article about Kundera that I found quite interesting. Here's the link if you want to check it out http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/milan-kundera-skips-hometown-conference-on-his-work-1.802373

It basically states that in 1975 he left the Czech Republic for France and became a French citizen in 1981and hasn't been back since then. In recent years he's even gone so far as to forbid publishers from publishing his books in the Czech language. In fact, the last book he published in Czech was Immortality, in 1990. This could be some sort of metaphor but it seems rather odd to me. He also hasn't returned to accept the Czech National Prize for literature and has even stated that "sees himself as a French writer and insists his work should be studied as French literature and classified as such in book stores"

Marquez and Magical Realism

Freshman year we read "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Marquez (in fact, this was written shortly after 100 Years of Solitude). Like 100 Years of Solitude, this work is based largely on magical realism. Here is a link to that story; it's worth a second read.

http://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/CreativeWriting/323/MarquezManwithWings.htm

You'll notice that everyone kind of just accepts that there is an angel. The other characters are shocked, but do not doubt the authenticity of the angel (except for the local priest who asked for confirmation from the Pope). Also in this story, Marquez mentions a woman who turned into a spider and recounts the tale to a paying audience, another example of magical realism.

From nearly the start of 100 Years of Solitude Marquez makes it clear that this book has a large amount of magical realism. After José Arcadio Buendia kills Prudencio Aguilar, Prudencio's ghost comes back. The characters just accept this. The book has many examples of magical realism. Some of my favorite examples include Remedios the Beauty floating up to heaven on bed sheets, an old lady (representing Death) predicting Amaranta's death directly after her complement of the shroud, and Melquíades's ability to predict 100 years worth of history. The characters accept all of this. In fact, when Remedios was floating to heaven, Úrsula didn't even find that impressive because she had already seen magic flying carpets. By exaggerating events, Marquez makes them fantastical, but by being very specific he gives these events a sense of reality. 

Latin American culture is very superstitious, so including magical realism in this society makes sense. Below is an article if you want to read some Latin American superstitions. This article reminded me of Pilar Ternera and Úrsula as well. These are some things that they might try to tell others about. I could see Marquez including these superstitions in the magical reality of 100 Years of Solitude.

http://www.latina.com/lifestyle/home/believe-it-or-not-latin-superstitions

The Bowler Hat

So, I decided to look more into the bowler hat and what it symbolizes and such and found a paper- http://library.drexel.edu/publications/dsmr/Lambert_Men's%20Hats%20final.pdf - on different hat styles and the social stigmas attached to them. Apparently the bowler hat was initially designed for "power dressing," making it a hat that was intended for fairly rigorous labor and everyday use. This hat became extremely associated with the average man - hence why Charlie Chapman was so relatable to the average movie-goers. Since this hat was intended for more rigorous "manly" labor, the fact that the hat Sabina wears is a bowler hat really reinforces the idea that she is in fact an equal when engaging in coital activities with Tomas. I still like my connection with the bowler hat and Oedipus since it is worn during intercourse and it was her father's since Oedipus is a recurring motif throughout this entire story; however, I think its connection to Sabina's progressive nature is much more prevalent.