This study attempts to understand, through both a careful reading of Milan Kundera’s oeuvre as well as a consideration of the Continental philosophical tradition, the place that Kundera calls “the universe of the novel.” It argues that Kundera transforms—not applies—philosophical reflection within the art form of the novel. As Kundera argued in The Art of the Novel: “The moment it becomes part of a novel, reflection changes its essence. Outside the novel, we’re in the realm of affirmation: everyone is sure of his statements: the politician, the philosopher, the concierge. Within the universe o ... More

This study attempts to understand, through both a careful reading of Milan Kundera’s oeuvre as well as a consideration of the Continental philosophical tradition, the place that Kundera calls “the universe of the novel.” It argues that Kundera transforms—not applies—philosophical reflection within the art form of the novel. As Kundera argued in The Art of the Novel: “The moment it becomes part of a novel, reflection changes its essence. Outside the novel, we’re in the realm of affirmation: everyone is sure of his statements: the politician, the philosopher, the concierge. Within the universe of the novel, however, no one affirms: it is the realm of play and of hypotheses. In the novel, then, reflection is essentially inquiring, hypothetical.” This work is not a philosophical consideration of Kundera’s work, but rather a reflection on the relationship between philosophy and the universe of the novel as it opens up in Kundera’s writing (as well as that of his self-identified progenitors). It does not seek to give philosophy the last word, but rather to open a space between these two universes and then to speak both to and from it.