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Socialist Realism In Sabina By Kundera

1065 Words5 Pages

A central idea Sabina carries throughout the book is how she considers the communist regime to be kitsch: “On the surface, an intelligible lie; underneath, the unintelligible truth” (Kundera 63). Kitsch, defined by the narrator, is the denial of anything unacceptable (the opposite of “shit”, which means anything unacceptable). Because of the kitschy-ness of the society she grew up in, Sabina refutes the communist regime through her eccentric art work. When Sabina was studying in the art conservatory, she was forced to follow the art style of socialist realism, which was a rule enforced by political factors of her homeland. As introduced in the text, Sabina was taught that art should not be about “the good and the evil”, but “the good and the better” (Kundera 252). In short, theories taught to her were trying to force artists to create work in a positive light. However, Sabina accidentally dripped red paint over her socialist realist works. At first, she was upset about it, but she grew to enjoy this “unintentional beauty” (Kundera 101). Sabina names her early accidental works produced during her school days “Behind the scenes”, as if the red paint were the empty space exposed …show more content…

Her works shows two contrasting worlds of one world, reflecting her idea of kitsch: a grandiose appearance a realistic representation of the world, in contrast to

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