On “Sexual Deviance” in Milan Kundera’s novels

Abstract

In Milan Kundera’s novels, sexual deviance occurs repeatedly. Taking some of Kundera’s representative novels as research perspective, this article tries to analyze the causes of sexual deviance for different genders. Through text analysis, it is not difficult to find that the major reasons for men’s sexual deviance are to seek sexual stimulation, to prove masculinity or to make up for regret. For women, sexual deviance occurs mainly to take revenge on irresponsible husbands, to pursue feminism or to satisfy basic physiological needs. Incest and naked parties are two extreme forms of sexual deviance in Kundera’s novels. For Kundera, incest can cause irreparable harm to the family members. Therefore, it belongs to a kind of social spiritual ecological problem. Nude party is a medium for Kundera to express his ethical thoughts, which expresses the author’s respect and recognition of women’s social status. Subsequently, the article focuses on the trauma brought by the sexual deviant behavior to family members and the reactions of those victims. Through in-depth analysis, the article aims to summarize Kundera’s attitude towards sexual deviance. Different from the traditional concept, Kundera’s attitude towards the third party in sexual deviance is quite tolerant  which reflects his critical attitude towards traditional ethics. Through the analysis of sexual deviance in Kundera’s novels, this paper aims to provide some enlightenment for solving the similar problems related to sexual deviance in real life.