AN INTERPLAY OF METAMODERN IRONY IN MILAN KUNDERA’S THE FESTIVAL OF INSIGNIFICANCE

Received: 13.09.2021; Revised: 22.10.2021, Accepted: 18.11.2021, Published Online: 02.12.2021

Dr. Amna Saeed

Assistant Professor, Dept. of Humanities, COMSATS University, Islamabad, Pakistan

Abstract

This essay aims to explore the interplay of metamodern irony in Kundera’s The Festival of Insignificance (2015). The text has many layers of meaning that depict the multiple challenging realities that interconnect humanity despite the ethnic or cultural differences. Nonetheless,  the element of metamodern irony depicts the crisis of the contemporary individual most aptly. Grounded in metamodern theory the essay unfolds the dilemma of finding sense in a nonsensical world where people are focused more on the differences among them than the similarities. The essay concludes that the text is a celebration of cultural and linguistic diversity and an attitude of tolerance in a world divided by war, conflict, and ethnic differences with a need to focus on love and happiness than panic and anxiety.