Why do you like it so much, LA? I like it a lot too, but now that i mentioned it in one of thousands of forms that cambridge sent me i'm scared that i'll have nothing to say about it the interview. What interests me about kafka is the recurrence of all these nightmarish worlds - basically all of the trial, the hotel in 'America' (which is weird, because the rest of it is so much more optimistic), and most of the short stories. I always found the burrow really interesting because the character creates the constricting atmosphere himself. How much do you think this is true of the trial also? The other thing i was thinking about is the influence of existentialism, especially in metamorphoses. He manages to retain this influence despite conjuring the same restrictions in gregor's world. Any thoughts anyone?
It's not so much the book specifically I like, but Kafka's style of writing. I enjoy his sombre and meloncholy way he paints the scene through speech. He describes the scene in narrative, but to fill it in with colour he uses the characters to give it the edge, which helps the molding of the characters themselves. And you're quite right about the characters creating a "constricting atmosphere". The Trial makes a great emphasis on constricting the lead, hence the topic of the story, in my opinion. I'm not quite sure what you mean about an "influence of existentialism". Could you explain? L.A.M
I was going to explain properly, but i'm pretty busy, interview on monday, so sorry but i'll copy and paste from some site that probably expresses it better than i could anyway. Kafka as Existentialist Philosophy professor Robert Solomon states, ÒThe existential attitude begins with a disoriented individual facing a confused world he cannot acceptÓ (ix). However, the individual eventually accepts and even embraces the absurdity of life. Albert CamusÕ Sisyphus is the often-cited example of such an existential hero. Sisyphus not only accepts his fate, he sees his acceptance as a form of revolt against the absurdity. KafkaÕs characters, too, accept their fates and embrace the absurdity of the universe. As William Hubben writes of K. in The Castle: As with CamusÕ Sisyphus, every failure is succeeded by a new and futile effort. - Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche & Kafka; Hubben, p. 141 Existentialism and the absurdism of Camus are often considered together in philosophy and literature. KafkaÕs absurd world belongs in this same grouping, as he explores the absurd relationships between individuals, society, technology, and words. KafkaÕs works meet the basic criteria of existentialism, while adding the additional depth of postmodern absurdity. Continental philosophy historian Walter Kaufmann observes that individualism is one of the few common traits among those writers associated with existentialism. This focus on the individual in an absurd world is one reason Kaufmann decides to include works by Kafka in collections of existential works. As Kaufmann explains: Certainly, existentialism is not a school of thought nor reducible to any set of tenets. The three writers who appear invariably on every list of existentialists Ñ Jaspers, Heidegger, and Sartre Ñ are not in agreement on essentials. By the time we consider adding Rilke, Kafka, and Camus, it becomes plain that one essential feature shared by all these men is their perfervid individualism. - Existentialism; Kaufmann, p. 11 While Marx and various Marxist movements see a social evolution in humanity towards a utopian society that moves beyond a need for government, postmodernism often rejects this tradition. For this reason, many Marxist critics consider postmodernism to be a symptom of capitalism and the alienation caused by materialism. The postmodern can be a bleak society lorded over by systems and mindless organizational psychology. This bureaucratic nightmare is the world of Kafka, which Hubben suggests existed throughout Europe before World War II: He expresses an existentialist WeltgefŸhl with stronger visionary force than his French colleagues, and speaks undoubtedly to the condition of untold men and women in Europe. - Hubben, p. 139 Kafka does not theorize a utopian future for humanity. At best, Kafka has no philosophical or political motives and merely wants to reflect what he has seen of human nature. At worst, Kafka believes humanity is descending into an abyss of alienation in which individuals can rely on no external truths or communal obligations. The end result is an extreme version of alienation that is a forced, not chosen, individualism. If anything, Kafka is more pessimistic than Sartre, Jaspers, Heidegger, or even Camus. The individualÕs conflict against the absurd is not even heroic; it is hopeless. Solomon suggests KafkaÕs pessimism moves beyond existential despair: It is now standard to link Kafka with Camus as a prophet of the absurd, but this view ignores the ultimate despair of Kafka that Camus rejects. [É] One might say that the basic difference between Camus and Kafka is that Camus attempts to provide an answer for the problem Kafka sees as inescapable. - Existentialism; Solomon, p. 166 Readers should compare The Judgment, The Trial, and In The Penal Colony. In KafkaÕs stories the greatest sin, as in existentialism, is a failure to be authentic in the sense Jean-Paul Sartre used the term. Something does not seem authentic about KafkaÕs punished characters Ñ they do not seem true to themselves. It is one thing to accept a situation, it is another to fail to assert an identity. Without an identity, alienation is certain. :nopity:
