laying down the law recent books on kafka

7/27/2019 Laying Down the Law Recent Books on Kafka

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Laying down the Law: Recent Books on KafkaConstructive Destruction: Kafka's Aphorism, Literary Tradition and Literary Transformationby Richard T. Gray; Franz Kafka's Use of Law in Fiction by Lida Kirchberger; DieDeportation des Menschen: Kafkas Erzhlung "In der Strafkolonie" im eurhnpischen Kontextby >Walter Mller-Seidel; Franz Kafka by Wiebrecht Ries; Kafka and the ContemporaryCritical Performance: Centenary Readings by Alan Udoff

Review by: Ruth V. GrossMonatshefte, Vol. 80, No. 4 (Winter, 1988), pp. 488-496Published by: University of Wisconsin PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30153110 .Accessed: 20/12/2011 15:05

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LayingDownthe Law:RecentBooks on KafkaRUTH V. GROSSEastman School ofMusic/University ofRochester

Review Article

ConstructiveDestruction:Kafka'sAphorism,LiteraryTraditionandLiteraryTransformation.By Richard T. Gray. Thbingen:Niemeyer,1987. 308 pages.Franz Kafka's Use of Lawin Fiction.By Lida Kirchberger.New York:Lang, 1986. 212 pages.Die Deportationdes Menschen: KafkasErzihlung "In der Strafkolonie"im europiaischenKontext.Von WalterMailler-Seidel. tuttgart:Metzler,1986. 193 Seiten.Franz Kafka.Von WiebrechtRies. Minchen: Artemis,1987.Kafka and the ContemporaryCritical Performance:CentenaryReadings.EditedbyAlanUdoffBloomington:ndiana,1987.viii + 277pages.A fewyears agoI reada review article n thisjournalentitled "You'llLaughWhen I Tell You: Fifteen Books on Kafka"(Vol. 73/1 1981: 67-96), a title which must sum up the feelingsof anyone who has recentlytaught or written about the works of Franz Kafka. For the amount ofsecondary iteraturepublishedon this writeron both sides of the Atlantic

is staggering. t has become almost a commonplaceto note the dispro-portionin the size of Kafka's euvre o the amount of criticism t generates;an exponentialfactor seems to be at work.Yet, surprisinglymuch of eachyear'snew scholarship s truly new and adds to the field in a significantway. As long as innovative ways of thinking, reading,and writingcon-tinue to select Kafka'sworks as a majorarena for theirefforts,we shouldlook forward o an ever-expandingcorpusof Kafkascholarshipwithoutdread.RichardGray'sConstructiveDestruction,which derivesits title froma phraseKafka used to describe the discursive method of Kierkegaard,attemptsto define the position of Kafka'saphoristic writings n relationto his life and works. In addition, it approaches he aphorismas a genreMonatshefte,Vol. 80, No. 4, 1988 4880026-9271/88/0004/0488 $01.50/0C 1988by The Board of Regentsof The Universityof WisconsinSystem


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ReviewArticle 489of literatureand views Kafka'saphoristicwritingswithin the context ofa specific literarytradition. The first two chaptersof Gray's study dealwith the context of the aphorism, first from a broadlyhistorical, thenfrom a specificallyAustrianpointof view. Grayis intriguedby the aphor-ism as a genre because it consciously eliminates distinctions betweenphilosophy,literature,and criticism.Tracing he historyof the aphorismfrom the medicaloriginsof the termthrough ts two distinct traditions-the French and the German-Gray overwhelms his reader with infor-mation about the genre. In its Frenchmanifestation,the aphorismcon-centrates on form, and is of a moralistic and conclusive nature;in theGerman tradition, however, the focus is less on form than content. Inits German radition,theaphorism akes on a dialogiccharacter, ngagingthe reader n a thoughtfulexchangewith the text.According o Graythereis an ambiguity of languagein the German aphorism that makes thewhole form less conclusive and morestimulative than the Frenchaphor-ism, andbringsabout a confluenceofaphoristicsandhermeneutics, inceboth require he consciousengagementof the reader n gettingto a mean-ing of the text.The first 118 pagesof Gray'sbook constitute a kind of monographon the idea of the aphorism. Kafka enters into the discussion in theintroduction of the book and disappearsuntil the third chapter.Somemight feel that a more concise and focussed discussion of the historywould have been preferable or the thrust of this book; I feel that erringon the side of too much knowledgeis a sin that should tempt more ofus. WhenGrayturns to Kafkaand the aphorism,his point is that Kafka'spreoccupationwith the aphorismwas a significantaspectof his creativepersonalityand as such,theaphorismandaphoristicutterances emainedundercurrentsn his creativity throughouthis life. Grayshows how, de-spite the relatively few aphoristic remarkspresent in Kafka's writtendocuments, there are definite examples of aphoristic writing,which hecalls "embeddedaphorisms," n letters and diaries from variousperiodsof Kafka's ife. The subjectsof Kafka'sconcern,his preoccupationwithwhat could be expressed, and the fragmentarynature of much of hiswritingand thought alignhim with Austrians n the aphoristictradition.Accordingto Gray, "Kafka is not merely the heir to this tradition,butsimultaneouslya reversebenefactor; or given the horizon of his aphor-istic writings,the aphoristictexts of his predecessors ake on new mean-ings" (173). It is in his discussion of Kafka'sreadingsof otheraphoristsand writersthat Gray defines his title and explains the essence of hisstudy:

'Constructive estruction'hus refers o a specificprocedureor dealingwiththeself,one in whichanalyticaldismantlingof the self into constitutivefragments s prerequisiteor a creative reconstitutionof the self. These twomovements,self-deconstruction ndself-reconstruction,rethusindividualmoments of a dialecticalprocessin which Kafka,through he fragmentarytextual medium of aphoristicdiscourse,attemptsa transfiguration,e-con-stitution,or textualizationof the self. (188)


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490 GrossGray methodically llustratesKafka's amiliaritywith the forms andstrategiesof the tradition, before he considers Kafka's own aphoristic

texts,per se. When he discusses these, he reminds the readerof the "in-teractive component" which all aphorisms carrywithin them-an "in-tratext"and an "intertext." n analyzingvarious Kafkaaphorisms,Grayconcludes:"The central issue for Kafka was the discovery of a mode ofcommunication of the self that would somehow bridgethe gap betweenthe individualityof his experiencesand the communalityof communi-cation"(250). By findinga structurewith which the readercan identify,the individual experiencefinds community. Graycontends that, in thisway,Kafka'saphorismspresenta concentrated orm of interplaybetweenmetaphorical and metonymical principles, which connect the "real"aphorismsto Kafka's other works, especially the parables.He ends hisstudy with a discussion of a parabolictext-"Auf der Galerie"-whichshows the differenthermeneuticalmoves possiblein an analysisof a textthat has structuraldefinition,yet "internalopenness."Pointingout thathis is not an interpretation,but ratheran analysiswhich bringsno "con-clusive"reading,Graydemonstrateshow Kafka earneda textualstrategythat combined formal closure with an indeterminacyof meaning.Kirchberger, ubtitlingher book "A New Interpretation"of threeof Kafka'sworks, sets out to demonstrate "the vital role played by hislegal profession in the life of Franz Kafka." Her method is to analyze"Inthe PenalColony,""TheTrial,"and "TheCastle" n the light of thewritings of Rudolf von Jhering,"one of the most celebrated Germanspeaking legal pedagoguesof the later nineteenth century"in order toshow the extent to which Kafka'sthoughts and writingsdeal with thesocial order and its regulationby law. She limits her studyto these threeworks becausethey depict"threewell defined social organismseach rest-ing on its own set of principles" (11). Kirchberger'spremise is that inorder fully to understand these works, an "interdisciplinary" pproachand interest must be brought to them; in this case "interdisciplinaryinterest"means a regard or the specifically egalproblemsthat she findsrelevant.Kirchberger as researched he works of von Jhering horoughlyand much of what is interesting n her studyrelates to his legal theories.Her readingsof Kafka's fiction, however, become little more than re-tellingsof the plot with few new insights.The "newinterpretation" hatshe announcesin her title finds that herapproachreveals a coherenceinthese three texts which "frees their author from any suspicion of beinga writerof the absurdfor the sake of absurdity" 191). The link betweenKafka and von Jheringis a circumstantialone; as a law student Kafkamust have known of von Jhering'sreputation.No intertextuality,here.Still, her discussion of how Kafka's dramatizationof the effects of the"machines"of the law on the "body" politic reflectsthe jurisprudentialmetaphorsof von Jhering s at the veryleastprovocative.Itaddsa formaldimension to Kafka as a critic of representationsof bureaucracy,andinvites furthercomparisons, say, between Kafkaand Max Weber.


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Review Article 491Kirchberger's all for an "interdisciplinary" pproachfrom a legalperspective indsa kindredspiritin WalterMiiller-Seidel's tudy.Instead

of choosing three works, Miller-Seidel focusses solely on "In der Straf-kolonie" in order to demonstratethat it is a misreadingof the work toview it as "fantastic"or "dream"literature.Miller-Seidel draws on agreatdeal of historicalbackground rom Kafka's ife to analyzethis par-ticular ale as arealisticdepictionof the inhumanetreatmentof prisoners.In a rathermore persuasivetreatmentthan Kirchberger's,Miller-Seidelarguesthat Kafka'sfascination for this penalogicaltopic stems from hisinterestin the European egal tradition. The uprisingof the Paris com-mune and the Dreyfusaffairbecomepartof thebackground f thegenesisof Kafka'sstory in Miller-Seidel's study, which suggeststhat these his-torical events, all linked to the agonies of deportation,are connected tothe literarythemes of prisonerand penal system running throughtheworks of Dostoyevsky, Nietzsche, Tolstoy, Chekov, and the Germanexpressionist poets. Miller-Seidel has researchedthe history of depor-tation as a punitive measurein German law and findsdiscussionsaboutits usefulnessto Germansociety reachingtheir zenith in the 1890's and1900's.Connected to the historic and legal aspectsare two more personalevents that relate to Kafka'screation of "In der Strafkolonie."Duringhis legalstudies,Kafkahad taken classes with Hans Gro3, a famouslegalpedagogue,whose son Otto,a psychiatrist,had been one of Freud's nnercircle.Otto,aftersuffering everedepressionsand bouts with drugswhichhad led to attemptsat suicide,was arrestedby police in Berlinand sentto a mental institution in Viennaathis father'srequest.The event becamea cause cilbre among the German literati who were outragedat theauthoritythe fathercould exercise over the son. It was viewed as a kindof deportation.Because of Kafka'sstruggleswith his own father,he wasdeeply impressedwith this case. At approximately he same time, Kafkaread an essay by AlfredWeber,an influentialsociologist, entitled "DerBeamte,"in which he uses the word Apparatto apply not only to themachine but metaphoricallyto the whole system of bureaucracy.Thisconfluenceof ideas,plusKafka'sreadingof RobertHeindl's"Meine Reisenach den Strafkolonien," n which many details occurring n the storyappear, provide the backgroundfor the Kafka tale in Miller-Seidel'sreading."In der Strafkolonie"has now been given an historical,a Eu-ropeancontext. When Miller-Seidel turns to the text itself, his focus ison narrativeperspective.He takes issue with FriedrichBeil3ner'sheorythat in Kafka'sworks there must alwaysbe one main characteror onecharacter rom whose perspective he storyis told and whoseperspectiveis Kafka's:"Esentsprichtder Strukturdes antipersonalenErzahlens,daBes in KafkasErzahlungeine Hauptfigurnicht gibt und auch nicht gebenmu3" (131). The perversity hat leads to the inhumanityanddegradationof the human being in Kafka'sstory is typical of a certain kind of pun-ishment practicedin Europebefore the First World War. Miiller-Seidelalso makes connectionsto German aw after1919,the date "In der Straf-


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492 Grosskolonie"waspublished.Seeing n Kafka's ale a sociallycommittedreporton contemporaryabuses, the study arguesfor the realism of this work.Like the Kafkacritics who describe he careersof genuineitinerant"Hun-gerkinstler"-professional starvers-, Miller-Seidel offersa radicallydif-ferent notion of the Kafkanimagination,which seems far less fantastic,and more a sort of muckrakingmodernist reformism. Whether or notreadersof Kafkaapproachhis works from this point of view, there is awealthof interesting nformation contained in Miller-Seidel'svery read-able book.WiebrechtRies' FranzKafkaoffersa contrasting heoryabout Kaf-ka's works. This handy volume is part of the Artemis series of intro-ductions to world literature.Ries' approach s summarizedby a sentencein his opening paragraph:"Kafkasirenenhafte ichtung ibt lsDarstellungeines traumhaftenn-nern Lebens' (Tagebuch, 6.Aug.1914), in der das Subjektin Dinghaftes,Objektivesn diebriichigeKontur nnererErfahrung,ie Illusionswelt esTraumsn dielabyrinthischetrukturinerunentrinnbarenWirklichkeit'standigneinandermschlagen,inenDeutungszwangus,dendas Fremdeder sie tragenden rzihlkunstbensoprovoziertwie abweist.

UnderstandingKafka's wruvre s the representationof an internalprivate world, Ries reads the various works that he discusses from aconvinced and usually convincing Freudian perspective. As an intro-duction to thebook, Ries hasnot only writtena shortbiographyof Kafka,but has explainedhis theory that Kafka's works are a "cryptogram"orthe dissolution of the ego:"KafkasgroBeErzahlungenund Romane stel-len dar,wie das ich als zentrales seelischesSteurerungsorgann der Un-lIsbarkeitseinerAufgabezerbrichtund im Traumkreisder 'Maskeraden'des inneren Auslandes, der ungebandigtenseelischen Potenzen, unter-geht" (14). Ries explains that he will attempt readingsof Kafka'sworksboth iconographically,.e. analyzingmotives, and iconologically, .e. ana-lyzingthe darkmetonymiesand metaphors hat arisefrom condensationsin the narratives.The shortbiography, nterspersedwithmanyquotationsfrom diariesand letters o andbyKafka,emphasizesKafka'srelationshipswith his father and with women. Ries chooses to tell the story of life interms of these relationships,rather than in terms of his literary experi-ences. In Ries' view, the former are the events that inform the psycho-logical backgroundof Kafka's works. He divides the study of the textsinto four parts:I. Strafen ("Das Urteil," "Die Verwandlung,""In derStrafkolonie"); I. Die SymbolischenWunden "EinLandarzt,""EinBe-richtzu einer Akademie,""DerJagerGracchus"); II. Labyrinthe "DerVerschollene,""Der ProzeB,""Das Schlo3";and IV. Todesbilder.Ries'approach s consistentlyFreudian,and his SigmundFreudwrites in Ger-man not in French.This is not a textual psychoanalysis,but a psycho-analysisof characterand situation. As such it is a success, and a usefiuland teachable introduction to Kafka's work.Alan Udoff has edited a volume of Kafka criticism meant for "thecontemporaryreader,"which is to say, the academic readerwhose ap-


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ReviewArticle 493proachto Kafka has been influencedby the semiotic and deconstructivetextualization of literaturecarried out primarily n the field of compar-ative literatureduringthe past twenty yearsor so. The volume harveststhe fruits of this trend,which haspaida lot of attention to Kafka.Anyonewho wishes to understand he recentcriticalwork on Kafka,must consultthis volume. The book marksKafka'scentenaryyear (1983) by collectingthe work of some of the most theory-oriented cholarscurrentlywritingon Kafka,often, but by no means always, from outside the boundariesof traditional Germanistik.Dividing his presentationof the sixteen con-tributions into two parts-Theory and Praxis-Udoff has put togetheravolume that reflects its time, "the time of the sign" as he phrasesit inhis introduction. Since most of the articlesin this book approachKafkafrom criticalperspectives nformedby semiotics, structuralism,and de-construction,this collection differsmarkedlyfrom the many critical an-thologies on Kafka'sworks that have precededit. Over and over again,the perils, traps, fallacies, and mistakes of readingare broughtto lightby the various contributors;many of the essays afford considerableen-joyment in their own rightas models of literarydiscourse.The suspicionand self-consciousnessof the Kafkannarratorhas invaded this criticism,and a suspendedpleasureand frustrationnot unlike that of theexperienceof readingKafka often emergefrom these critical texts.The opening essay, Rainer Nigele's "Kafka and the InterpretiveDesire," sets the tone for the book, in that it addresses the question of"authority"of writingand the reader'sseeming need to interpret,thusto change,thus to undermine that authority:"Theparadoxof writingisthat it invites interpretation.It wants to be read, and yet each reading... violates the unchangeabilityof writing" 28). Understanding his un-changeabilityas a negative authority, Nigele explains the reader'scom-pulsion to readauthoritatively, o come up with "authoritative nterpre-tations" which will continuallybe undercutby the authorityof the textitself. Udoffs volume proceeds,in effect, to demonstratethis process.Anthony Thorlby's"Kafka'sNarrative:A Matter of Form,"beginswith the idea of the "Kafkaesque"--"amass of bizarredetailsinexplicablybrought together"(31)-and applies it "to the situation which criticismhas contructed around the few works Kafka himself published ... (31)questioning why Kafka's texts continue to generate such prodigiousamounts of criticism. Quicklyand cleverly, Thorlbydemonstrates howKafka'sprosefails to explainits realsubjectand how in reading he text,we, like the hero,want thingsexplainedthat neverwill be. Whythen dowe pursuethe maddeningtask of readingKafka?Thorlbybelieves thatit is because Kafka'sprose "makes clear the linguisticand psychologicalcharacterof explanation.. ." (36) in that Kafka'sexplanationsnever fittheir situations, thus producingthat anxiety that appearswhen expla-nations fail.Readers, hen,can understandwithoutknowingwhat a giventext is about only by lookingat the form of the content. In Kafka's exts,form and content (as with Gregor Samsa)are rarely appropriate o one


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494 Grossanother,and so we arebroughtback to the meaningof the Kafkaesque-the concept geneticallylinked with Kafka'seuvre.

In Kafka there are two "readingsof reading,"according o ClaytonKoelb in his essay "TheMargin n the Middle." The one Koelb calls the"alethetic"-a readingto discover some truth in a text. The other is the"lethetic"-a readingthat ignorestextual intention and allows the readerto manipulatethe text, thus permittingher or him to escapethe dangersof reading, to escape the kind of reading that drowns or devours thereader.Kafkahas describedthis kind of reading n diaries and in varioustexts.Relating his idea of reading o EdgarAllan Poe'sMarginalia,Koelbdemonstrateshow this second interpretationof readingtransforms the"textproper..,. into a kind of margin" 82), therebyremovingthe readerfrom the dangersof readingauthoritativetexts: "A marginaltext (or atext displacedto the margin)is divested of the very purposethat givesit the power to penetratethe reader"(82). The only way to escape thedangersinherent in readingis to ignore a text, as Ulysses ignored thesong/silence in "The Silence of the Sirens."Other contributorsto Udoffs "Theory"section are Charles Bern-heimer, Stanley Corngold,and IngeborgHoesterey. Bernheimer'sessay"On Death and Dying"illuminates the variousmeaningsthat death andwritingheld for Kafka at different imes in his life. Takingissue with theprofferednotion that all of Kafka'swriting s "a desire for andexpectationof the end . . ." (92), Bernheimer reveals "the life-and-death ssues atstake in the act of reading" (95), evoking a Kafka-corpsewho poses asan allegoricalemblem of death to commemorate(and thus give life to)his existence throughwriting.Corngold,too, considersthe idea of deathand the author, but for him, Kafka survives his text by becoming thequestion of the text, which Corngoldsees as the "questionof narrativeperspective" 51). Hoestereyreads Kafka'senigmatic"Whipper" pisodefrom "The Trial"throughthe intertextual lens of Robbe-Grillet'svoy-eurism, and extends this circularmode of readinginto a comparativecritiqueof both receptionaestheticsand the hermeneutics of textuality.In his essay "Kafka'sBeginnings,"Walter Sokel connects narcis-sism, magic, and Kafka's narrative art. Concernedwith Kafka's ambi-valent attitudes toward writing, Sokel illustrates how Kafka's earliestpublished ext,"Descriptionof Struggle," evealsa conflictbetweenmagicand narration:"In Kafka'sbeginnings,narration s the formalcorrelativeof eros and life, even as magic is the formal correlativeof narcissism"(100). Sokel explains that writing(which Kafka had likened to prayer),like eros and unlike narcissism, strives towards an object other thanoneself.ReadingKafka's ale as a strugglebetween eros and libido, Sokelconcludes:"The thematizationof narrationrepresents he climax of theselfs wooing of the other. It ends in failure. The other does not respond.Thus the narratorwithdraws.Acceptingthe failureof art as appealandcommunications,he turnsto artas self-gratifyingmagic" 102).As a resultthere is a retreat into fantasy, which Sokel separatesinto five stages:metaphor,projection,sublimation, repression,and solipsisticworld do-


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Review Article 495minion. A close reading of the text follows and ultimately makes thepoint, reminiscent of Nigele's opening essay, that there is a narrativepresencebehind the narrator-an implicit narratorwho never uses hisown voice and is identical with narration tself.As Kafka has been fertilegroundfor criticsinspiredby the theoriesof JacquesDerrida,the inclusion of his readingof Kafka's"Before theLaw" in Udoffs "Praxis" section embodies the idea of theory as per-formance. The essay, an abridged ranslationof a longerpiece, althoughalmost at the perfectcenter of the volume, is set apartby virtue of itsFrench title "Devant la Loi." Once again, as in so many of the contri-butions to this volume, the community of text, author, and reader increatingthe category"literature" orms the basis of the argument:"...my sole ambition ... will be to focus ... this double question (whodecides, and with what entitlement,on what belongsto literature?)andabove all, to summon before the law the pronouncement l'noncd) itselfof this doublequestion.. ." (131). In his close readingof Kafka's"Beforethe Law,"Derridaleads the reader to the text just as Kafkabringstheman from the countrybefore the law. Derridaproceedsto show that thetext is nothing but a presentationand readingof itself:

Ther~citBeforeheLaw'doesnottell or describe nything ut itselfas atext.... It does only this or does also this. Not within an assuredspecularreflection f someself-referentialransparency..,.utin theunreadabilityof thetext,if one understandsythisthe impossibilityf accedingo itspropersignificance,and its possiblyinconsistentcontent,whichit jealouslykeepsback. (144)Derridaarguesthat preciselythe accessibilityor readabilityof the "law"ortextproves t impenetrable r unreadable.Derrida'sperformancehouldbe read,not retold. He relates the Kafkantale to all literature,but thenhe quickly points out that there is no literaturethat does not alreadyexceed literature-a self-identityof literaturenever being assured or re-assuring.Udoffs own contribution to the volume, "Beforethe Question ofthe Laws:KafkanReflections,"probesa number of similarissues whichhe considers as an introduction o Kafka'sother text about "Law"-"ZurFrageder Gesetze."Without ever really interpretingKafka's tale itself,Udoffexploresits transformation rom a fragment o a work "for aestheticreception" 178). First,by tracingBrod's attitudes to and interpretationsof Kafka'swritingand then by dissussingthe act of interpretation tself,Udoff demonstrateshow Brod's work "as reader, nterpreterand editorin the service of literature," swellas titler andclassifierof the disorderedprose works, has ultimately colored the way Kafka has been read andinterpretedand certainly reveals "something about Literatureand itsLaw"(193). In this way, Udoffs essay, like Derrida's,deals with readingas a defensive and aggressiveact, one from which Kafkaunsuccessfullytried to protecthimselfby creatingunreadablewriting."It is precisely nthe threateningor 'discomforting'way in which Kafka defends himself


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496 Grossagainstthe tyrannyof father and literature hat his writingprovokesthefierce determination to subjectit anew, to bring it under the law of in-terpretation, .e. the tyrannyof reading"(205). Othercontributorswhogive in to their demon of "interpretivedesire"in the "Praxis"sectionare LaurenceA. Rickels,Ruth V. Gross, W. G. Kudszus,Liliane Weiss-berg,Avital Ronell, Breon Mitchell,and Allen Thiher.Whetherreadingand law are related through a common root ornot, we do seem to have an instance of conjunction n Kafka.As we haveseen, much of the recent trend in Kafka criticism is to connect Kafka,either by profession (as Kirchbergerhas done), context (Miuller-Seidel'sthesis), or textuality (as some of the semiotic readingsin Udoffs booksuggest),to the idea of The Law. The "legality"of these approachesisunquestionable.The "legibility"varies with the argumentand the reader.Indeed, "lecturing"about Kafka does not instantlycreate"legists,"noreven "legislators."As we approacha second centuryof readingKafka,it would seem that the critic and not the poet may turn out to be the"unacknowledged egislator."If Udoffs assertion that Brod's bringingKafka'sfragmentary"text to completion is the mark of masteryover it"(192), perhapsit was reallynever any different.

laying down the law recent books on kafka

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