Collection critical essay kafka - SVJCT's Sports Academy

Taken as a whole, the collection succeeds in asking what motivates the critical enterprise. But the impression given by this volume is that this is the only question worth asking. To simply "stay the execution," as Udoff puts it, of so-called "symbolist" readings, may be far too little for some readers. It is noteworthy that in a volume purporting to represent the "contemporary critical performance" contributions cannot be found, for example, from marxist or feminist perspectives. [End Page 826] Only two of the essays (Thorlby and Corngold) even venture to comment on the possible political, philosophical, or historical significance of the problem of meaning that everyone recognizes in Kafka. Yet if our conclusion upon reading Kafka is that the critic's wish to find meaning is merely childish, neurotic, or paternalistic, then criticism is not only inconsequential—it is rather tedious.

This is the conclusion compelled by a reading of the seventeen essays collected in Udoff's volume of centenary readings, Kafka and the Contemporary Critical Performance. Nearly every essay in the volume invokes its own image of the fallacy of desiring to find meaning in interpretation: the stern father (Nägele), the "super-reader" (Gross), the siren's promise (Weissberg), the narcissistic reader (Sokel). This may seem a little like the liar's paradox, but actually these readings, united in their perception of difficulty as the ground, not the effect, of Kafka's project, permit the critic to be situated "before the Law" of the Kafkan text (Derrida); that is, to be directly implicated by the text, "symbolically" figured by Kafka's protagonists.

Collection critical essay kafka - 11 Motors

At the same time, however, several of the essays contribute rather little to either literary theory or Kafka scholarship. In some cases, an overwrought Derridean wit ("Wright Brothers" becomes "Write Brothers") obtrudes genuine insight; in others, flashy critical terminology ("intertextual loop") promises much but yields little.

Whereas no single essay is likely to emerge as ground-breaking, several are quite suggestive: for example, Koelb's description of Kafka's irreconcilable notions of lethetic and alethetic reading; Thiher's illumination of Kafka's Lévi-Straussian quest to eliminate aleatory metaphoric productivity; Udoff's discussion of Kafka's transfiguration, keyed by the image of suppliancy, of the "Law" into the "Law of Writing." Others offer virtuoso readings of story-fragments like "The Lie of Sancho Panza" (Kudszus) or "The Neighbor" (Gross), reevaluations of old questions such as the congruence of protagonist and narrative in The Castle (Ronell) or the relationship of the impulse to write and the death instinct (Bernheimer). There is also a fascinating account of the cultural history of the hunger artist (Mitchell).

Essay on Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis - Critical ..

Taken as a whole, the collection succeeds in asking what motivates the critical enterprise. But the impression given by this volume is that this is the only question worth asking. To simply "stay the execution," as Udoff puts it, of so-called "symbolist" readings, may be far too little for some readers. It is noteworthy that in a volume purporting to represent the "contemporary critical performance" contributions cannot be found, for example, from marxist or feminist perspectives. [End Page 826] Only two of the essays (Thorlby and Corngold) even venture to comment on the possible political, philosophical, or historical significance of the problem of meaning that everyone recognizes in Kafka. Yet if our conclusion upon reading Kafka is that the critic's wish to find meaning is merely childish, neurotic, or paternalistic, then criticism is not only inconsequential—it is rather tedious.

At the same time, however, several of the essays contribute rather little to either literary theory or Kafka scholarship. In some cases, an overwrought Derridean wit ("Wright Brothers" becomes "Write Brothers") obtrudes genuine insight; in others, flashy critical terminology ("intertextual loop") promises much but yields little.

Kafka: A Collection of Critical Essays ..

Whereas no single essay is likely to emerge as ground-breaking, several are quite suggestive: for example, Koelb's description of Kafka's irreconcilable notions of lethetic and alethetic reading; Thiher's illumination of Kafka's Lévi-Straussian quest to eliminate aleatory metaphoric productivity; Udoff's discussion of Kafka's transfiguration, keyed by the image of suppliancy, of the "Law" into the "Law of Writing." Others offer virtuoso readings of story-fragments like "The Lie of Sancho Panza" (Kudszus) or "The Neighbor" (Gross), reevaluations of old questions such as the congruence of protagonist and narrative in The Castle (Ronell) or the relationship of the impulse to write and the death instinct (Bernheimer). There is also a fascinating account of the cultural history of the hunger artist (Mitchell).

“Kafka’s Distorted Mask.” Kafka: A Collection of Critical Essays.

This is the conclusion compelled by a reading of the seventeen essays collected in Udoff's volume of centenary readings, Kafka and the Contemporary Critical Performance. Nearly every essay in the volume invokes its own image of the fallacy of desiring to find meaning in interpretation: the stern father (Nägele), the "super-reader" (Gross), the siren's promise (Weissberg), the narcissistic reader (Sokel). This may seem a little like the liar's paradox, but actually these readings, united in their perception of difficulty as the ground, not the effect, of Kafka's project, permit the critic to be situated "before the Law" of the Kafkan text (Derrida); that is, to be directly implicated by the text, "symbolically" figured by Kafka's protagonists.

Collection critical essay kafka

The book begins with an overview of Byatt’s writing and, drawing on her interviews and essays, sets forth the critical principles that inform the novelist’s work. Following this introduction, a chronologically structured account of the novels and short stories traces Byatt’s literary development.

Trial critical essays kafka and ..

Mr. and Mrs. Samsa started up in their double bed and before they realized the nature of the charwoman's announcement had some difficulty in overcoming the shock of it. But then they got out of bed quickly, one on either side, Mr. Samsa throwing a blanket over his shoulders, Mrs. Samsa in nothing but her nightgown; in this array they entered Gregor's room. Meanwhile the door of the living room opened, too, where Grete had been sleeping since the advent of the lodgers; she was completely dressed as if she had not been to bed, which seemed to be confirmed also by the paleness of her face. "Dead? " said Mrs. Samsa, looking questioningly at the charwoman, although she could have investigated for herself, and the fact was obvious enough without investigation. "I should say so," said the charwoman, proving her words by pushing Gregor's corpse a long way to one side with her broomstick. Mrs. Samsa made a movement as if to stop her, but checked it. "Well," said Mr. Samsa, "now thanks be to God." He crossed himself, and the three women followed his example. Grete, whose eyes never left the corpse, said: "lust see how thin he was. It's such a long time since he's eaten anything. The food came out again just as it went in." Indeed, Gregor's body was completely flat and dry, as could only now be seen when it was no longer supported by the legs and nothing prevented one from looking closely at it.

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