excerpt: "frank kafka" by saul friedländer

7/28/2019 Excerpt: "Frank Kafka" by Saul Friedlnder

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Inducin

i The Brothers Karamazov, ostoevsky evokes pt-g tht shows pest mmobe the sow, ost cotem-pto. The m s ot we of y thkg; he ets mpes-sos ccmte hm, mpeceptby, wthot kowg to

wht ed. afte owg these mpessos to gow ove tme,he w possby eve fo Jesem sech of svto ob dow hs tve vge. Mybe, he w do both . . .

Thee s some esembce betwee ths mojk d Fz

Kfks K. T Cl, s he eches the ppet ed of hsvoyge, te o wty ght. The vge, Kfk wote, yde deep sow. Thee ws o sg of the cste h, fog ddkess soded t, ot eve the ftest gow of ght sg-gested the ge cste. K. stood fo og tme o the woodebdge tht heds fom the m od to the vge, gzg p-

wd to seemg emptess. Wht foows c ppe s

hopeess pgmge to ccessbe Jesem o eqy


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hopeess ttempt to sbvet the mmobe fe of the vge dof ts etos wth the cste, mybe bothd mybe oeof t.

We my ssme fom the stoy tht K. kew of the cstend of ts octon before rrvng nd thus the seemng empt-ess codt hve msed hm. ad yet, ths gzg to emptess ceted by ve of fog d dkess hs somethgmystc bot t. K. my hve sesed tht behd the ve, ete wod, the object of hs ow oggs, ws ethe wecom-g o ejectg hm. Bt ddt the obscty s sch, the b-sece of eve cke of ght, sgfy tht befoe cossg the

woode bdge to the vge, K. shod hve bdoed hope? a dve comedy o the mee ejecto of mposte?in Kfks word the scred nd the profne cnnot be untnged,d seemg my be the weghtest wod hs wtgs.

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i hd ed my st book bot Fz KfkMx Bodsbogphy ts Fech tstodg my Ps hghschoo dys, most pobby 1947. Whe i ved ise, 1948, d wet to sty wth ce vge hbtedby Czech Jews (most of whom, ke my ce, hd ved fomPge 1939), i dscoveed the sme bogphy ts og- Gem ths tme. i ws tod o tht occso tht Bodhmsef hd bee hosegest befoe movg to Te avv.

upo evg he hd tke chs tht he eve eted. afew moths te, my ce set me to the gct bod-g schoo Be Sheme, st estbshed Be by Segfedlehm dg Wod W i s home fo ste o-pe Jewsh chde (ocy: Jewsh Peopes Home); thethtes, t ws tsfeed to Peste. i 1916 Kfk dscssedthe Home t get egth wth hs ce, Fece Be; he

ecoged he to votee fo wok wth the yogstes


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lehms sttto. ad, Kfk met o mt, hs stcompo, Mtz o the Btc Se 1923, whe she ws

wokg t smme cmp fo the Homes chde d he ws

vctog eby.My fmys wod ws tht of Pge Jews, beogg to sghty yoge cohot th Fzs geeto. Thes ws qet mdde-css exstece; they wee etvey we-o dcosdeed themseves potcy sfe, otwthstdg evemoe theteg mbgs dg te yes. They spokeGem bette th Czech (yet spoke Czech oetheess). afew mog them wee teested Zosm, bt, wth eexceptos, those who emgted to Peste t the vey stmomet dd so oy by dt of the most ctstophc ccm-stces.

My fthe stded t the Gem lw Schoo of Chesuvesty, whch Kfk hd tteded some ftee yes be-foe; ke Kfk, he evety becme eg dvse Pgesce compy. My mothes fmy ved the Gem-

spekg e of nothe Bohem Obe-rochtz (whchKfk metos s rchtz, e Gboz, whch he vstedseve tmes). My mothes st me ws (Gbee), s

ws tht of Fzs edest sste. ad, ke those of Kfks theessters, my prents ves ended n Germn cmps. a these hd-de ks, dscoveed ove tme, my hve dded to my ped-ecto fo Kfks texts, beyod the ppe of the tsc

getess. i d of tsef, howeve, ths wod ot hve co-vced me of wtg o topc so f emoved fom my ed,hstoy, bt fo vey specc d hdy metoed sses tht icosdeed mpott eogh to be boght p sm bo-gphc essy.

a gce t y bbogphy of wtgs o Kfk, wotech Hee, shows how pobemtc t s to dd to the spe-

bdce of books d tces o hm. a commo emk,


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except fo the fct tht Hee wote these es 1974. -g the thty-eght yes tht hve goe by sce, thosds ofew ttes hve bee dded. Hee eegty shfts pt of the

bme oto Kfk hmsef: Kfks she of the bme es hs beg the ceto of the most obsce cdty the hstoyof tete, pheomeo tht, ke wod oe hs o the tpof ones tongue, perpetuy ttrcts nd t the sme tme repesthe sech fo wht t s d mes.

Ths obsce cdty hs ed deed to the most exto-dy y of cotext d text tepettos (dgted cofottos s tese s the wod of hsto-s . . .). i cotext tems, Kfk ppeed s eotc Jew, egos oe, mystc, sef-htg Jew, cypto-Chst, Gostc, the messege of tptch bd of Fed-sm, Mxst, the qtesset exstetst, pophet oftottsm o of the Hoocst, coc voce of Hgh

Modesm, d mch moe; shot, he hs become the mostpote ct ge of the pst cety. ad beyod sch

encompssng or monothemtc dentctons extends scho-y jge, ofte meted, bt spedg oetheess.

Kfk ws o bde of theoes, o desge of systems;he foowed dems, ceted metphos d expected sso-ctos; he tod stoes; he ws poet. Hs feqet se of e-gos sos (ethe decty o mpcty, ethe Chstof Jewsh) my cete cofso, bt sch sos e mosty

ced wth oy d do ot dcte egos fth. My,Kfk ws the poet of hs ow dsode.Thoghot hs fe, Kfk stgged wth some pev-

sve pobems tht eft tces hs dy exstece d, evemoe so, hs mgy wod. These pobems d the ssesi w dscss the ext secto ed to qs-obsessve so-sechg, s docmeted hs Dii d hs ettes (d,decty, hs cto). Ths, t st gce, thee s othg

stoshg the petmte ety of hs Dii, o ecem-


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be 18, 1922 (the st ety ws wtte few moths te, oJe 12, 1923). Kfk, thooghy we of hs fst-decgheth, oted: a ths tme bed. YestedyEither/Or.6

noetheess, ths ety s pepexg o seve cots. SeKerkegrdsEither/Ors n exmnton of two opposed wysof vg: the esthetc fe d the mo oe. accodg to ette to Mx Bod of Jy 20, 1918, Kfk stted edgthe book those dys. He ddt ke the st vome (the es-thetc fe), whch cded The y of Sedce, d md-Mch 1918 he wote to Bod: i st cot ed the stbook ofEi/Owthot epgce. Yet most ve yeste, s he ws gettg cesgy weke, Kfk ws edg

Ei/Ooce g.We hve o dcto bot the wy Kfk ected to ths

fthe edg, bt codt t be tht ths eewed pode-g of Kekegds dchotomy ested fom some esovedmo sse tht weghed o Kfk thoghot the yes?

Teses of edto hve bee spet o ecodg the

test dets of Kfks fe d o excvtg the phoog-c, tey, d phosophc fodtos of ech of hs met-phos o me gmes. Yet thogh the dscovey of y gs-teg pebbe my hve bee cosdeed sgpost to godme, some hge spes toweg ove Kfk tetoyhssese of shme d gt, peceved by evey edehveected my vey gee d bstct tepettos tht

do ot scety pot to the peso gsh fom whchthey stemmed.Fz Kfk, wote Geoge Stee, ved og s. . . .

a mee hdf of dvds hve eded the dy exs-tece the covcto d coseqece of the fe stte. lkePsc d Se Kekegd, . . . Kfk kew hos, dys pe-hps, n whch he dented person fe tsef wth ndescrbbeexstet gt. To be ve, egede fthe fe, ws to s.

Kfks sese of shme ddt fe bette. Sevety yes


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fte hs deth, Joh updke wote hs 1995 foewod to TCpl Si, Kfk eptomzes oe spect of [the] modemd-set: sesto of xety d shme whose cete c-

ot be octed d theefoe cot be pcted. a sestoof shme s spect of the mode md-set?if, howeve, yo e mposte, ke K. The Castle,

petedg to be wht yo e ot, showg msk to the wodn order to hde your true fce, then you my fee shme or evengt. K. ddt fee shme o gt s he hd covced hmsef,befoe tyg to covce othes, tht he deed ws d hdbee d sveyo. K. ws mste sef-decepto, btKfk ws ot. Wht, the, cod hve bee the sse tht sf-cety weghed o hm to ed to ths eedg ofEi/O?

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The mmedte soces fo ths qey e Kfks pesowtgs (the Diaries d the Letters); the dgs w e-ppe my dsgses the cto, s we sh te see.regdg the mmedte soces, Mx Bod ts ot to be expected gde. The fed mde t hs m to t Kfkto st. i hs 1937 bogphy, he ws qte expct botKfks stess, povokg the ge of Wte Bejm,mog othes, bt, oetheess, edg ete geetoof commettos sty. To boste hs gmets, Bod myhve hdde o emted pt of the coespodece betwee

yog Fz d hs tmte fed Osk Pok, possby otof hs ow dske fo Pok d hs evy of the cose e-to betwee the two yog me. He deced te tht thoseettes wee destoyed dg the w. The, s he cqedthe des d the most mpott pts of Kfks coespo-dece, he systemtcy cesoed whteve seemed to hm tothete hs feds sty mge (thogh he mssed few

hts the Dii tht te wee deeted the gsh ts-


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to, pobby wth hs sset). as est of hs teveto,Bod becme gde, lg lui, oce the f ctc edtoof Kfks wtgs ws pbshed the te 1980s d ey

1990s, o the bss of the og mscpts. it sced tocompre Brods edton wth the new crtc edton to dscoverwht Bod hd ttempted to hde, the moe so tht he cetydestood Fzs sos d mde se to eve them -pbshed hs ow veso of the wtgs.

These Diaries nd theLetters ndcte cery enough thtexcept fo the costt podeg bot hs wtg, the q-tessece of hs begthe sses totg Kfk most of hsfe wee of sex te. So f, obody wod dsgee:Kfk feed sex tecose wth hs feme feds, wsppety dsgsted by t, sw t s pshmet ( hs ow

wods); some commettos meto mpotece; Jcqes e-d, hs edg of Befoe the oo of the lw, expctysed, Fed sese, the ssocto to ante portas (be-foe the doo), tht s, pemte ejcto. Yet thee we

cod be ccessg the dom ofshame, bt key tht ofgt.

it s Kfk hmsef who prods us on. On august 26, 1920, hewote to feme fed, the Czech jost Me Jesesk,possby hs cosest codt: i m dty, Me, teydty, ths s why i scem so mch bot pty. no oe sgss pey s those who hbt the deepest hewht we tke

to be the sog of ges s the sog. Somethg tometedKfk, bt he dd ot sy moe. a the soces dcte, how-eve, tht hs feegs of gt wee eted ot to some cocetettves o hs pt bt to ftses, to igind xul pi-bilii.

Qte few tepetes hve occsoy ded tohomoeotc ges Kfks fe; bt Mk adeso seems tobe the oy oe who hs goe beyod spodc sos d

cosdeed homoeotcsm s cet to Kfks fe d wok.


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Kfk hmsef ddt mke thgs esy. nowhee dd he expc-ty dmt tht he hboed homosex tedeces. Thogh-ot, Kfk peteded teest wome, coted wome, com-

meted o wome, vsted bothes, d the ke. ad yet, s wesh see, dect sos (bt o dmssos) to othe gesbod hs des, hs ettes, d hs cto.

The move fom the peso dom to the cto oes of cose wht mpots hee (beyod potg to potetsoces of shme d gt feegs). Befoe tg to thtcc mtto, howeve, et me dd few emks egdgthe peso eve. ve f we tke to ccot Kfks pettbogeos evomet, the estcted wod d oms of the

Jewsh Pge mdde css dg the st thee decdes of thetweteth cety, t s hd to beeve tht Fz tezedthe sodg oms to the pot of cosdeg hs homo-eotc egs s dty. Wht he ded to, we do ot kow.Pehps he opqey efes to hs sex ttcto to does-cets, eve chde? Bt these, ke hs homoeotc ges moe

geey, emed the dom of ftsy. Cod he hvefet dty becse of ftses? Hdt he ed o hed ofD in Vnic, fo exmpe, o of Stef Geoges Mxm?

The tepetto of Ms stoes my hve emed td-to befoe the pbcto of hs Dii, d pehps Kfkddnt understnd the Germn novests cmouge; regrdngGeoge, o sch pobem exsted. Bt whteve the cse my

be o the peso eve, t s deed ts mpct o Kfks wt-gs tht s of the essece. i some mpott cses, thee s most dect tsposto fom oe eve to the othe. Hee,oe exmpe shod sce.

at the ed of Jy 1922, Kfk ved t Hote Koe Spdemhe, mot esot othest Bohem, dmost mmedtey stted wokg o T Cl. a few dyste, hs dy ety of Feby 2 (the wods cesoed

the gsh tsto bt eft by Bod the Gem oe e


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sqe bckets), he oted: Stgge o the od to [the]Teste the mog, stgge whe wtchg the sk-jmpg cotest. Hppy tte B., hs ocece somehow

shdowed by my ghosts, t est my eyes [, specy hs ot-stetched eg ts gy oed-p sock], hs mess wdeggce, hs mess tk. i ths coecto t occs to mebtths s edy focedtht towds eveg he wted to gohome wth me.

Hppy d ocet tte B. eppes The Castle sHs B[swck], the yog boy who, o hs ow ttve,kocks t K.s doo, the schoooom whee K. ves wthFed, to hep hm d be hs y gst the hoste sod-gs. ltte B. s ovgy descbed, bt most (mybe ) -tepettos ofT Cl, the epsode ems dscoectedfom the exegess of ths ptcy egmtc d the st ofKfks thee oves.

Stogy foght (bt ot epessedtht s, ot co-scos) homoeotc gesd possby eve moe ht-

g sex ftsesot oy wee peset thoghot FzKfks fe, bt they seem to hve hd mpct o dveseothe peso sses, whethe he fy ecogzed t o ot.let me stess ths pot ode to vod y msdestd-g, ptcy y edctve tepetto of Kfks -gshed sef-pecepto. Ths, fo exmpe, Kfks dobtsbot hs ow body wee pobby ehced d twsted by

the tsemtc tgs bot the femzto of the Jewsh body(d pesoty), commo Cet ope t the t ofthe cety, s we sh see. i othe wods, sef- peceptod eemets of the ct evomet my hve meged toxc sythess tht becme pt d pce of Kfks com-pcted eto to hs Jewsh detty.

let s bey t bck to the esset, to the eto be-

twee Kfks gee feegs of shme d gt, hs specc


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sef-ccstos (i m dty, Me . . .), d hs ctowod. not mch (except cse ke tht of tte B.) seemst st to ow fo smpe tsposto; the mtto fom

the e to the symboc eve my hve foowed y m-be of pths. Yet, moe ofte th expected, the text ppesto pot to both wods t oe d the sme tme, s f, e-peted stces, Kfks cto ws bt moe o ess hevydsgsed tobogphy. Cod t ot be oe of the wys of -tepetg Joseph K.s st thoght the st setece ofTTil? lke og! he sd; t ws s f the shme of t mstotve hm. ad codt the sme tobogphc dme-son hep n understndng why n Kfks word nobody s con-sdeed d teted s ocet, eve those who ook the mostocet: rossm d K., the ocet d the gty [ross-m s the m chcte ofAik, K. ofT Til], Kfkoted hs Diy o Septembe 30, 1915, both exected wth-out dstncton n the end, the guty one [shoud red the nno-cet oe] wth gete hd, moe pshed sde th stck

dow. ideed, mypossby mostof Kfks chctescommt scde, e exected, thow ot s tsh, ost foeve the wdeess, o othewse destoyed by othes o by them-seves. i Kfks wod, thee s o edempto. Wht ookske edempto becomes the tget of hs mpcbe oy.

Ths the specc mttos of Kfks shme d gtd, t tmes, of hs sex ges s sch my ppe the c-

to hdy cmoged fom o ese de the most ex-pected msks. Some of these tspostos w be yzed the comg chptes; they ppe both the shot stoes d the thee oves, ofte eto to cet ges: wome.Kfks epesetto of wome s gmcg t best. ad sthese femnne chrcters re t the core of the three noves, theete stcte d fodg of the tves comes to de-ped po ths eemet.


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athogh the peso dmeso ws cc essetprts of Kfks cton, ths bogrphc essy nonetheess ms

t tegtg t wde sythess. Ths demds some-wht depedet ccot of Kfks etos wth hs fmy,hs tttde to hs Jewsh detty, the potc, soc, teec-t, d my tey eces o hs wtgs, d these

wtgs s sch, s the mod of ew wods d s wepos Kfks stgge gst the wod. i get pt, i w eyo the vst exstg schoshp these dvese doms, bt

i sh so ty my hd t tepettos of texts tht defom tepettos edy vbe (the ede my tke ths

wth skeptc sme o, possby, wth fow). Two gdgtheses shod ow me to stcte these mtpe gmets:st, Kfks ogog mbvece betwee dptto d e-beo d, secod, the mjo e of defese sed hs texts:oy.

Vey ey o Kfk mst hve fet tht he ws diferentfom most of those who soded hm, deet hs eotccvgs d deet the powes of mgto d expes-so he sesed wth hmsef. xtey, he dpted: to thefmy surroundngs tht he eft for good ess thn yer beforedyg; to the extes of dtg d petedg he wshed tomy; to stedy se s exempy oc stte s-ce compy. These wee fcets of dptto he hted

to vos degees. ad whe he cted hs pt the wod, hedefeded hmsef by ecey sbvetg tht sme wod hs

wtgs. i hs cto he demoshed the vey oms to whchhe sbmtted hs eveydy fe: athoty, Jstce, the reof lw, the vey ogc of hm commcto. Fz Kfk:the cho-cofomst . . .

i sh ty to foow the tepy betwee dptto d

ebeo the m doms of Kfks fe by tg, ech


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tme, both to the exte ccmstces of hs exstece d tothose seqeces the cto tht mpfy, tsfom, d yetpobe the depths of the ppety smpe fodg of evey-

dy exstece.Kfks st dy ety, o Je 12, 1923, det wth thepsychoogc tote podced by the fst pogessg ess;d the: The oy cosoto wod be: t hppes whethe

yo ke t o ot. ad wht yo ke s of tesmy ttehep. Moe th cosoto s: Yo too hve wepos. The

wepos wee wtg s sch, of cose, d, by wy of t, theeshg of Kfks ece oy.

Wht s met hee by wtg s sch s the pocess thtybody who eve ed few pges of Kfks cto w m-medtey ecogze: the ppeces of the e wod ekept, bt, ke dem, ts sbstce s exoby dssovedunt the crdbord rety utmtey copses. Kfks methodof de-rezton hs been studed by mny of hs nterpreters; ifod o bette wy of descbg t th by evesg the ch-

ctezto tht bogphe rchd m pped to JmesJoyces wod: Joyces dscovey, wote m, ws thtthe ody s the extody. Kfks dscovey ws thtthe extody s the ody.

let me dd few words bout Kfks rony. Thoms Mnnhs bee dbbed The ioc Gem. How shod Kfkbe beed? The ronc Jew? There were ronc Jews n Kfks

tmes: Kt Tchosky, Mxm Hde, d my KKs ( of them coveted Jews). They wee pofessoosts; Kfk doest beog mog them: hs oy wstsoc, potc, o ct. it ws ethe deepy peso, d-ected t hmsef, o, tey, metphysc, ke tht stog-est of ghts he evokes hs phosms, met to dstegtethe st ptce of cetty, the st g of Tth. Some ofKfks oy ppes s exteso of hs hmo, of hs ppe-


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tte fo ghg, fo pks; most of t sods s cy of de-ce, ke o Govs ejecto of epetce whe theCommedtoe s dggg hm to he.

Bt t st wys esy to deteme whee, whch cte-gory, ths rony beongs. Often, the text ooks pyfu nd soft,bt s t ey? Ths, o Octobe 19, 1921, Kfk oted hsdy: Moses fs to ete C ot becse hs fe s tooshot bt becse t s hm fe. Ths edg of the Pet-tech bes esembce to the scee ofLducin n-inl. The scee of FbetsLducin? Fedec

Moe d hs cosest fed eses wee bck thechdhood tow, noget, fom the hedy yes spet Ps,

whee they hd ved wth hgh expecttos d fom whchthey hd eted fte osg the sos. They em-sced bot the doescece noget d eced tht -fogettbe momet whe both bscoded fom schoo to theoc bothe; hdy hd they come befoe both wy.

They ow tod ech othe the stoy, emdg oe othe

of evey det. Ths s the best we hd! sd Fedec. Yes,mybe! Ths s the best we hd! sd eses. Ths edsthe oveke the edg of the Pettech?

Bt oy set sde, how, ot of so my cotdctos,ot of so mch mbvece, cod Kfk cete ot cohe-et sef bt coheet mgy costct to ght hs mostsecet stgges, to defed hmsef gst hs most tmte

demos d gst the e wod s sch? athogh wec bt vey tettvey foow the mttos of Kfks fg-meted fe to some of the bdg bocks of hs cto, wec tve pt of the od d, ke Kfks stoy, octe seg-ments of the gret w of Chn, the pnned defense gnstthe bbs fom the noth. We w eve kow whtmessge the dyg mpeo set to the bdes d codedto evoy who ost hs wy. Bt, we c ty to gess; wst


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t possby: Gve p hope. Yo w eve compete tht getw?

a bef smmg p bot the stcte of the essy mybe hepf t ths pot. i the st pt, i my pse thethemes of shme d gt, Kfks edto of fmy e-tons, hs rectons to perceptons of the Jewsh body nd, moregeey, of hs feow Jews dececes. i the secod pt,thogh keepg to these cet sses ech of the theechptes, i wde the scope to cde the othe mjo (d e-ted) themes: Kfks dptto to exstece he hted dthooghy sbveted hs wtgs, hs btte oy thogh-ot, hs seectve eto to hs ct evomet, the o-gog d cesgy despete sech fo esoto of themost tmte obsessos some hghe eve of meg, dts tmte fe.

excerpt: "frank kafka" by saul friedländer

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