Kafka and the Universal / edited by Arthur Cools and Vivian Liska.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cools, Arthur

Contributor:

Cools, Arthur, editor.

Liska, Vivian, editor.

Series:

Interdisciplinary German cultural studies ; Volume 21.

Interdisciplinary German Cultural Studies, 1861-8030 ; Volume 21

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kafka, Franz, 1883-1924--Criticism and interpretation--Congresses.

Kafka, Franz.

Authors, Austrian--20th century.

Authors, Austrian.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (334 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berlin, [Germany] ; Boston, [Massachusetts] : De Gruyter, 2016.

Language Note:

In English.

Biography/History:

Arthur Cools and Vivian Liska, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.

Summary:

Kafka's work has been attributed a universal significance and is often regarded as the ultimate witness of the human condition in the twentieth century. Yet his work is also considered paradigmatic for the expression of the singular that cannot be subsumed under any generalization. This paradox engenders questions not only concerning the meaning of the universal as it manifests itself in (and is transformed by) Kafka's writings but also about the expression of the singular in literary fiction as it challenges the opposition between the universal and the singular. The contributions in this volume approach these questions from a variety of perspectives. They are structured according to the following issues: ambiguity as a tool of deconstructing the pre-established philosophical meanings of the universal; the concept of the law as a major symbol for the universal meaning of Kafka's writings; the presence of animals in Kafka's texts; the modernist mode of writing as challenge of philosophical concepts of the universal; and the meaning and relevance of the universal in contemporary Kafka reception. This volume examines central aspects of the interplay between philosophy and literature.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Table of Contents

Kafka and the Universal: Introduction / Cools, Arthur / Liska, Vivian

Section 1: The Ambiguity of the Singular

The Singular Accident in a Universe of Risk: An Approach to Kafka and the Paradox of the Universal / Corngold, Stanley

Philosophy and Ambiguity in Benjamin's Kafka / Moran, Brendan

The Logic of the "Swamp World": Hegel with Kafka on the Contradiction of Freedom / Rosendal, Søren

The Necessary Revision of the Concept of the Universal: Kafka's "Singularity" / Villani, Arnaud

Section 2: Before the Law

Am-ha'aretz: The Law of the Singular. Kafka's Hidden Knowledge / Schonfeld, Eli

Desire and Responsibility: The Case of K. / Cools, Arthur

Derrida-Reads-Kafka / Ben-Naftali, Michal

Section 3: Animals

Of Mammoth Smallness: Franz Kafka's "The Village Schoolmaster" / Gasché, Rodolphe

Irreducible Pluralities: The Jewish Legacy of Franz Kafka / Suchoff, David

Kafka's Cat-Lamb: Hybridization of Genesis and Taxonomy / Glazova, Anna

Section 4: Modernism

Kafka's Anti-Epiphanies / Rabaté, Jean-Michel

Modernism's Particulars, Oscillating Universals, and Josefine's Singular Singing / Markotic, Lorraine

The Alarm Clock: The Times of Gregor Samsa / Shahar, Galili

Section 5: After Kafka

Reading Kafka: A Personal Story / Sandbank, Shimon

Kafka, Pro and Contra: Günther Anders's Holocaust Book / Gellen, Kata

Dis/Placing Thought: Franz Kafka and Hannah Arendt / Erdle, Birgit R.

Notes on Contributors

Name Index

Notes:

Includes index.

This eBook is made available Open Access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 https://www.degruyter.com/dg/page/open-access-policy

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed September 1, 2016).

ISBN:

3-11-045743-1

3-11-045811-X

OCLC:

956997774