Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-269) and index.
Contents:
Introduction: Kafka and the political : in the Kaiserpanorama -- We don't want to accept him : content, form, and function of Kafka's stereoscopes : "fellowship" -- They are not human beings : the content of Kafka's stereoscopes : the Prague Asbestos Works Hermann & Co -- Simultaneously also nothing : the form of Kafka's stereoscopes : "The judgment" -- Storming the border : the function of Kafka's stereoscopes : "Researches of a dog" -- A construction of chance and laws : Kafka in the Yiddish theater : Der Meschumed -- A weakness of imagination : Kafka in China : "Building the Great Wall of China" -- A matter of justice : Karl as defence lawyer : Amerika -- I speak for them, not for myself : Josef K. as popular speaker : The trial -- As if the whole of existence were transformed : K. as liberator of girls : The castle -- Worthy of the law : conclusion : "On the question of the laws".
Summary:
"In 1911, Franz Kafka encountered the Kaiser Panorama: a stereoscopic peep show offering an illusion of three-dimensional depth. After the experience, he began to emulate the apparatus' set-up in his literary sketches, developing a style we might call "stereoscopic," juxtaposing, like the optical stereoscope, two images of the same object seen from slightly different perspectives. Isak Winkel Holm argues that Kafka's stereoscopic style is crucial to an understanding of the relation between literature and politics in Kafka's work. At the level of content, the stereoscopic style offers a representation of the basic order of a specific community. At the level of form, the stereoscopic style is structured as the juxtaposition of two dissimilar images of the same community. At the level of function, finally, the style provokes a reconsideration, and perhaps even a reconfiguration, of the social order itself. With insights from literary studies, philosophical aesthetics and political theory, Kafka's Stereoscopes offers a detailed but highly readable argument for the relevance of Kafka's literary works in today's political reality"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.