"H'arut": A Jewish Reading of Kafka's "In the Penal Colony"

This article offers a close reading of Kafka's In the Penal Colony, exploring the text as a radical reflection on the nature of modernity in general, and Jewish modernity in particular. The article posits that In the Penal Colony is a meditation on the relation between suffering, transgression...

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Détails bibliographiques
Autres titres:"Special Section: Stéphane Mosès and the Invention of German Jewish Modernity"
Auteur principal: Shaynfeld, Eli 1975- (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: De Gruyter 2021
Dans: Naharaim
Année: 2021, Volume: 15, Numéro: 1, Pages: 89-114
Sujets non-standardisés:B In the Penal Colony
B Law
B Kafka
B modern Jew
B Suffering
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Résumé:This article offers a close reading of Kafka's In the Penal Colony, exploring the text as a radical reflection on the nature of modernity in general, and Jewish modernity in particular. The article posits that In the Penal Colony is a meditation on the relation between suffering, transgression and law. For Kafka, where modernity is understood as the incapacity of linking suffering and transgression (sin), the old order is one where the relationship between suffering and transgression is understood as fundamental, and functions as a principle of readability of reality. For the ancients, it is this readability that endows the law with meaning and validity. By integrating parts of Foucault's thesis’ on modernity as elaborated in Discipline and Punish with this analysis of In the Penal Colony , this article situates Kafka's text in the context of his literature in general, positing that it is the key text to understanding his oeuvre . In addition, this article offers an original reflection on one of the hidden themes of Kafka's work: the crisis of the modern Jew.
ISSN:1862-9156
Contient:Enthalten in: Naharaim
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1515/naha-2021-0005