FRANZ KAFKA BEFORE THE LAW OF FICTION

Abstract

In the work of Franz Kafka, there is an intertwining of two poetics — one is the poetics of details, which are of the realistic type, while the other is the poetics of the surreal. At the linguistic level, the poetics of detail is very precisely emphasized, with numerous linguistic expressions and descriptions that are carved as if they were a diamond. However, the intertwining is not a mixture, but rather a penetration of one poetics into the other. The poetics of detailing, no matter how thorough, in the end, is still not enough. Kafka points out that language as such is not quite ready to express directly and indirectly our thoughts, feelings, and anything related to our inner states. The poetics of the surreal and the super-real merged into the poetics of detail and made realistic poetics not only magical but also gave itself, as a surreal poetics, a basis, and a reference. The reader has found themself between the text, between the words, not always finding their way in every part. References elude, and what remains is a deconstructionist game between different forms of referentiality. The poetics of realism supports the poetics of the surreal, and the poetics of the surreal gives meaning to the poetics of realism. Penetration and intertwining remain as threads of textual fabric that the reader needs to unravel, revealing the laws of the text and adding their own threads. Kafka raised many a question, out of which many have been given answers to through a careful deconstructionist reading of the novel itself and the short story, which is simultaneously a part of the novel and a part that functions independently. Such is the entirety of Kafka’s opus, metaphorically speaking — an image that should be carefully observed, because in some corners lies the author’s intention, or a sign that had been looked for in order to uncover literature and the literary in the secret.