TRANCE AND PSYCHO-ANALYSIS.

 

i.                 TRANCE AND PSYCHO-ANALYSIS.

 

 

TRANCE.

 

K

afka started writing literary prose in his teens. He soon discovered his odd ability and tendency to put himself in a half dormant state, some trance, when writing. Without this ability, it seems unlikely that he could have written something close to what he did. Now, writing in this state of trance seems to connect to some form of ecstasy. Kafka: „My terrible calm takes my fantasy away.“ He thus seems to have used an almost pathological state in creation. If this state or condition was a hypnagogic or a hallucinated one, we do not know. What can be inferred from his biography is that creative periods coincide with periods of insomnia and severe headaches. Headaches did not torture him when he refrained from projects that appeared difficult to him, like, for instance, the completion of a novel. Kafka was well aware of this. It must have been a peculiarity to him and a horror noticing that the headaches had a connection to the large artistic projects. His body strongly revolted against his creations and his literary method! What again was this nightly “trance”? Was it a state of “double consciousness”? He was here, so to say, present in two worlds simultaneously, both awake and asleep, partly enjoying imagination, partly aware and writing, using several senses, in a kind of “stream of unconsciousness”? It also seems he loved to be in this state of mind. As if he was addicted to it.

 

         ”The main enemy of Don Quixote was not 

          his fantasy, but Sancho Panza.” (FK)

 

It was almost like he was using himself as a  ”medium.” Furthermore, FK's stories are about writing itself. These tales - or poems - do not just use writing as a pretext, but writing is displayed, in brilliant disguise, in a discourse of desire, sometimes quite like an erotic act. Kafka thus displays images for this, as in A Country Doctor, where Kafka uses the idea of riding for writing - riding on his pen -and maybe is naming the tales themselves “horses.”

 

HIEBEL.

 

One of the keys to understanding Kafka's writings can be found in the relationship between Kafka and psychoanalysis. Hiebel elaborates interestingly on this subject in his book Franz Kafka, Form und Bedeutung.  He has a lot to say about the presence of elements with traditional psychoanalytic color in several of Kafka´s works. Hiebel asserts that one has to discern those narrations by Kafka, that has a structure very much like that of the dream, in having inherent a kind of mechanic of the hieroglyphic kind like that of the dream, for example, A Country Doctor has, from works like The Trial, where there can be found an abundance of conventional dream elements, which almost seem to emerge from examples from the dream theory of Freud.  It is a good distinction to do, and necessary for further understanding of Kafka´s literary style. That FK did not align to psychoanalytical thinking,  but that he sooner, as a kind of protest, shaped his competitive theory and/or style, is also part of Hiebel´s view here. It seems reasonable. However, Kafka´s theory was not explicit as a theory, but is explicit only in the form of the art it aimed to create. In Kafka, it is not about dreams but about ”simulations of dreams,” Hiebel asserts. This idea seems rather undialectical, though. Hiebel is clarifying his view:

 

  ”/…../ and these again are not meant as dreams, but as realities, which are structured like dreams.”/……………../ ”It is apparent that Kafka well knows of the model of psychoanalysis and to a certain extent is accepting this, but sees it as pure ”modelings”, pictures, images of mind, myths, tales, and he disrupts from it every value of explanation as well as therapeutic value. From his explicit utterances one can understand that Kafka is comfortable in a psychological theory of his own, rejecting contemporary psychoanalysis.  This competing of theories is, however, restricted to his own literary works, in which his own psychology emerges. This comes about, like we have underlined several times, in a conscious manner, which carries the consequence, that psychoanalysis cannot be used as a ”method” on the works of Kafka and on Kafka as a person.”

                                                                         

It is a remarkable conclusion, that Kafka himself couldn´t be viewed through psychoanalysis because he was creating a competing theory!  Hiebel claims that the analyses made by Kaiser and Mecke concerning psychopathological problems in cases of presumed schizoid personality, infantilism, fear of sexuality, fear of homosexuality, etc., with Kafka himself, perceived through his stories, are absurd to undertake. Hibel´s view is that, to understand Kafka´s works, the understanding of the psychoanalytical mythology provides an essential layer within a broad symbolic and mythical interpretation. This seems evident.

 

 

ii.)           THE KAFKAESQUE. A SPLIT UNIVERSE.

 

                                                                  

H

istory has really done a great job: it has created the concept of Kafkaesque! Even “Kafka” might almost be said to have become a concept. It is rare for a writer to be known partly through a concept molded after his or her name. What then, is the meaning of the concept of Kafkaesque? Interestingly enough, a small empirical investigation of the ”Kafkaesque” concept has been undertaken by D. Jakob. He has come up with the following characteristics, which should mark this concept:

 

   ”Anxiety, uncertainty, frustration, “Verfremdung,” exposure to a cruel fate, anonymous in shape, bureaucratically governed power, terror, dreadfulness, gloom, guilt, despair, judgment, meaninglessness,  the resortless, absurdity..”

 

The concept of “Kafkaesque” can never be fully defined since it belongs to the class of concepts of essence or concepts of style. We can only reflect upon these concepts in strict subjectivity and try to make our views probable. In making views liable, it is crucial to reach a certain consensus.

 

Regarding some distinctive points and in determining the “Kafkaesque,” I think that our conception regarding who the hero of Kafka´s works is, is of significant importance. The following has to be agreed upon: the relationship between the hero and the surrounding world is crucial for determining the content of the concept. The nature of this relationship is hard to formalize. However, determining this very relation seems to be the key to this concept. We might come near to a description by finding out what the Hero of a Kafka story appears to be able to execute and the configuration of the world surrounding the hero. The surrounding world is also an agent, a Spirit in disguise. In this, the works of Kafka are similar to those of symbolism but oddly exaggerated.

 

 

“In my dictionary, “Kafkaesque” is defined as a “vision of man’s isolated existence in a dehumanized world,´.” 

                                                                                                        ( Zadie Smith )

from my book "Kafka".