torsdag 14 april 2022
The literary "TRICK". Kafka. Kaj Genell´s book "Kafka" 2021.
THE LITERARY WORK.
THE TRICK
It is a long tradition to deal with literature as if we are dealing with
pure description. When we are talking about literary works, it is as if we
assume that a literary work – and the fictive universe of a literary work – is
composed through the description. This is not always true, or not at all true
in many cases.
Among theorists, only some - like, for instance, Umberto Eco - have
realized that in literature, in poetry as well as prose, we might be rewarded
with greater insight if we stop talking about descriptions and instead
concentrate on literary grips, devices, perceivable by a formalist eye, and
upon the troublesome fact, that literature most often deals with deception and
mischievous TRICKS. ( Dylan Thomas knew this.)
Never has it been more accurate than in Kafka's case to assert that a
short story or a novel forms itself by a massive TRICK. Perhaps to Kafka, the
TRICK is more important than anything else.
To some people, this structural and formalist notion is not a very
welcome insight. It makes it much harder to interpret and evaluate literary
work, and for some people, who have an AGENDA, to explain Kafka´s technique out
of the effect that their particular interpretation of the works of Kafka leads them.
It is much harder to discuss a literary piece's supposed philosophy if this
philosophy works inside a literary structural TRICK, much like inside a
magician's mirror.
Noting the use of a TRICK in a literary work does not diminish the piece
of art in question. On the contrary:
It takes enormous skill, craft, and talent to seamlessly use a TRICK
IN A LITERARY WORK, SO THAT ALMOST NOBODY
CAN SEE THAT YOU ARE USING ONE.
We cannot easily discuss anything that seems to be set in a universe
with other dimensions than our familiar universe. Moreover, to the typical person,
or the ordinary reader of a literary work, any technical reasoning concerning
how a novel is built results in almost totally obscuring the experience of the
work and is hugely tiresome. It is, as we have hinted at, even to the expert
reader, troublesome. How could we comment explanatorily, fruitfully, on
something made out of a HOAX? Still, we have to do this if we want to comment
upon Kafka, however uneasy this might make us.
Many an earth-bound comment or existence-philosophical argument will
have absolutely no ground to stand upon if it turns out that the discourse in
question is a mere literary device and based upon a paradoxical construction
outside every tangible human experience of the world.
A question like: ”What is the meaning of the work?” only has got an
answer on a meta-level. We need to shatter innocence. If we should subtract
meaning, this will have to happen through the mediation of structural reasoning
around literary tricks. Furthermore, this WILL also be extremely hard.
A Literary work is not mainly ABOUT some particular thing, but it instead
WORKS, functions, in a certain way. To reveal this, we will have to use a formalist
method and – in this very case – a Freudo-Structuralist approach since the universe
of Kafka is built upon the notion and existence of a Freudian Unconscious.
måndag 11 april 2022
LEJONSJUKAN - ... en kulturroman?
LEJONSJUKAN
En stor lastbåt, en Cargo Carrier, lämnar
London Harbor med bland annat ett lejon i lasten. Efter bara ett par timmar
till sjöss står det klart att det finns en farlig sjukdom ombord. Man inser
också att en ny pandemi kan spridas från skeppet. Samuel Diggerson, tredjestyr-man
och båtens kapten, Daniel Stork, försöker finna ett sätt att rädda besättning,
passagerare, skepp och hela världen från den udda sjukdomen.
Kaj Bernh. Genell är född i Göteborg 1944. Efter en äventyrlig ungdom på Konstskolor och Universitet och intresse för fördjupning i Filosofi, publicerade G. 1983 en tankebok, ”Ironi och Existens”. Denna bok är en av de få monografier över apperceptionsfenomenet Ironi som finns på svenska. Senare skulle G. uppslukas av ett stort Kafka-projekt, med målet att söka ta reda på hur Franz Kafka gjorde för att skapa den sällsynta effekt, som dennes romaner ger, vid läsning. Den effekten kallas vanligen ”kafkaeffekt”, alternativt ”det Kafkaeska”. Denna effekt- och apperceptionsfenomenforskning ( eller snarare spekulation ) ledde sedan till böckerna ”Kafka och det kafkaeska” (2018) och den Engelska versionen av denna bok ( ”Kafka”, 2021). Efter dettas gigantiska arbete valde så G. att koppla om till att författa romaner. “Pistolen”, “Tavelstölden”, “Tegelkrona och skönheten”, ”Höstdrama” and “Skjuta sig fri” ( alla på BoD ) som skrevs snabbt och hetsigt.
Under pseudonymen ”Bill Clactoe” valde så G. snart att söka
lyckan i att skriva på Engelska. ”Fell´s Point” (BoD), en Crime-story som
utspelar sig i Baltimore, USA, kom ut 2021, tätt följd av romanen The Lion´s
Disease (2022), - enligt G. själv: ”a psychological and philosophical comment
on pandemics by describing an Odyssey to Indonesia on a Bulk Cargo Carrier”, med en svensk version tätt efter,
med titeln ”Lejonsjukan” (2022, Amazon och Kindle)
söndag 10 april 2022
Freud och censur
S. Freud 1897 i brev till Wilhelm Fliess: "Har du nån gång läst en utländsk tidning som passerat den ryska censuren ? Ord, hela delar av satser och satser överstrukna med svart, så att resten blir obegripligt."
Men detta var tzarryssland......
onsdag 6 april 2022
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".
söndag 3 april 2022
My New Novel!
Kaj Bernh. Genell was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1944, as the second son of a Sea Captain and his wife, a housewife. After an adventurous youth, he became interested in philosophy and, in 1983, published a book exclusively on Irony - “Ironi och existens.” Soon hereafter, Genell, who had a great interest in one of the giants of Modernism, Franz Kafka, wrote a series of papers at the University of Gothenburg related to Kafka. This would later result in “Kafka och det Kafkaeska” (2018), an essay in Swedish on the Literary Technique of Kafka, later also published in English as “Kafka” (2021). As a fiction writer Genell started out with several books in the Swedish language, such as “Pistolen”, “Tavelstölden”, “Tegelkrona och skönheten”, ”Höstdrama” and “Skjuta sig fri”. Under the pseudo “Bill Clactoe,” his first novel in English appeared in 2021,” Fell´s Point,” a small crime story set in Baltimore, USA. With “The Lion´s Disease,” Genell has created a psychological and philosophical comment on pandemics by describing an odyssey to Indonesia on a Bulk Cargo Carrier.
------------------------------
CHAPTER ONE
LONDON HARBOUR
“Et si le soleil ne revenait par
demain … N´est-ce pas, ajoute-t-il,
le plus
veille angoisse du Monde ? »
G.
Simenon, Le Roman de l´homme, p.27.
|
A |
ll this took place only years after the horrendous
pandemic, the Covid19, had paralyzed
the world. Economy had been slowing down, and the tricky disease made a lot of
people face death, sorrow, hunger, as well as homelessness.
In November of this year, Rattner & Rattner, the renowned and prosperous London Shipping
Agency, had hired me as an officer onboard the Punjab, a Handysize Geared Bulk Carrier. Minutes after being
appointed an officer at a visit to the Staff Employment Office, I set out to
find my ship from Emmet Street, where the office building was situated. I was
on foot, in light rain and some wind in the dusky remains of the Tuesday
afternoon, out for the vessel, which was an immense one, lying at anchor
outside the Northwest Pier of London Outer Harbor. I had been hired in an
extreme hurry due to a mishap on a red London bus on the morning of the ship´s
departure; the ordinary 3rd Mate – a man whose name I forgot - unprovoked got
busted up by a drunkard, and, because of a broken arm, was brought to the
hospital for surgery. The Company was in dire need of a replacement, and with a
terse notice, I, who was then 1st Mate on another Carrier - the Swanee - of the same size, but an oil
carrier, decided to jump in.
It was a commotion to try to reach the area. My
beloved Swanee lay by an anchor in a whole different part of the port. I went
by subway and by bus and on my way happened to end up on a small bridge, about
a hundred yards tall, in one of the harbor areas, viewing a large portion of
the London port from a distance. The harbor rested with thousands and thousands
of ships, cranes, sheds, and piers in front of me. Stairs and viaducts, trains
and carriages were seen everywhere, and miles of rails in grey and blue
nuances, covered by smoky fog, were spotted in all directions. How strange are
the cities, man built out in the plane and by the outpour of rivers! But they
were part of work, of human endeavor.
Work, this rather primitive agreement between people,
is often not entirely rational or logical, but still, the only meaningful
agreement, precisely because it since primordial times stays based on
reciprocity. This small mutual agreement is quite fundamental. There was since
the earliest epochs no other decency to be found in the world of humans
anywhere in the world than in the simple agreement of work. Some say that
slavery was born the day after work was invented. I realize that. Maybe so… But
that does not affect the nobility of Work itself.
The city, this immense organism, the actual big city,
skyscraper City, was the predicament, the condition, and the very place of this
decency and agreement, and in this decency, quite simply, marked by smoke, fog,
and thousand smells, … marvelous. So this was the city of British decency, of
the decency of civilization, I thought, as I folded my collar against the wind,
which came in, gust after gust on this evening, from the West.
“Of all the
airts the wind can blow,
I dearly like
the West,
`Cause there
my lovely dearie lives,
The girl that
I loe´ best.”
I silently hummed. I always loved Robert Burns. My
father was from Edenborough. But as for myself, I have mostly been living in
New York.
Cooperation is beautiful. Capitalism is not.
Collaboration is healthy and decent. Decency is beautiful. The most beautiful
thing in life, next to love, is decency.
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