Kafka and the Philosophers

Kafka’s writings take as a central concern the philosophical interpretability of what we call literature. What is one to make, for instance, of a text that begins with a protagonist awakening one morning to realize that he has been transformed into a monstrous vermin? Or another awakening protagonist unexpectedly detained by officers waiting in his apartment? For Kafka, “correct understanding of something and misunderstanding of the same thing are not entirely mutually exclusive.” We will study some of Kafka’s greatest stories alongside key attempts at interpreting Kafka philosophically, including Benjamin, Adorno, Derrida, Deleuze/Guattari, and Agamben. In English; diverse fields welcome.