Allan, Neil Peter (2001) Kafka : phenomenology and post-structuralism. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This study seeks to identify a coalition of philosophy and literature in the work of
Franz Kafka, and begins with a grounding of his output in the philosophical context
from which it emerged. This relatively under-researched philosophical backdrop
consists in Kafka's study, at university and in a discussion group, of philosophical
positions derived from the "descriptive psychology" of Franz Brentano. Kafka was
hence conversant with several philosophical agendas, notably those of logic, Gestalt
psychology, and a nascent form of phenomenology, which all derived their impetus
from Brentano's work.
The initial issue, therefore, is that of assessing the extent of a purported influence of
such theories on Kafka's texts. What emerges as a "strategy" of Kafka's work is the
aesthetic exploitation of such positions; a tactic which constitutes an almost
parodistic subversion of these early forms of phenomenological thought. Thus on the
one hand it is implied that the narrative technique of Kafka's work, and in particular
the representation of consciousness and its "world", is derived from Brentanian
thought, and on the other that this influence is modulated in a specific direction,
which renders these texts so singularly amenable to post-structuralist thought.
My project consequently proceeds to examine the post-structuralist response to
Kafka while juxtaposing this analysis with the grounding of his work in proto-phenomenology.
Central to this stage of the study are Blanchot, Derrida, Foucault,
and Deleuze and Guattari, and the scrutiny of their perspectives will be organized by
the themes of authorship, interpretation, power, and desire.
The exploration of the "deconstructive" standpoint, represented primarily through
Blanchot and Derrida, will be guided by an account of why such a stance seems to be
accommodated so readily by Kafka's work, and also of the extent to which his texts
could be said, on the basis of the influence of Brentanian thought, to resist such
appropriation.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) P Language and Literature > PT Germanic literature
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Kafka, Franz, 1883-1924 -- Criticism and interpretation
Official Date:	2001
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Philosophy
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Poellner, Peter ; Rignall, John, 1942-
Sponsors:	Arts & Humanities Research Council (Great Britain)
Extent:	[v], 243 leaves
Language:	eng

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