BUTLER, Judith. Who Owns Kafka

8/12/2019 BUTLER, Judith. Who Owns Kafka

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Who Owns Kafka?Judith Butler An ongoing trial in Tel Aviv is set to determine who will have stewardship of several boxes of Kafka’soriginal writings in!luding primar" drafts of his published works !urrentl" stored in #uri!h and TelAviv$ As is well known Kafka left his published and unpublished work to %ax Brod along with theexpli!it instru!tion that the work should be destro"ed on Kafka’s death$ &ndeed Kafka had apparentl"alread" burned mu!h of the work himself$ Brod refused to honour the re'uest although he did not

publish ever"thing that was be'ueathed to him$ (e published the novels The Trial The Castle and Amerika between )*+, and )*+-$ &n )*., he published the !olle!ted works but then put most of therest awa" in suit!ases perhaps honouring Kafka’s wish not to have it published but surel" refusing thewish to have it destro"ed$ Brod’s !ompromise with himself turned out to be !onse'uential and in somewa"s we are now living out the !onse'uen!es of the non/resolution of Kafka’s be'uest$Brod fled 0urope for 1alestine in )*.* and though man" of the manus!ripts in his !ustod" ended up atthe Bodleian 2ibrar" in Oxford he held on to a substantial number of them until his death in )*34$ &twas to his se!retar" 0sther (offe with whom he appears to have had an amorous relationship that Brod

be'ueathed the manus!ripts and she kept most of them until her own death in +55- at the age of )5)$6or the most part 0sther did as %ax did holding on to the various boxes stashing them in vaults but in)*44 she sold the manus!ript of The Trial for 7+ million at whi!h point it be!ame !lear that one !ould

turn 'uite a profit from Kafka$ What no one !ould have predi!ted however is that a trial wouldeventuall" take pla!e after 0sther’s death in whi!h her daughters 0va and 8uth would !laim that no oneneeds to inventor" the materials and that the value of the manus!ripts should be determined b" theirweight 9 'uite literall" b" what the" weigh$ As one of the attorne"s representing (offe’s estateexplained: ;&f we get an agreement the material will be offered for sale as a single entit" in one

pa!kage$ &t will be sold b" weight < The"’ll sa": =There’s a kilogram of papers here the highest bidderwill be able to approa!h and see what’s there$> The ational 2ibrar" @of &srael !an get in line and makean offer too$’(ow Kafka turned into su!h a !ommodit" 9 indeed a new gold standard 9 is an important 'uestion andone to whi!h & shall return$ We are all too familiar with the wa" in whi!h the value of literar" anda!ademi! work is !urrentl" being established b" 'uantitative means but & am not sure an"one has "et

proposed that we simpl" weigh our work on the s!ales$ But to begin with let us !onsider who the partiesare to the trial and the various !laims the" make$ 6irst there is the ational 2ibrar" of &srael whi!h!laims that 0sther (offe’s will should be set aside sin!e Kafka does not belong to these women buteither to the ;publi! good’ or else to the Jewish people where these sometimes seem to be the same$avid Blumberg !hairman of the board of dire!tors of the ational 2ibrar" puts the !ase this wa": ;Thelibrar" does not intend to give up on !ultural assets belonging to the Jewish people < Be!ause it is not a!ommer!ial institution and the items kept there are a!!essible to all without !ost the librar" will!ontinue its efforts to gain transfer of the manus!ripts that have been found$’ &t is interesting to !onsiderhow Kafka’s writings !an at on!e !onstitute an ;asset’ of the Jewish people and at the same time havenothing to do with !ommer!ial a!tivities$ Oren Weinberg the C0O of the ational 2ibrar" made a

similar remark more re!entl": ;The librar" regards with !on!ern the new position expressed b" theexe!utors who want to mix finan!ial !onsiderations into the de!ision as to whom the estate will begiven$ 8evealing the treasures whi!h have been hidden in vaults for de!ades will serve the publi!interest but the position of the exe!utors is liable to undermine that measure for reasons that will

benefit neither &srael nor the world$’Do it seems we are to understand Kafka’s work as an ;asset’ of the Jewish people though not arestri!tivel" finan!ial one$ &f Kafka is !laimed as a primaril" Jewish writer he !omes to belong primaril"to the Jewish people and his writing to the !ultural assets of the Jewish people$ This !laim alread"!ontroversial Esin!e it effa!es other modes of belonging or rather non/belongingF be!omes all the moreso when we realise that the legal !ase rests on the presumption that it is the state of &srael that representsthe Jewish people$ This ma" seem a merel" des!riptive !laim but it !arries with it extraordinar" and

!ontradi!tor" !onse'uen!es$ 6irst the !laim over!omes the distin!tion between Jews who are #ionistand Jews who are not for example Jews in the diaspora for whom the homeland is not a pla!e ofinevitable return or a final destination$ De!ond the !laim that it is &srael that represents the Jewish

people has domesti! !onse'uen!es as well$ &ndeed &srael’s problem of how best to a!hieve and maintain

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a demographi! maGorit" over its non/Jewish population now estimated to !onstitute more than +5 per!ent of the population within its existing borders is predi!ated on the fa!t that &srael is not a restri!tivel"Jewish state and that if it is to represent its population fairl" or e'uall" it must represent both Jewishand non/Jewish !itiHens$ The assertion that &srael represents the Jewish people thus denies the vastnumber of Jews outside &srael who are not represented b" it either legall" or politi!all" but also the1alestinian and other non/Jewish !itiHens of that state$ The position of the ational 2ibrar" relies on a!on!eption of the nation of &srael that !asts the Jewish population outside its territor" as living in the

Ialut in a state of exile and desponden!" that should be reversed and !an be reversed onl" through areturn to &srael$ The impli!it understanding is that all Jews and Jewish !ultural assets 9 whatever thatmight mean 9 outside &srael eventuall" and properl" belong to &srael sin!e &srael represents not onl" allJews but all signifi!ant Jewish !ultural produ!tion$ & will simpl" note that there exists a great deal ofinteresting !ommentar" on this problem of the Ialut b" s!holars su!h as Amnon 8aH/KrakotHkin whoin his extraordinar" work on exile and sovereignt" argues that the exili! is proper to Judaism and evento Jewishness and that #ionism errs in thinking that exile must be over!ome through the invo!ation ofthe 2aw of 8eturn or indeed the popular notion of ;birthright’$ 0xile ma" in fa!t be a point of departurefor thinking about !ohabitation and for bringing diaspori! values ba!k to that region$ This was also nodoubt 0dward Daid’s point when in Freud and the Non-European he !alled for the exili! histories of

both Jews and 1alestinians to serve as the basis for a new polit" in 1alestine$

The Ialut is thus not a fallen realm in need of redemption even though it is pre!isel" what state and!ultural forms of #ionism seek to over!ome through extending rights of return to all those born ofJewish mothers 9 and now through !laiming signifi!ant works b" those who happen to be Jews asJewish !ultural !apital that as su!h rightl" belongs to the &sraeli state$ &ndeed if the argument of the

ational 2ibrar" were su!!essful then the representative !laim of the state of &srael would be greatl"expanded$ As Anton" 2erman put it in the Guardian if the ational 2ibrar" !laims the lega!" of Kafka for the Jewish state it and institutions like it in &srael!an la" !laim to pra!ti!all" an" pre/(olo!aust s"nagogue artwork manus!ript or valuable ritual obGe!textant in 0urope$ But neither &srael as a state nor an" state or publi! institution has su!h a right$ EAndwhile it’s true that Kafka is a ke" figure of the Jewish !ultural past as one of the world’s mostsignifi!ant authors whose themes find e!hoes in man" !ountries and !ultures &srael’s proprietar"attitude is surel" mispla!ed$FAlthough 2erman laments the ;implied subservien!e of 0uropean Jewish !ommunities to &srael’ the

problem has broader global impli!ations: if the diaspora is !on!eived as a fallen realm unredeemedthen all !ultural produ!tion b" those who are arguabl" Jewish a!!ording to the rabbini! laws governingthe 2aw of 8eturn will be subGe!t to posthumous legal appropriation provided that the work is regardedas an ;asset’$ And this brings me to m" third point namel" that where there are assets there are alsoliabilities$ Do it is not enough for a person or a work to be Jewish the" have to be Jewish in a wa" that!an be !apitalised on b" the &sraeli state as it !urrentl" fights on man" fronts against !ulturaldelegitimation$ An asset one imagines is something that enhan!es &srael’s world reputation whi!hman" would allow is in need of repair: the wager is that the world reputation of Kafka will be!ome the

world reputation of &srael$ But a liabilit" and a Jewish one is someone whose person or work arguabl"Jewish !onstitutes a defi!it of some kind !onsider for instan!e the re!ent efforts to prose!ute &sraelihuman rights organisations su!h as B’tselem for publi!l" do!umenting the number of !ivilian!asualties in the war against IaHa$ 1erhaps Kafka might be instrumentalised to over!ome the loss ofstanding that &srael has suffered b" virtue of its ongoing illegal o!!upation of 1alestinian land$ &t mattersthat &srael !omes to own the work but also that the work is housed within the established territor" of thestate so that an"one who seeks to see and stud" that work must !ross &srael’s border and engage with its!ultural institutions$ And this is also problemati! not onl" be!ause !itiHens from several !ountries andnon/!itiHens within the O!!upied Territories are not allowed to !ross that border but also be!ause man"artists performers and intelle!tuals are !urrentl" honouring the !ultural and a!ademi! bo"!ott refusingto appear in &srael unless their host institutions voi!e a strong and sustained opposition to the

o!!upation$ The Kafka trial not onl" takes pla!e against this politi!al ba!kdrop but a!tivel" intervenesin its re!onfiguration: if the ational 2ibrar" in Jerusalem wins its !ase to have a!!ess to theunpublished and unseen materials of 6ranH Kafka one will have to def" the bo"!ott and will haveimpli!itl" to a!knowledge the &sraeli state’s right to appropriate !ultural goods whose high value is

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assumed to !onvert !ontagiousl" into the high value of &srael itself$ Can poor Kafka shoulder su!h a burden? Can he reall" help the &sraeli state over!ome the bad press of the o!!upation?&t is strange that &srael might be rel"ing on the fragile remains of 6ranH Kafka to establish its !ultural!laim to work that is produ!ed b" that !lass of persons we might !all ;arguabl" Jewish’$ And it probabl"also matters that the adversaries here are the daughters of the one/time mistress of %ax Brod a!ommitted #ionist whose own politi!al interests seem to be vastl" overshadowed b" the prospe!t offinan!ial gain$ Their pursuit of a profitable out!ome seems to know no national boundaries and to

honour no parti!ular !laims of national belonging 9 like !apitalism itself$ &n fa!t the Ierman 2iteratureAr!hive would probabl" be in a better position to pa" the sums imagined b" these sisters$ &n a desperatemove the &sraeli !ounsel for the ational 2ibrar" sought to debunk the ownership !laims of the sisters

b" produ!ing a letter b" Brod a!!using his paramour of disrespe!ting him and insisting that he would prefer to leave these materials to someone who regarded him as a person of signifi!an!e$ Din!e the letternames no su!h people it might be hard to sustain the !laim that it overrides the expli!it stipulation of thewill$ We shall see whether this do!ument of a lover’s 'uarrel holds up in !ourt$The ational 2ibrar"’s most powerful adversar" is the Ierman 2iterature Ar!hive in %arba!h whi!hinterestingl" has retained &sraeli law"ers for the purposes of the trial$ 1resumabl" with &sraeli !ounselthis does not have the appearan!e of a Ierman/Jewish fight and so does not re!all that other trial 90i!hmann’s in )*3) 9 in whi!h the Gudge suddenl" broke out of (ebrew and into Ierman to address

0i!hmann dire!tl"$ That moment !aused a !ontrovers" over the 'uestion of what language belongs in an&sraeli !ourt of law and of whether 0i!hmann should have been a!!orded su!h a !ourtes"$ DeveralIerman s!holars and newspapers have re!entl" argued that %arba!h is the proper home for Kafka’snewl" dis!overed writings$ %arba!h the" point out alread" owns the largest !olle!tion of Kafkamanus!ripts in the world in!luding the manus!ript of The Trial whi!h it bought for .$, million Iermanmarks at Dotheb"’s in )*44$ These s!holars argue against further fragmentation of the oeuvre and pointto the superior !apa!it" of the %arba!h fa!ilit" to !onserve su!h materials$ There seems to be a sensethat Ierman" might be all in all a more se!ure lo!ation$ But of !ourse another part of the argument isthat Kafka belongs to Ierman literature and spe!ifi!all" to the Ierman language$ And though there isno attempt to sa" that he belongs to Ierman" as one of its past or virtual !itiHens it seems thatIermanness here trans!ends the histor" of !itiHenship and pivots on the 'uestion of linguisti!!ompeten!e and a!!omplishment$ The argument of the Ierman 2iterature Ar!hive effa!es theimportan!e of multilingualism for Kafka’s formation and for his writing$ E&ndeed would we have theBabel parables without the presumption of multilingualism and would !ommuni!ation falter soinsistentl" in his works without that ba!kdrop of CHe!h iddish and Ierman !onverging in Kafka’sworld?F&n fo!using on Gust how perfe!tl" Ierman his language is the ar!hive Goins in a long and !urioustradition of praise for Kafka’s ;pure’ Ierman$ Ieorge Dteiner lauded ;the translu!en!" of Kafka’sIerman its stainless 'uiet’ remarking that his ;vo!abular" and s"ntax are those of utmost abstentionfrom waste’$ John Lpdike referred to ;the stirring purit"’ of Kafka’s prose$ (annah Arendt as wellwrote that his work ;speaks the purest Ierman prose of the !entur"’$ Do although Kafka was !ertainl"

CHe!h it seems that fa!t is superseded b" his written Ierman whi!h is apparentl" the most pure 9 orshall we sa" purified? Iiven the histor" of the valuation of ;purit"’ within Ierman nationalismin!luding ational Do!ialism it is !urious that Kafka should be made to stand for this rigorous andex!lusionar" norm$ &n what wa"s must Kafka’s multilingualism and his CHe!h origins be ;purified’ inorder to have him stand for a pure Ierman? &s what is most remarkable or admirable about him that heseems to have purified himself exemplif"ing the self/purif"ing !apa!ities of the AuslMnder?&t is interesting that these arguments about Kafka’s Ierman are re!ir!ulating now Gust as Angela %erkelhas announ!ed the failure of multi!ulturalism in Ierman" and marshalled as eviden!e the further !laimthat new immigrants and indeed their ;!hildren and grand!hildren’ fail to speak Ierman !orre!tl"$ Dhehas publi!l" admonished su!h !ommunities to rid themselves of ever" a!!ent and to ;integrate’ into thenorms of the Ierman linguisti! !ommunit" Ea !omplaint 'ui!kl" !ountered b" JNrgen (abermasF$

Durel" Kafka !ould be a model of the su!!essful immigrant though he lived onl" briefl" in Berlin and!learl" did not identif" even with the Ierman Jews$ &f Kafka’s new works are re!ruited to the %arba!har!hive then Ierman" will be fortified in its effort to shift its nationalism to the level of language the

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in!lusion of Kafka takes pla!e for the ver" same reason that less well/spoken immigrations aredenoun!ed and resisted$ &s it possible that fragile Kafka !ould be!ome a norm of 0uropean integration?We find in Kafka’s !orresponden!e with his lover 6eli!e Bauer who was from Berlin that she is!onstantl" !orre!ting his Ierman suggesting that he is not full" at home in this se!ond language$ Andhis later lover %ilena Jesensk who was also the translator of his works into CHe!h is !onstantl"tea!hing him CHe!h phrases he neither knows how to spell nor to pronoun!e suggesting that CHe!h toois also something of a se!ond language$ &n )*)) he is going to the iddish theatre and understanding

what is said but iddish is not a language he en!ounters ver" often in his famil" or his dail" life itremains an import from the east that is !ompelling and strange$ Do is there a first language here? And!an it be argued that even the formal Ierman in whi!h Kafka writes 9 what Arendt !alled ;purest’Ierman 9 bears the signs of someone entering the language from its outside? This was the argument ineleuHe and Iuattari’s essa" ;Kafka: Toward a %inor 2iterature’$&ndeed this 'uarrel seems to be an old one one that Kafka himself invokes in a letter to 6eli!e inO!tober )*)3 with referen!e to %ax Brod’s essa" on Jewish writers ;Our Writers and the Communit"’

published in Der Jude$And in!identall" won’t "ou tell me what & reall" am in the last Neue Rundschau ;%etamorphosis’ ismentioned and reGe!ted on sensible grounds and then the writer sa"s: ;There is somethingfundamentall" Ierman about K’s narrative art$’ &n %ax’s arti!le on the other hand: ;K’s stories are

among the most t"pi!all" Jewish do!uments of our time$’;A diffi!ult !ase’ Kafka writes$ ;Am & a !ir!us rider on two horses? Alas & am no rider but lie prostrateon the ground$’2et us !onsider some more of Kafka’s writings 9 his letters some diar" entries two parables and a stor"

9 in order to !ast light on the 'uestion of his belonging his views on #ionism and his more general wa"sof thinking about rea!hing Eand failing to rea!hF a destination$ Do far as we’re !on!erned with assessingthe rights of ownership !laimed in the trial it probabl" doesn’t matter whether or not Kafka was a#ionist or whether he planned seriousl" to move to 1alestine$ The fa!t is that Brod was a #ionist and

brought Kafka’s work along even though Kafka himself never went and never reall" planned to$ (eunderstood 1alestine as a destination but referred to the plan to go there as ;dreams’$ &t was not simpl"that he la!ked the will but that he had a stopping ambivalen!e about the entire proGe!t$ What & hope toshow is that a poeti!s of non/arrival pervades this work and affe!ts if not affli!ts his love letters his

parables about Gourne"s and his expli!it refle!tions on both #ionism and on the Ierman language$ & !anunderstand that one might want to look spe!ifi!all" at what Kafka wrote about trials to see what lightmight be shed on the !ontemporar" trial b" his writings but there are some differen!es that need to beremarked$ This !urrent trial is about ownership and rests in part on !laims of national and linguisti!

belonging but most of the trials and pro!edures that Kafka writes about involve unfounded allegationsand nameless guilt$ ow Kafka has himself be!ome propert" if not !hattel Eliterall" an item of tangiblemovable or immovable propert" not atta!hed to landF and the debate over his final destination is taking

pla!e ironi!all" in famil" !ourt$ The ver" 'uestion of where Kafka belongs is alread" something of as!andal given the fa!t that the writing !harts the vi!issitudes of non/belonging or of belonging too

mu!h$ 8emember: he broke ever" engagement he ever had he never owned an apartment and he askedhis literar" exe!utor to destro" his papers after whi!h that !ontra!tual relation was to have ended$ Doarrangements outlived their original purposes and their intended timespan$ 0ven though Kafka’s Gob wasto adGudi!ate administrative insuran!e !laims and binding !ontra!ts his personal life was !uriousl" voidof them ex!ept for an o!!asional !ontra!t to publish$ Of !ourse & am prepared to a!!ept that the legalmanagement of his papers re'uires a de!ision regarding their stewardship and that this problem of legalownership has to be solved so the papers !an be inventoried and made a!!essible$ But if we turn to hiswriting to help us sort through this mess we ma" well find that his writing is instead most pertinent inhelping us to think through the limits of !ultural belonging as well as the traps of !ertain nationalisttraGe!tories that have spe!ifi! territorial destinations as their goal$There is no doubt that Kafka’s Jewishness was important but this in no wa" implied an" sustained view

on #ionism$ (e was immersed in Jewishness but also sought to survive its sometimes pressing so!ialdemands$ &n )*)) he went to the iddish theatre nearl" ever" week and des!ribed in detail what he sawthere$ &n the subse'uent "ears he read 9 ;greedil"’ as he puts it 9 L’Histoire de la littrature Judo-

Allemande b" %e"er 1ines whi!h was full of (asidi! tales followed b" 6romer’s !r"anismus des

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Judentums whi!h details rabbini! Talmudi! traditions$ (e attended musi!al events at the Bar KokhbaDo!iet" read portions of Kaballah and dis!ussed them in his diaries studied %oses %endelssohn andDholem Alei!hem read several Jewish magaHines attended le!tures on #ionism and pla"s in iddishand listened to (ebrew stories in translation$ Apparentl" on +, 6ebruar" )*)+ Kafka delivered ale!ture on iddish though & have not been able to find a !op"$ 1erhaps it is stuffed in a box in Tel Avivawaiting legal adGudi!ation$Alongside this impressive immersion in Jewish things 9 perhaps we !ould !all it a mode of being

enveloped 9 Kafka also voi!ed s!epti!ism about that mode of so!ial belonging$ (annah Arendt whoseown sense of belonging was similarl" vexed Eand be!ame a subGe!t of dispute with Iershom D!holemFmade famous one of Kafka’s 'uips about the Jewish people: ;%" people provided that & have one$’ As2ouis Begle" has re!entl" made !lear in a 'uite !andid biographi!al essa" Kafka remained not onl" intwo minds about Jewishness but sometimes 'uite !learl" torn apart$ ;What have & in !ommon withJews?’ he wrote in a diar" entr" in )*)P$ ;& have hardl" an"thing in !ommon with m"self and shouldstand ver" 'uietl" in a !orner !ontent that & !an breathe$’ Dometimes his own remarks on Jews wereharsh if not violent when for instan!e he !alls the Jewish people ;liHards’$ &n a letter to %ilena a non/Jew he !rosses over into a geno!idal and sui!idal fantas" in whi!h no one !an finall" breathe an" more:& !ould rather reproa!h "ou for having mu!h too good an opinion of the Jews whom "ou knowEin!luding m"selfF 9 there are othersQ 9 sometimes &’d like to !ram them all as Jews Ein!luding m"selfF

into the drawer of the laundr" !hest then wait then open the drawer a little to see whether all havealread" suffo!ated if not to !lose the drawer again and go on like this to the end$Jewishness is linked up time and again with the possibilit" of breathing$ What have & in !ommon withthe Jews? & am lu!k" that & !an breathe at all$ Do is it the Jews who make it diffi!ult for him to breatheor is it Kafka who imagines depriving the Jews of breath?Kafka’s suffo!ation fantas" reiterates a phantasmati! va!illation of siHe that we also find for instan!e inThe Jud"ment $ &n the fantas" Kafka is impossibl" large larger than all the Jews he imagines putting intothe drawer$ And "et he is also in the drawer whi!h makes him unbearabl" small$ &n The Jud"ment thefather is b" turns huge and tin": at one moment the son Ieorg remarks that when ere!t he is so tall thathis hand lightl" tou!hes the !eiling but in a previous moment the father is redu!ed to the siHe of a !hildand Ieorg !arries him to bed$ The son towers over the father onl" to be senten!ed to death b" the for!eof the latter’s words$ Where is Kafka lo!ated in that fantas" of suffo!ation and where is Ieorg? The"are subGe!t to a perpetual va!illation in whi!h no one finall" is sustained in a manageable s!ale$ &n thesuffo!ation fantas" Kafka is both agent and vi!tim$ But this persistent dualit" goes unre!ognised b"those who have used the letter to !all him a self/hating Jew$ Du!h a !on!lusion is no more warranted b"the va!illations in his text than is the triumphant !laim that Kafka’s o!!asionall" admiring remarks about#ionism make him a #ionist$ E(e is after all flirting in some of those instan!es$F The suffo!ationfantas" written in )*+5 is perhaps most usefull" understood in relation to a letter to 6eli!e written four"ears earlier after reading Arnold #weig’s pla" Ritual #urder in Hun"ar$ E)*)3F$ The pla" ena!ts adrama from )4*- based on the blood libel against the Jews$ Jews in a (ungarian village are a!!used ofusing a but!her’s knife to kill Christians and then using their blood to make unleavened bread$ &n the

pla" the a!!used are brought to !ourt where the !harges are dismissed$ An anti/Jewish riot breaks outon the streets and violen!e is dire!ted against Jewish businesses and religious institutions$ After reading#weig’s pla" Kafka wrote to 6eli!e: ;At one point & had to stop reading sit down on the sofa and weep$&t’s "ears sin!e & wept$’ The but!her’s knife or knives like it then reappear in his diaries and letters andeven several times in the published fi!tion: in The Trial for instan!e and again most vividl" in ;ACountr" o!tor’$ The pla" gives us some sense of the limits of law even the strange wa" that the lawgives wa" to a lawlessness it !annot !ontrol$The fa!t that Kafka wept at the stor" of false a!!usations 9 indeed that few a!!ounts made him weep asthis one did 9 ma" strike us as surprising$ The tone of the The Trial is after all one in whi!h a false orobs!ure a!!usation against K$ is rela"ed in the most neutral terms without resonating affe!t$ &t seemsthat the grief avowed in the letters is pre!isel" what is put out of pla" in the writing and "et the writing

!onve"s pre!isel" a set of events that are bound together neither through probable !ause nor logi!alindu!tion$ Do the writing effe!tivel" opens up the disGun!tion between !larit" 9 we might even sa" a!ertain lu!idit" and purit" of prose 9 and the horror that is normalised pre!isel" as a !onse'uen!e of thatlu!idit"$ o one !an fault the grammar and s"ntax of Kafka’s writing and no one has ever found

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emotional ex!ess in his tone but pre!isel" be!ause of this apparentl" obGe!tive and rigorous mode ofwriting a !ertain horror opens up in the midst of the 'uotidian perhaps also an unspeakable grief$D"ntax and theme are effe!tivel" at war whi!h means that we might think twi!e about praising Kafkaonl" for his lu!idit"$ After all the lu!id works as st"le onl" insofar as it betra"s its own !laim to self/suffi!ien!"$ Domething obs!ure if not unspeakable opens up within the perfe!t s"ntax$ &ndeed if we!onsider that re!urrent and libellous a!!usations lurk in the ba!kground of his man" trials we !an readthe narrative voi!e as a neutralisation of outrage a linguisti! pa!king awa" of sorrow that paradoxi!all"

brings it to the fore$ Do Jews are his famil" his small world and he is alread" in some sense hemmed in b" that small apartment that relentless !ommunit" and in that sense suffo!ated$ And "et he wasmindful of the stories and present dangers of anti/semitism ones that he experien!ed dire!tl" in a riotthat took pla!e in )*)4 in whi!h he found himself amid a !rowd ;swimming in Jew/hatred’$ id he thenlook to #ionism as a wa" out of this profound ambivalen!e: the need to flee the !onstraints of famil" and!ommunit" !oupled with the need to find a pla!e imagined as free of anti/semitism?Consider the ver" first letter Kafka wrote to 6eli!e in Deptember )*)+$ &n the opening line he asks herto pi!ture him together with her in 1alestine:&n the likelihood that "ou no longer have even the remotest re!olle!tion of me & am introdu!ing m"selfon!e more: m" name is 6ranH Kafka and & am the person who greeted "ou for the first time that eveningat ire!tor Brod’s in 1rague the one who subse'uentl" handed "ou a!ross the table one b" one

photographs of a Thalia trip and who finall" with the ver" hand now striking the ke"s held "our handthe one whi!h !onfirmed a promise to a!!ompan" him next "ear to 1alestine$As the !orresponden!e unfolds over the next few "ears Kafka lets her know time and again that he willreall" not be able to a!!ompan" her not on this trip or on another and !ertainl" not to 1alestine at leastnot in this life as the person that he is: the hand that strikes the ke"s will not be holding her hand$%oreover he has his doubts about #ionism and about ever arriving at that destination$ (e subse'uentl"!alls it a ;dream’ and !hides her a few "ears later for entertaining #ionism so seriousl": ;ou flirtedwith it’ he wrote$ But a!tuall" he was the one who introdu!ed 1alestine as the stru!ture of flirtation:!ome with me take m" hand to the be"ond$ &ndeed as the relationship founders and breaks over thenext few "ears he makes !lear that he has no intention of going and that he thinks those who do go are

pursuing an illusion$ 1alestine is a figural elsewhere where lovers go an open future the name of anunknown destination$&n %a&ka Goes to the #o'ies (anns #is!hler makes the !ase that filmi! images provided Kafka with a

primar" means of a!!ess to the spa!e of 1alestine and that 1alestine was a film image for him a proGe!ted field of fantas"$ #is!hler writes that Kafka saw the beloved land in film as film$ &ndeed1alestine was imagined as unpopulated whi!h has been abl" !onfirmed b" &lan 1appe’s work on earl"#ionist photograph" in whi!h 1alestinian dwellings are 'ui!kl" renamed as part of the naturallands!ape$ #is!hler’s is an interesting thesis but is probabl" not 'uite true sin!e the first of those filmswere not seen until )*+) a!!ording to the re!ords we have and Kafka was avidl" attending meetings andreading Gournals gaining a sense of 1alestine as mu!h from stories written and told as from publi!debates$ &n the !ourse of those debates and reports Kafka understood that there were !onfli!ts emerging

in the region$ &ndeed his short stor" ;Ja!kals and Arabs’ published in Der Jude in )*)- registers animpasse at the heart of #ionism$ &n that stor" the narrator who has wandered unknowingl" into thedesert is greeted b" the Ja!kals Edie (chakaleF a thinl" disguised referen!e to the Jews$ After treatinghim as a %essiani! figure for whom the" have been waiting for generations the" explain that his task isto kill the Arabs with a pair of s!issors Eperhaps a Goke about how Jewish tailors from 0astern 0uropeare ill e'uipped for !onfli!tF$ The" don’t want to do it themselves sin!e it would not be ;!lean’ but the%essiah is himself apparentl" unbound b" kosher !onstraints$ The narrator then speaks with the Arableader who explains that ;it’s !ommon knowledge so long as Arabs exist that pair of s!issors goeswandering through the desert and will wander with us to the end of our da"s$ 0ver" 0uropean is offeredit for the great work ever" 0uropean is Gust the %an that 6ate has !hosen for them$’The stor" was written and published in )*)- the "ear Kafka’s relationship with 6eli!e !ame to an end$

That same "ear he !larifies to her in a letter: ;& am not a #ionist$’ Dlightl" earlier he writes of himself toIrete Blo!h that b" temperament he is a man ;ex!luded from ever" soul/sustaining !ommunit" ona!!ount of his non/#ionist E& admire #ionism and am nauseated b" itF non/pra!tising Judaism’$ Afterattending a meeting of #ionists in %ar!h )*), with %ax Brod at whi!h Jews from 0astern and Western

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0urope !ame together to sort out their differen!es he des!ribes the various !hara!ters one with his;shabb" little Ga!ket’ and notes the ;diaboli!all" unpleasant smile’ of a little fellow des!ribed as ;awalking argument’ with a ;!anar" voi!e’$ This visual se'uen!e finall" in!ludes himself: ;& as if made ofwood a !lothes/ra!k pushed into the middle of the room$ And "et hope$’6rom where pre!isel" does this hope emerge? (ere as elsewhere the problem of destination tou!hes onthe 'uestion of emigrating to 1alestine but also on the problem more generall" of whether messages!an arrive and !ommands be rightl" understood$ on/arrival des!ribes the linguisti! predi!ament of

writing in a multilingual !ontext exploiting the s"nta!ti!al rules of formal Ierman to produ!e anun!ann" effe!t but also writing in a !ontemporar" Babel where the misfires of language !ome to!hara!terise the ever"da" situation of spee!h whether amorous or politi!al$ The 'uestion that re/emerges in parables like ;An &mperial %essage’ is whether a message !an be sent from here to there orwhether someone !an travel from here to there or indeed ;over there’ 9 whether an expe!ted arrival isreall" possible$& would like to !onsider briefl" two parables that tou!h on this problem of non/arrival even the strangeform of hope that !an emerge from the broken so!ialit" and !ounter/messiani! impasse that !hara!terisethe parable form$ ;%" estination’ begins with the problem of a !ommand that is not understood: ;&gave orders for m" horse to be brought round from the stable$ The servant did not understand me$’ The!ommand is perhaps given in a language that the servant does not understand or else some presumptive

hierar!h" is no longer working as it is supposed to$ %ore !ognitive !onfusion ensues as the first/personnarrator !ontinues: ;&n the distan!e & heard a bugle !all & asked him what this meant$’ This time itappears the servant understands the 'uestion but the narrator is still not living in a !ommon world ofsound: ;(e knew nothing and had heard nothing$’ Apparentl" the servant onl" gave signs to indi!ate asmu!h though in the next line he establishes his linguisti! !ompeten!e: ;At the gate he stopped measking =Where are "ou riding to master?>’ whi!h is followed b" an immediate repl": ;=& don’t know$>& said onl" =awa" from here @)e"-'on-hier awa" from here$>’ And then a third time: ;Alwa"s awa"from here onl" b" doing so !an & rea!h m" destination$’ The servant who apparentl" did not understandthe first !ommand or did not understand himself as addressed b" it now seems anxious to verif" whatthe master a!tuall" knows about his goal Edas *iel F$ But the master’s answer is !onfounding: ;es’ hereplies ;didn’t & sa" so?’ and then offers a pla!e name the h"phenated pla!e ;awa"/from/here’ Ewhi!h

be!omes a term b" whi!h eleuHe links Kafka with a proGe!t of deterritorialisationF$ And "et what doesit mean to sa" ;awa"/from/here’ is ;m" destination’? An" pla!e that is not here !an be awa" from here

but an" pla!e that be!omes a ;here’ will not be awa" from here but onl" another here$ &s there reall" an"wa" awa" from here or does ;here’ follow us wherever we go? What would it mean to be freed of thespatio/temporal !onditions of the ;here’? We would not onl" have to be elsewhere but that ver"elsewhere would have to trans!end the spatio/temporal !onditions of an" existing pla!e$ Do wherever hemeans to go it will not be a pla!e as we know a pla!e to be$ &s this a theologi!al parable one that figuresan ineffable be"ond? &s it a parable about 1alestine the pla!e that in the imagination of the 0uropeana!!ording to Kafka is not a populated pla!e not a pla!e that !an be populated b" an" one?&n fa!t he appears to be going somewhere where the sustenan!e of the human bod" will prove

unne!essar"$ The servant remarks: ;ou have no provision @ E+'orrat with "ou$’ ;=& need none> & said$=The Journe" is so long that & must die of hunger if & don’t get an"thing on the wa"$ o provisions !ansave me @ %ein E+'orrat kann mich retten$’ And then !omes the strange !on!luding senten!e: ;6or it isfortunatel" a trul" immense Gourne"$’ &n the Ierman it is ;lu!kil"’ E ,um Glck eine )ahrha&t

un"eheure ReiseF$ That word un"eheure means ;un!ann"’ ;monstrous’ even ;unfathomable’$ Do wemight well ask what is this monstrous and unfathomable Gourne" for whi!h no food will be ne!essar"$

o food !an save him from this lu!k" venture into the un!ann" Hone$ 2u!kil" it seems the Gourne" willnot onl" re'uire his starvation but will fail to save him to keep him in a pla!e that is a pla!e$ (e is goingto a pla!e that is no pla!e and where no food will be ne!essar"$ &f that pla!e be"ond pla!e is itself asalvation whi!h is not pre!isel" said then it will be of a different kind from the one that food supplies toa living !reature$ We might !all this a death drive toward 1alestine but we might also read it as an

opening onto an infinite Gourne" or a Gourne" into the infinite that will gesture towards another world$ &sa" ;gesture’ be!ause it is the term that BenGamin and Adorno use to talk about these stilled momentsthese utteran!es that are not 'uite a!tions that freeHe or !ongeal in their thwarted and in!omplete

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!ondition$ And that seems to be what happens here: a gesture opens up a horiHon as a goal but there isno a!tual departure and there is surel" no a!tual arrival$The poeti!s of non/arrival !an be found again in Kafka’s parable ;The Coming of the %essiah’ wherewe learn from an apparentl" authoritative voi!e that the %essiah ;will !ome < when there is no one todestro" this possibilit" and no one to suffer its destru!tion’$ The parable refers to an ;unbridledindividualism of faith’ that must first be!ome possible the Ierman for ;unbridled’ E ,"ellosF is !loser to;let loose’ 9 an individualism let loose on the world even out of !ontrol$ Apparentl" no one will make

this !ome about and it seems as if the %essiah will not take anthropomorphi! form: the %essiah will!ome onl" when there is ;no one’ to destro" the possibilit" or to suffer the destru!tion whi!h means thatthe %essiah will not !ome when there is one onl" when there is no one and that means as well that the%essiah will not be an"one will not be an individual$ This must be the result of a !ertain individualismthat destro"s ea!h and ever" individual$ 6ollowing the Book of %atthew the parable !laims that ;thegraves will open themselves’ and so again we are given to understand that the" will not be opened b"an" human agen!"$ When the narrator then !laims that this is ;Christian do!trine too’ he retroa!tivel"marks the opening of the parable as a Jewish one but in fa!t there is a Babel of religions alread" in

pla!e: Judaism Christianit" individualism and then after a garbled explanation it seems that there are bits of (egel in the des!ription as well 9 indeed the most unreadable bits$ &n fa!t it seems that no!oherent des!ription is possible and we are brought up against the limits of what !an be thought$ ;The

%essiah will !ome onl" when he is no longer ne!essar"$ (e will !ome onl" on the da" after his arrivalhe will !ome not on the last da" but on the ver" last$’ &t would seem that the %essiah !omes pre!isel"when there is no one there to suffer the destru!tion of the world as we know it when there is no one leftwho !an destro" his !oming$ That %essiah arrives not as an individual and surel" not within an"temporal se'uen!e that we take to organise the world of living beings$ &f he !omes on the ver" last da"

but not the last he !omes on a ;da"’ 9 now h"perfigurative 9 that is be"ond an" !alendar of da"s and be"ond !hronolog" itself$ The parable posits a temporalit" in whi!h no one will survive$ Arrival is a!on!ept that belongs to the !alendar of da"s but !oming Edas %ommenF apparentl" not$ &t does nothappen at a moment in time but onl" after the se'uen!e of all moments is !ompleted$eparture and arrival were !onstant issues for 0uropean Jews who were !onsidering leaving 0urope for1alestine but also for other sites of emigration$ &n ;%" estination’ we were left with the 'uestion ofhow !an one go awa" from here without moving from one here to another? oes su!h a departure andarrival not assume a distin!t temporal traGe!tor" a!ross a spatial !ontinuum? The amalgam ;Weg/von/hier’ appears to be a pla!e name onl" to !onfound our ver" notion of pla!e$ &ndeed although ;Weg/von/(ier’ is a pla!e name 9 it holds the name of the pla!e within a re!ognisable grammati!al form 9 it turnsout that grammar not onl" diverges from !lear referentialit" in this instan!e but !an !learl" operate atodds with an" intelligible realit"$ There seems to be no !lear wa" of moving from point to point withinthe s!heme offered in this parable and this !onfounds our ideas of temporal progression and spatial!ontinuit"$ &t even makes it diffi!ult to follow the lines on the page to start the parable and end it$ &fKafka’s parable in some wa"s !harts the departure from a !ommon notion of pla!e for a notion of

perpetual non/arrival then it does not lead towards a !ommon goal or the progressive realisation of a

so!ial goal within a spe!ifi! pla!e$Domething else is opened up the monstrous and infinite distan!e between departure and arrival andoutside the temporal order in whi!h those terms make sense$ &n ;The Coming of the %essiah’ Kafka’sview of non/arrival departs from Jewish sour!es starts from there and leaves it there$ What be!omes!lear is that whatever temporalit" is marked b" the %essiani! is not realisable within spa!e and time$ &tis a !ounter/Kantian moment perhaps or a wa" of interrogating Judaism at the limits of a Kantiannotion of appearan!e and over and against a progressive notion of histor" whose aim is to be realised ina populated territor"$Kafka also refle!ts on forms of non/arrival in a diar" entr" written in )*++ less than two "ears before hedied of tuber!ulosis:& have not shown the faintest firmness of resolve in the !ondu!t of m" life$ &t was as if & like ever"one

else had been given a point from whi!h to prolong the radius of a !ir!le and had then like ever"oneelse to des!ribe m" perfe!t !ir!le round this point$ &nstead & was forever starting m" radius onl"!onstantl" to be for!ed at on!e to break it off$ E0xamples: piano violin languages Iermani!s anti/

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#ionism #ionism (ebrew gardening !arpentering writing marriage attempts an apartment of m"own$F&t sounds lamentable but then he adds: ;&f & sometimes prolonged the radius a little further than usual inthe !ase of m" law studies sa" or engagements ever"thing was made worse rather than better Gust

be!ause of this little extra distan!e$’ Do does this mean that something was made better b" breaking offthe radius of a !ir!le resisting that parti!ular !losure? Kafka makes the politi!al impli!ations of hisobli'ue theolog" !lear or almost !lear when he writes in Januar" )*++ of the ;wild pursuit’ that is his

writing$ 1erhaps not a pursuit he !onGe!tures ma"be his writing is an ;assault on the last earthl"frontier’ like ;all su!h writing’$ (e then remarks: ;&f #ionism had not intervened it might easil" havedeveloped into a new se!ret do!trine a Kabbalah$ There are intimations of this$’& have tried to suggest that in Kafka’s parables and other writings we find brief meditations on the'uestion of going somewhere of going over of the impossibilit" of arrival and the unrealisabilit" of agoal$ & want to suggest that man" of these parables seem to allegorise a wa" of !he!king the desire toemigrate to 1alestine opening instead an infinite distan!e between the one pla!e and the other 9 and so!onstitute a non/#ionist theologi!al gesture$We might finall" !onsider this poeti!s of non/arrival as it pertains to Kafka’s own final be'uest$ Asshould be !lear b" now man" of Kafka’s works are about messages written and sent where the arrival isun!ertain or impossible about !ommands given and misunderstood and so obe"ed in the brea!h or not

obe"ed at all$ ;An &mperial %essage’ !harts the travels of a messenger through several la"ers ofar!hite!ture as he finds himself !aught up in a dense and infinite grid of people: an infinite barrieremerges between the message and its destination$ Do what do we sa" about the re'uest that Kafka madeof Brod before he died? ;earest %ax %" last re'uest: 0ver"thing & leave behind me < to be burnedunread$’ Kafka’s will is a message sent to be sure but it does not be!ome Brod’s will indeed Brod’swill figurativel" and literall" obe"s and refuses Kafka’s will Esome of the work will remain unread butnone of it will be burned at least not b" BrodF$&nterestingl" Kafka does not ask for all the writings ba!k so that he !an !ontinue to destro" themhimself$ On the !ontrar" he leaves Brod with the !onundrum$ (is letter to Brod is a wa" of giving allthe work to Brod and asking Brod to be the one responsible for its destru!tion$ There is aninsurmountable paradox here sin!e the letter be!omes part of the writing and so part of the ver" !orpusor work like so man" of Kafka’s letters that have been meti!ulousl" preserved over the "ears$ And "etthe letter makes a demand to destro" the writing whi!h would logi!all" entail the nullifi!ation of theletter itself and so nullif" even the !ommand that it delivers$ Do is this !ommand a !lear dire!tive or isit a gesture in the sense that BenGamin and Adorno des!ribed? oes he expe!t his message to rea!h itsdestination or does he write the re'uest knowing that messages and !ommands fail to rea!h those towhom the" are addressed knowing that the" will be subGe!t to the same non/arrival about whi!h hewrote? 8emember it was Kafka who wrote:(ow on earth did an"one get the idea that people !an !ommuni!ate with one another b" letterQ Of adistant person one !an think and of a person who is near one !an !at!h hold 9 all else goes be"ondhuman strength$ Writing letters however means to denude oneself before the ghosts something for

whi!h the" greedil" wait$ Written kisses don’t rea!h their destination rather the" are drunk on the wa" b" the ghosts$ &t is on this ample nourishment that the" multipl" so enormousl"$ (umanit" senses thisand fights against it and in order to eliminate as far as possible the ghostl" element between people andto !reate a natural !ommuni!ation the pea!e of souls it has invented the railwa" the motor !ar theaeroplane$ But it’s no longer an" good these are evidentl" inventions being made at the moment of!rashing$ The opposing side is so mu!h !almer and stronger after the postal servi!e it has invented thetelegraph the telephone the radiograph$ The ghosts won’t starve but we will perish$(ad the works been destro"ed perhaps the ghosts would not be fed 9 though Kafka !ould not haveanti!ipated how limitlessl" parasiti! the for!es of nationalism and profit would be even as he knewthose spe!tral for!es were waiting$ Do in the a!t of d"ing Kafka writes that he wants the work destro"edafter his death$ &s this to sa" that the writing is tied to his living and that with his own demise so too

should !ome the demise of his work? As & die so too should m" work !ease to exist$ A fantas" to besure that it will not outlive him something that he finds too painful$ &t reminds me of the parable ;TheCares of a 6amil" %an’ whi!h !laimed the attention of Adorno for its ;salvational’ promise$ There isOdradek some !reature a spool a star whose laugh sounds like the rustling of leaves hovering in or

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beneath or near the stairwell of a house$ 1erhaps he is a son or the remnant of a son in an" !ase he is part obGe!t and part e!ho of a human presen!e$ &t is onl" at the end of the parable that it seems therigorousl" neutral voi!e who des!ribes this Odradek has a generational relation to him$ This Odradekdoes not 'uite live in time sin!e he is des!ribed as falling down the steps perpetuall" that is in

perpetuit"$ Thus the narrator who seems to be in the position of a father remarks: ;&t almost pains me tothink that he might outlive me$’ Can we read this as an allegor" not Gust for Kafka in his father’s house

but for Kafka’s writing the rustling pages the wa"s in whi!h Kafka himself be!ame part human and

part obGe!t without progen" or rather with a literar" progen" he found nearl" too painful to imaginesurviving him? The great value of Odradek for Adorno was that he was absolutel" useless in a !apitalistworld that sought to instrumentalise all obGe!ts for its gain$ &t was however not Gust the spe!tres ofte!hnolog" that would eagerl" feed on Kafka’s work but those forms of profit/making that exploit eventhe most anti/instrumental forms of art and those forms of nationalism that seek to appropriate even themodes of writing that most rigorousl" resist them$ An iron" then to be sure that Kafka’s writings finall"

be!ame someone else’s stuff pa!ked into a !loset or a vault transmogrified into ex!hange valueawaiting their afterlife as an i!on of national belonging or 'uite simpl" as mone"$

2ettersRol$ .. o$ 3 S )- %ar!h +5))6rom %artin JenkinsThe Guxtaposition of Judith Butler’s arti!le and Jim (olt’s review of The (hallo)s suggests one possiblesolution to the problem of Kafka’s lega!" E LR. . %ar!hF$ Assuming it were in his or her power a

presiding Gudge !ould make it a !ondition of ownership that the entire ar!hive ever" last s!rap of it bedigitised and made freel" available in suitable downloadable format over the internet$ An"onean"where !ould then !onstru!t a personalised version of the ar!hive organised in an" wa" the" saw fit$The ph"si!al lo!ation of the original material would be!ome a matter of little importan!e of interestonl" to paper fetishists and the odd forensi! s!ientist for goodness knows what ar!ane resear!h proGe!t$%ore properl" the papers themselves would be destro"ed on!e digitisation were !omplete finall"honouring Kafka’s wishes and leaving the work itself trul" )e" 'on hier for if an"where meets the

!onditions of a destination that as Judith Butler puts it is not a pla!e as we know a pla!e to be it issurel" !"berspa!e or whatever we !hoose to !all it these da"s$Martin Jenkins

2ondon W)6rom Tillman D!hreibinger A small but not uninteresting fa!t for non/Ierman speakers: )e" means ;awa"’ but it also means ;path’

9 the" are pronoun!ed 'uite differentl"$Tillman Schreibinger

Berlin6rom 8ex Winsbur"Judith Butler sa"s: ;& am not sure an"one has "et proposed that we simpl" weigh our work on the

s!ales$’ That isn’t 'uite so$ &n Aristophanes’ pla" The Fro"s of P5, BC ion"sus goes down to (adesto bring ba!k 0uripides and is roped into a poetr" !ontest between 0uripides and Aes!h"lus$ A large pairof s!ales is produ!ed$ ion"sus protests that this is ;weighing the art of poets like a !heesemonger’ butnevertheless orders ea!h of the rivals to take hold of one pan on the s!ales and speak a few lines of theirverse into it$ Aes!h"lus wins 9 his verses refer to the ;heavier’ obGe!ts 9 so ion"sus takes him ba!kinstead leaving 0uripides bitterl" !omplaining at being left for dead$

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http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n06/letters#letter1

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http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n06/letters#letter1


BUTLER, Judith. Who Owns Kafka

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