God of Evil Law. An Attempt of Gnostic Interpretation of the Franz Kafka Process Cover Image

Bóg złego Prawa. Próba gnostyckiej interpretacji Procesu Franza Kafki
God of Evil Law. An Attempt of Gnostic Interpretation of the Franz Kafka Process

Author(s): Krzysztof Brenskott
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Czech Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: gnostycyzm; Franz Kafka; gnoza; manicheizm; demiurg; archont

Summary/Abstract: The goal of the article is a proposal to read the output of Franz Kafka through the prism of Gnostic beliefs and ideas. The author, having noticed a certain convergence between the Gnostic experience of existence and the vision of the world presented in the works of Kafka, tries to seek the convergences between the former and the latter. The point is not to prove that The Trial, or any other work by the writer, may be subject to a full, self-contained and comprehensive Gnostic interpretation, let alone that Kafka was a Gnostic. The author of the article only suggests a different way of looking at The Trial, as just another tool used to extract different senses and new meanings from the work. The sketch analyses Kafka’s novel, focusing, consequently, on the Gnostic anthropology, the vision of reality, the question of the Law, and the possibility of salvation. The adopted perspective enables new readings of Kafka’s work, and the interpretation, on the one hand, stresses the demiurgic nature of Kafka’s Law, and on the other hand, seems to be an optimistic reading through underlining the possibility and role of salvation.

  • Issue Year: 12/2015
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 186-204
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Polish