Before Adolf Eichmann: A Kafkian Analysis of the ‘Banality Of Evil’
Before Adolf Eichmann: A Kafkian Analysis of the ‘Banality Of Evil’
Author(s): Matthew WesterSubject(s): Comparative Study of Literature, Czech Literature, German Literature, Philosophy of Law, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: Arendt; Kafka; Banality of Evil; Eichmann; Crimes against Humanity;
Summary/Abstract: Arendt’s account of Adolf Eichmann as acting only out of banal intentions remains controversial. I supplement our understanding of the “banality of evil” by demonstrating that Arendt also meant it to describe a factual social arrangement characterized by a form of false consciousness. I apply an original interpretation of Kafka’s The Trial to Eichmann in Jerusalem, and I show that Eichmann’s trial was “before” him in the same way as the Kafkian man from the country is “before” the Law.
Journal: Estetyka i Krytyka
- Issue Year: 53/2019
- Issue No: 2
- Page Range: 91-107
- Page Count: 18
- Language: English