God, Emperor, and the "Disadvantages of Such Great Empires" : An Essay on Franz Kafka

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11210%2F19%3A10450079" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11210/19:10450079 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=Ff~nMgoFnP" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=Ff~nMgoFnP</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/rel.2019.0017" target="_blank" >10.1353/rel.2019.0017</a>

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

God, Emperor, and the "Disadvantages of Such Great Empires" : An Essay on Franz Kafka

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

This essay re-examines Kafka&apos;s reactions to the theme of the death of God. While focusing primarily on The Great Wall of China, it also compares this story to several other texts by Kafka, The Castle in particular. Moreover, it takes into account earlier commentaries, chiefly by Robert Alter, Wiebrecht Ries, Ritchie Robertson, and Hans Dieter Zimmermann. When it comes to Kafka&apos;s relation to Nietzsche, the imagery used by Kafka is sometimes conspicuously Nietzschean. However, Kafka&apos;s texts were influenced by other sources as well, for example by Kierkegaard. Moreover, they are marked by profound indeterminacy. They are, therefore, open both to religious and to non-religious readings; and they do not deny the existence of God, they merely cast doubt upon it. More specifically, the article argues that Kafka demonstrates that God, though possibly existent, does not control the life of human communities; and that religious traditions may prevent the reception of divine revelations. Kafka&apos;s skepticism, nonetheless, permits that religiousness might belong to the proper mode of existence. The concluding section explains, in reaction to Adorno, in what sense Kafka should elicit humility. As the article establishes by comparing his texts with the classic Czech author Němcová, the supreme authority expresses itself in Kafka only indistinctly. One cannot decide whether its ostensible manifestations are truly divine or merely &quot;dreamed up&quot;. Everyone thus ought to be aware that no answer to the unknown is sufficiently justified.

Název v anglickém jazyce

God, Emperor, and the "Disadvantages of Such Great Empires" : An Essay on Franz Kafka

Popis výsledku anglicky

This essay re-examines Kafka&apos;s reactions to the theme of the death of God. While focusing primarily on The Great Wall of China, it also compares this story to several other texts by Kafka, The Castle in particular. Moreover, it takes into account earlier commentaries, chiefly by Robert Alter, Wiebrecht Ries, Ritchie Robertson, and Hans Dieter Zimmermann. When it comes to Kafka&apos;s relation to Nietzsche, the imagery used by Kafka is sometimes conspicuously Nietzschean. However, Kafka&apos;s texts were influenced by other sources as well, for example by Kierkegaard. Moreover, they are marked by profound indeterminacy. They are, therefore, open both to religious and to non-religious readings; and they do not deny the existence of God, they merely cast doubt upon it. More specifically, the article argues that Kafka demonstrates that God, though possibly existent, does not control the life of human communities; and that religious traditions may prevent the reception of divine revelations. Kafka&apos;s skepticism, nonetheless, permits that religiousness might belong to the proper mode of existence. The concluding section explains, in reaction to Adorno, in what sense Kafka should elicit humility. As the article establishes by comparing his texts with the classic Czech author Němcová, the supreme authority expresses itself in Kafka only indistinctly. One cannot decide whether its ostensible manifestations are truly divine or merely &quot;dreamed up&quot;. Everyone thus ought to be aware that no answer to the unknown is sufficiently justified.

Druh

J_SC - Článek v periodiku v databázi SCOPUS

CEP obor

—

OECD FORD obor

60301 - Philosophy, History and Philosophy of science and technology

Projekt

—

Návaznosti

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Rok uplatnění

2019

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název periodika

Religion &amp; Literature

ISSN

0888-3769

e-ISSN

2328-6911

Svazek periodika

51

Číslo periodika v rámci svazku

1

Stát vydavatele periodika

US - Spojené státy americké

Počet stran výsledku

23

Strana od-do

69-91

Kód UT WoS článku

—

EID výsledku v databázi Scopus

2-s2.0-85121325190