Humor in Kafka?

DanielBenoit · 08-24-2009, 08:57 PM

Today I was reading an essay by David Foster Wallace all about the ironic humor in Kafka. From what I've read of Kafka, I don't remember picking out anything significantly comedic. Is it the translation?

stlukesguild · 08-24-2009, 09:29 PM

Comic does not always translate into guffaws over pratfalls or one-liners. The "comedy" in Kafka is a dark comedy to be found in the absurdity of the situations Kafka imagines... the absurdity of life... and the dead-pan manner in which it is dealt. Irony. "One day Joseph K. wakes up to discover he has been metamorphosed into a giant dung beetle." This is an opening that one would expect to be followed up by great emotions... by an atmosphere of the other-worldly or unreal. But what happens? Kafka presents the entire Surreal scenario in the dispassionate manner of the bureaucrat of the journalist ("Just the facts "Ma'am"). And Joseph himself? He certainly doesn't deal with this unreal transformation with the sort of hysteria that we imagine we ourselves might be expected to display. He wakes up and finds he's turned to a giant dung beetle... but still he must get dressed... he must get to work... he must carry on as if nothing happened. The humor in Kafka is all about human beings "trapped" in absurd situations by unknown powers that the cannot fathom (whether it be faceless bureaucracies or a faceless God) and unable to recognize the absurdity of their situation... unable to laugh.

DanielBenoit · 08-24-2009, 10:25 PM

thank you, that clears up a lot.

It's interesting how existential absurdity (that is, the absurdity of things like waking up as a giant insect, or being prosicuted for no reason at all) can be approached in two ironically different ways; one, by falling into despair and hiding in the corner of your room, or; by laughing in the face of the absurdity of it all.
This dichotomy keeps on bringing me back to comparisons with Falstaff and Hamlet; one laughed in the face of the absurdity of war and chivalry, while the other took the absurdity of the world seriously and suffered for it (even though he seems to win out in the end by accepting it).

Sorry for the long rant. This is just a topic of particular fascination for me.

08-24-2009, 08:57 PM	#1
DanielBenoit Signifying nothing. . . . Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Green Bay Posts: 2,058 Blog Entries: 61	Humor in Kafka? Today I was reading an essay by David Foster Wallace all about the ironic humor in Kafka. From what I've read of Kafka, I don't remember picking out anything significantly comedic. Is it the translation? __________________ Estragon: Nothing to be done. Vladimir: I'm beginning to come round to that opinion. Hamm: What's happening, what's happening? Clov: Something is taking its course. my blog: danielbenoit.blog.com

08-24-2009, 09:29 PM	#2
stlukesguild Artist and Bibliophile Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Cleveland, Ohio... or thereabouts Posts: 2,029 Blog Entries: 33	Comic does not always translate into guffaws over pratfalls or one-liners. The "comedy" in Kafka is a dark comedy to be found in the absurdity of the situations Kafka imagines... the absurdity of life... and the dead-pan manner in which it is dealt. Irony. "One day Joseph K. wakes up to discover he has been metamorphosed into a giant dung beetle." This is an opening that one would expect to be followed up by great emotions... by an atmosphere of the other-worldly or unreal. But what happens? Kafka presents the entire Surreal scenario in the dispassionate manner of the bureaucrat of the journalist ("Just the facts "Ma'am"). And Joseph himself? He certainly doesn't deal with this unreal transformation with the sort of hysteria that we imagine we ourselves might be expected to display. He wakes up and finds he's turned to a giant dung beetle... but still he must get dressed... he must get to work... he must carry on as if nothing happened. The humor in Kafka is all about human beings "trapped" in absurd situations by unknown powers that the cannot fathom (whether it be faceless bureaucracies or a faceless God) and unable to recognize the absurdity of their situation... unable to laugh. __________________ Beware of the man with just one book. -Ovid The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.- Mark Twain It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. -Aristotle http://stlukesguild.wordpress.com/

08-24-2009, 10:25 PM	#3
DanielBenoit Signifying nothing. . . . Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Green Bay Posts: 2,058 Blog Entries: 61	thank you, that clears up a lot. It's interesting how existential absurdity (that is, the absurdity of things like waking up as a giant insect, or being prosicuted for no reason at all) can be approached in two ironically different ways; one, by falling into despair and hiding in the corner of your room, or; by laughing in the face of the absurdity of it all. This dichotomy keeps on bringing me back to comparisons with Falstaff and Hamlet; one laughed in the face of the absurdity of war and chivalry, while the other took the absurdity of the world seriously and suffered for it (even though he seems to win out in the end by accepting it). Sorry for the long rant. This is just a topic of particular fascination for me. __________________ Estragon: Nothing to be done. Vladimir: I'm beginning to come round to that opinion. Hamm: What's happening, what's happening? Clov: Something is taking its course. my blog: danielbenoit.blog.com

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