KAFKA AND DOSTOYEVSKY Kafka and Dostoyevsky The Shaping of Influence

W.J. Dodd Lecturer in German Studies University of Binningham

Palgrave Macmillan ISBN 978-1-349-21862-2 ISBN 978-1-349-21860-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-21860-8

© W. J. Dodd 1992 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1992 All rights reserved. For information, write: Scholarly and Reference Division, St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010

First published in the United States of America in 1992

ISBN 978-0-312-06795-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dodd, W. J., 1950- Kafka and Dostoyevsky : the shaping of influence / W. J. Dodd. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-06795-3 1. Kafka, Franz, 1883-1924-Knowledge-Literature. 2. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821-1881-Influence. I. Title. PT2621.A26Z6766 1992 833'.912-dc20 91-22360 CIP For Mary and Bill 'Am Verhaltnis der modernen Kunstwerke zu alteren, die ihnen ahneln, ware die DifJerenz herauszuarbeiten.' Theodor Adorno

'It is the characteristic feature of literature to be endlessly interpreted and reinterpreted by its readers.' T zvetan T odorov Contents

Foreword viii Acknowledgements x List of Abbreviations xi

1 Introduction 1

2 Kafka's Russia 15

3 A Friend in 5t Petersburg? Das Urteil 33

4 Mr Golyadkin: Die Verwandlung (I) 51

5 Underground Men: Die Verwandlung (II) 80

6 Punishments and Crimes: Der ProzefJ 108

7 Dostoyevsky Underground: In der Strafkolonie 155

8 Coda: Erinnerungen an die Kaldabahn, Der Unterstaatsanwalt, Der Dorfschullehrer 175

9 The Narrative Problem 189

10 Kafka's Dostoyevsky: Conclusions and Questions 202

Notes 207 Bibliography 227 Index 233

vii Foreword

It is all but impossible to list the many debts I have incurred in writing this book. First and not least there is the debt to my wife, Kath, who believed in the author even when the author had doubts. There is also, of course, the indebtedness to other scholars whose work has helped shape my own ideas, and there is space here to mention only the most obvious. Most recently, I have been in the fortunate position of being able to draw on the painstaking work of the editors of the historical-critical edition of Kafka. This book was about to go to press when the Tagebucher and Der Procej3 were published. I am delighted to have been able to check my findings against these superior editions, which are referred to throughout. I would also make special mention of the work of Hartmut Binder, Roy PascaL John Jones and Ritchie Robertson, and also Herbert Kraft, whose seminars on Kafka in Munster taught me to read more closely. The influence of these and other scholars on the shaping of this book will be evident throughout, even and especially where I am prompted to disagree. I am also grateful to colleagues at Birming• ham, especially Ron Speirs and Michael Butler, for their helpful criticism; and to Dr John White, the publishers' reader, for his detailed comments on the 'final' manuscript. The greatest of these debts, however, is the earliest. Raymond Hargreaves first introduced me to Kafka in his ledures at the University of Leeds and has been a constant and inexhaustible source of stimulation and support throughout the long gestation of this book. As always, whatever merits this study may have derive in no small measure from the vitality of other scholars, while any shortcomings are to be laid only at the door of the author. Research grants from the University of Birmingham and the British Academy enabled me to pursue my researches at the Deutsches Literaturarchiv in Marbach, to which wonderful institu• tion and its dedicated staff I am profoundly indebted. Finally, my thanks go to Margaret Cannon and Keith Povey for their support and help in preparing the manuscript for publication. viii Foreword ix

Earlier versions of parts of this study appeared in the Journal of European Studies and German Life and Letters, and this material is reproduced with the kind permission of their editors. An extended, German, version of Chapter 2 is due to appear in the series West• ostliche Spiegelungen, edited by Lev Kopelev.

W.J. DODD Acknowledgements

The author and publishers are grateful for permission from Schocken Books Inc. for quotations from the following:

Extracts from The Trial by Franz Kafka, edited by Max Brod. © 1925, 1935, 1946 by Schocken Books, Inc. Copyright renewed 1952, 1963, 1974 by Schocken Books, Inc. Extracts from The Diaries of Franz Kafka, edited by Max Brod. © 1948, 1949 and renewed 1976, 1977 by Schocken Books, Inc. Extracts from Complete Stories by Franz Kafka, edited by Nahum N. Glatzer. © 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1954. Copyright renewed 1958, 1971 by Schocken Books, Inc. Extracts from Letters to Felice by Franz Kafka, edited by Erich Heller. © 1967 by Schocken Books, Inc. Extracts from Letters to Milena by Franz Kafka. © 1952 Schocken Books, Inc. Copyright renewed 1980 by Schocken Books, Inc.

All the above are reprinted by permission of Schocken Books, published by Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

x List of Abbreviations

Page references to Kafka are in the body of the text. Other references are in the footnotes. The following abbreviations are used (further details are given in the Bibliography):

Works by Kafka

A Amerika (= Der Verschollene) BeK Beschreibung eines Kampfes Dietz Beschreibung eines Kampfes. Die zwei Fassungen Br Briefe 1902-1924 BrF Briefe an Felice BrM Briefe an Milena BrO Briefe an OUla und die Familie E Erzahlungen H Hochzeitsvorbereitungen auf dem Lande und andere Prosa aus dem NachlafJ S Das SchlofJ P Der ProcefJ. In der Fassung der Handschrift'O P Der ProzefJ T T agebiicher'O T Tagebiicher 1910-1923 • Historical-critical edition

Works by Dostoyevsky

PSS Polnoye sobraniye sochineniy v trUsati tomakh CP Crime and Punishment RR Rodion Raskolnikoff (Schuld und Siihne) NHD (Notes from) The House of the Dead NfU Notes from Underground/ The Double Eliasberg F. M. Dostojewski. Briefe xi xii List of Abbreviations

Works of Criticism

KHl, KH2 Kafka-Handbuch, vols 1 and 2 KKE Kafka-Kommentar zu den Erzahlungen . . . KKR Kafka-Kommentar zu den Romanen ...

Journals

CL Comparative Literature CQ Critical Quarterly DVLG Deutsche Vierteljahresschrift fur Literaturwissenschaft und Geistesgeschichte FMLS Forum for Modern Language Studies GQ German Quarterly IdS ]ahrbuch der deutschen Schillergesellschaft MAL Modern Austrian Literature MLN Modern Language Notes MLR Modern Language Review OGS Oxford German Studies PMLA Publications of the Modern Language Association SEE] Slavic and East European ]ournal ZfdPh Zeitschrift fur deutsche Philologie ZfsPh Zeitschrift fur slavische Philologie ZfS Zeitschrift fur Slawistik