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A Reading of Rex Warner's the Professor and Franz Kafka's the Trial

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A Reading of Rex Warner's the Professor and Franz Kafka's the Trial AND FRBNZ 6[AFKADS S TRIAfr by RfGK RAUSER B.A., SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY, 1992 THEBIS SUBMITTED XN PfiRTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of ENGLI S)I @ RICK RAWER 1994 SIMON FRASER UNIWRSSTY Aprii 1994 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy D or other means, without permission of the author. National Library BiblimWque nationale &Canada du Canada Direction des acquisitions et des services bibliographiques Your file Volre reference Our fik Notre rdfBrence The author has granted an l'auteur a accorde une licence irrevocabte non-exclusive Iicence irr6vocable et non exclusive allowing the National Library of permettant P la BibliothPque Canada to reproduce, loan, nationale du Canada de distribute or sell copies of reproduire, pr&er, distribuer ou hislher thesis by any means and vendre des copies de sa these in any form or format, making de quelque maniere et sous this thesis available to interested quelque forme que ce soit pour persons. mettre des exemplaires de cette these 3 la disposition des personnes int6ress6es. The author retains ownership of L'auteur conserve la propriete du the copyright in his/her thesis. droit d'auteur qui protege sa Neither the thesis nor substantial these. Ni la th6se ni des extraits extracts from it may be printed or substantiels de celle-ci ne otherwise reproduced without doivent &re imprimes ou his/her permission. autrernent reproduits sans son autorisation. ISBN 0-612-17070-5 PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE ! hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis, project or extended essay {the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. i further agree that permission for multiple copying of thjs work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies* It is understmd that cagying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Titte of Thes i s/Project/Extended Essay Author : (s ignatute) (date) APPROVAL Degree: MASTER OF ARTS Title af Thesis: AN ENGLISH KAF'KA? A READING OF REX l@tNERts THE TRIAL Chair: Dr. Paul Buclra Assistant Professor Dr. Jery Zaslove Associate Professor Senior Supervisor Dr. Michael Steig Prsfessor Dr. John %per I3xternal Ex her Assistant Professor Department of English ifniversity of British Columbia Date Approved: +,/fy* This thesis is a comparison of Rex Warner's The Professor (1938) and Franz Kafka's The Trial (1925). Its premise is that Rex Warner deserves a place in literary history greater than the insignificant niche he currently occupies, and that the important parallels between The Professor and The Trial show not only Kafka's influence on Warner, but also Warner's depth and sophistication as a writer. This study compares the two novels in terms of four thematic areas: the portrayal of authority, the isolation of the individual, the role and function of sexualkty, and the conception and use of the dream state. The thesis also addresses Warner's views of Kafka, which raise important questions of conscious influence. Two important essays, Warner's "Reflections on Franz Kafka" (1948) and "The Uses of Allegory" (19431, both show Warnerts appreciation for, and understanding of Kafka's technique and thematic concerns. In terms of critical material, this thesis makes use of the two major studies of Warner's novels, James Flynn's Politics in the Novels of Rex Warner (1974) and N.H. Reeve's The Novelg of Rex Warner: An Introduction (1989). It also addresses the importance of Marian McLeod's excellent introduction to the Warner collection, Personal Impressions: Talks on Writers and Writing (1986). The approach to Warner anb Kafka is by way of a reading, and as such its use of secondary material on Kafka is limited primarily to Theodor Adorno and Ronald Gray. The thesis shows the parallels between the novels and how my own readkng experience with these texts establishes basis for their af finf ty and direct relationship. This thesis was a big undertaking, and I would like to thank both Professor Jery Zaslove and Professor Michael Steig for guiding me through the process with support, advice, and encouragement. I am also indebted to Professor Kathy Mezei, Graduate Chair, who allowed me a great deal of freedom in the way I chose to approach my M-A, studies. I also wish to thank all of my students, past and present, for constantly reminding me of why I love literature so much, Finally, I must thank my parents, without whose continued support my graduate studies would not have been possible. - Abstract,.,, ............................................. iii AcmwleBgements ........................................... v CHAPTER 1 Introduction: Why Warner?. .....................1 3 2 Warner an Kafka: "Reflections on Kafka and "The Uses of Allegory ".................. -9 CHAPTER 3 What is the Law? Authority in The Trial,...,,.20 CHAPTER 4 What is the National Legion? Authority in The Prafessor,. .............................. 32 CHASTER 5 Isolation and Persecution: The Individual a in The Trial,. .............................. ,,45 CWTER 6 Intellect and Isolation: The Individual in The Professor ............................. 59 CHAPTER 7 KO, Leni, and the Court: Sexuality in The Trial,,,.,. ........................... 76 CHAPTER 8 Clara, Vander, and the Professor: Sexuality in The Professor ............................. 87 CHAPTER 9 The Priest, The Whipper, and Kafkafs World: The Dream State in The Trial,,., ........,.... 99 CHAPTER 10 Dreams from the Silk Dressing Gown: The Dream State in The Professor ...........111 CfAPTIGR I1 Conclusion: An English Kafka?., ..............129 Rex Warner (1905-1906) wrote eleven novels, ae well as a collection of essays entitled The Cult of Power (1986) and two collections of poetry: Poems (1937) and Poems and Contrrndfctfons (1945). Bis navels divide into two iwin groups: fro@ 1937-49 he published The WiXd Goose Wse, _The Professor, The Aefodro~te, of Stones, and Why Was I Killed? (also published as Return of the Traveller), a group of allegorical novels which have as a unifying them the horror of was, fascism, and militaristic authority and its crushing effect on the individual. N.H. Reeve describes these early works as "novels-of-ideas* (Reeve 2). Warner's later works, published between 1958 anB 1967 (The! Young Caesar, fwerial Caesar, Pericles the Athenian, and The Converts,) are histor%calnovels, the first two dealing with the life of Caesar in an nautobiagraphfcal" framework, while the hero of Perfcles has his life narrated by the phi3osogher Anaxagozas, and The Converts, though also a historical novel, hns a fictitiou8 narrator. Warner also publisher6 a boy's adventure novel, -Kite (19361, aad aa attempt at humorous satire, Escapade (1953). The few critics who have studied Warner agree that his most successful and compelXing novels aze the dive political allegories; of these I find The Professor to be the most structurally sound, thematically articulate, and emotaonally powerful . There ate two major studies of Rex Warner's novels; tlm is James Flym's Politics in the Novels of Rex Warr- [1972), %he second N.H. Reeve's The Novels of Rex Warner: An Introductfon (1986). In addition, Marian McLeod has edited an important but obscure collection of Warner's talks entitled Personal Impressions: Talks on Writers and Writinq, and her introduction to this volume gives important insight and information on Warner's literary abilities and his critical reception. Reeve writes that in the late thirties [Warner ' s] works are for a time keenly awaited and quite widely read, and their public profile helps in his eventual enlistment as a more trustworthy Establishment figuren (Reeve 1). Reeve also notes that by the mia-forties in England "the notion of Warner as an 'English Kafka' began to gain credencew (Reeve 16). In 1945 the first issue of Focus, a new literary journal, featured fourteen critical essays in a symposium comparing the two authors. In this study I intend to explore this interesting question of whether Warner can be called an "English Kafkaw under the light of critical scrutiny. To do so I have chosen to compare Warner" The Professor and Kafka's The Trial in a close reading of both novels. In his introduction to the 1986 reprint of The Professor Arnold Rattenbury says of the novel, "There is practically no description of person or place and few names, few details in place of names even, so that even the smallest detail -- SO rare is it -- acquires pikestaff significancen (4). He thus provides furpt a sntaXl exaaple of a statement which coulZf easily be made ial without any modification and presents one of many parallels that may be drawn from these two novels, so similar in their method, theme and scope, and yet Gifferent in important and interesting ways, The idea of comparing the two works first came to me the moment after I had read The Professor -- two years after I had first read -The Trial. I saw such a striking similarity in the way both novels presented their ideas -- and in the ideas themselves -- that a comparison seemed like a task that would be almost too easy, or at best, too obvious. It was when I learned of Warner's almost complete obscurity as a literary figure that I decided a comparision with Kafka would not be as easy or as obvious as I had assumed, but that it would instead be challenging, fascinating, and, above all, important, for it would have to face the underlying reality that while Kafka has assumed a world-wide literary importance -- to the extent of being considered one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century -- Warner has remained virtually unknown, and when his work is discussed, he is usually somewhat belittled by being simplistically classified as a "political allegorist".
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