COMPARATIVE LITERATURE Labyrinth, the Shape of the Modern Mind Kafka, Auster, Borges Jiwon Hahn April 2013 Advisor Professor Lawrence A. Rosenwald Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Prerequisite for Honors in Comparative Literature © 2013 Jiwon Hahn Errare humanum est. Acknowledgments First of all, I thank Professor Larry Rosenwald for guidance and encouragement throughout the process. This study would not have been possible, quite literally, without him. I also thank Professor Vicki E. Mistacco for the warm support of last four years and Dr. Jake Wadham at Oxford, whose tutorials shaped me a better critic. I sincerely appreciate Professor Jens Kruse for the advice on Kafka and Professor Thomas Nolden for the Comparative Literature department. I would also like to thank Professor Evelina Guzauskyte and Professor Nancy Hall who introduced me to Borges. I am deeply grateful for the inspiring tutorials on Kafka and Borges by Dr. Alexandra Lloyd and Dr. Sarah Roger at the University of Oxford. I also thank my family for the unwavering support and Alphina Kain for all the time spent together at the library. Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Labyrinth, its Meaning ...........................................................................................................................................3 The Birth of the Labyrinth ...................................................................................................................................5 The Labyrinth and its Creator ............................................................................................................................7 Flâneur in the City-Labyrinth .............................................................................................................................8 Detective Stories as Labyrinths ...................................................................................................................... 10 Kafka the Minotaur ..................................................................................................................... 12 The Trial (Der Prozeß) ........................................................................................................................................ 12 Parables ..................................................................................................................................................................... 18 The Castle (Das Schloss) ..................................................................................................................................... 21 “The Burrow” (Der Bau) ..................................................................................................................................... 29 Auster the Flâneur ....................................................................................................................... 32 City of Glass .............................................................................................................................................................. 32 Ghosts ......................................................................................................................................................................... 41 The Locked Room .................................................................................................................................................. 47 Borges the Daedalus ................................................................................................................... 55 “The Circular Ruins” and “The House of Asterion” ............................................................................... 57 “Ibn-Hakam al-Bokhari, Murdered in His Labyrinth” .......................................................................... 61 “Death and the Compass” .................................................................................................................................. 63 “The Garden of Forking Paths” ....................................................................................................................... 66 “The Immortal” ....................................................................................................................................................... 70 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 75 Selected Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 80 2 Introduction Labyrinth, its Meaning What is a labyrinth? The fundamental elements of the common understanding of labyrinth can be uncovered in its lexical definition: labyrinth n. A structure consisting of a number of intercommunicating passages arranged in bewildering complexity, through which it is difficult or impossible to find one’s way without guidance; a maze; an intricate, complicated or tortuous arrangement (of physical features, buildings, etc.); a tortuous, entangled, or inextricable condition of things, events, ideas, etc.1 Thus a labyrinth is an architectural work in which one gets lost. “Maze” is a synonym. The last definition quoted demonstrates that the “intricate and confusing” aspect of a labyrinth renders it a metaphor, applicable even to abstract ideas. The etymology of the term “labyrinth” remains uncertain. The most widely accepted interpretation, proposed by Maximilan Mayer in 1892, asserts that labyrinthos is a house of the double-headed ax (labrys). The cult of the double-headed ax has been associated with Knossos, the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete, where the Palace of Minos is. Though enticing, the notion has been challenged, because labrys was only the Lydian word for double ax; in Greece it was called pelekys, and on Crete by yet another name, wao. In addition, the cult of the double ax is also founded upon insufficient evidence, as is its particular association with Knossos. As a result, apart from the suffix “-inthos,” usually employed in place names such as Korinthos, the etymology does not offer us any clarification of the concept. In his eminent book on the history of labyrinths, Hermann Kern distinguishes a maze from a labyrinth, based on their forms recorded in historical documents. According to him, a maze is intersected with many paths, whereas a labyrinth has only one: [I]n a labyrinth, there is a single, undeviating path to the center. The walker is not confronted with problems of orientation and can instead direct his or her attention inwardly, concentrating on the significance of the journey. By contrast, the path to the center of a maze is determined by the choices the walker makes at intersections, which can 1 The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971. Print. Introduction Labyrinth, its Meaning be done only by concentrating on externals. The center of a maze can be found only if the walker takes the initiative, by constantly working to orient and redirect him- or herself toward the goal. In a labyrinth, success is a natural consequence of the path’s design; the walker is guided to the center by the existing framework. Both structures serve as entirely different exercises, offering different types of experience.2 (316) Despite the historical distinction between maze and labyrinth, the contemporary labyrinth encompasses the idea of the maze. Yet Kern’s differentiation allows us to disentangle the complex concept of the labyrinth in use today. The confusion between labyrinth and maze blurs the boundary between the internal and the external experience of being lost. The assurance that the walker can concentrate on meditation without losing the way has Figure 1 Classical Cretan labyrinth vanished. Inside a labyrinth, nothing is certain anymore—what lies in the center, if there is a center, what are the shape and size of the labyrinth, and most importantly, whether each choice is the right one in finding the center or the exit. Hyperconscious of being lost and alone, an individual explores the environment and reflects upon each and every choice that may be irrevocable. Thus the wanderer gains insight in both surrounding and mind. The labyrinth therefore proves to be a site of intellectual and philosophical challenge. What one learns in the journey, however, does not lead to success in reaching the center or escaping the labyrinth. What the labyrinth-maze discloses, instead of the “answer,” is its remarkable resemblance to the world: making one’s own judgment at every turn despite never “understanding,” so to speak, the big picture. Experience in the labyrinth parallels life itself: one constantly learns about the external world as well as the self. Yet nothing is ever sure while living inside the labyrinth. From this emerges the classical 2 Kern. Hermann, Through the Labyrinth. Trans. Abigail H. Clay with Sandra Burns Thomas and Kathrin A. Velder. New York: Prestel Verlag, 2000. Print. 4 Introduction The Birth of the Labyrinth metaphor of the Christian wayfarer, the pilgrim personifying the Christian soul, who wanders in the world-labyrinth (207). The walker is therefore further bewildered about the boundary between inside the labyrinth and outside, between pre-labyrinth and post- labyrinth existence. It is important to note, however, that the experience of the labyrinth still signifies