Kafka and Humor

[Bill Burns]

Andrew C. W. writes	

>	Although I agree about the humor in Kafka -- particularly in
>AMERIKA -- Primo Levi dissents in his book THE MIRROR MAKER:  "I do not
>much believe in the laughter of which Brod speaks:  perhaps Kafka laughed
>when he told stories to his friends, sitting at a table in the beer hall,
>because one isn't always equal to oneself, but he certainly didn't laugh
>while he wrote.  His suffering is genuine and continuous . . ." (107).

I'd say he probably expressed his angst the way many other writers of that
era did: engaging in the absurd and farcical, dwelling in and affirming the
dichotomy of pain and joy that makes up our experience. This contrast
appears in Barth's *Floating Opera* (the copulating dogs), in Vonnegut (as
late as *Galapagos* with the macabre dance of the syphilitic nazi), and
earlier in Joyce's *Ulysses*. It finds its unique, grotesque expression in
Southern American literature in Faulkner, O'Connor, and others. (And let's
not forget absurdist drama.) Yeah, it's funny, AND its horrifying. That's
the condition of human existence, no? 


>	I thought we were on to something, by the way, with John Mascaro's
>comments about Irigeray, Kristeva, and Pynchon's rhetoric in VINELAND.
>But I do not want to reignite any fires . . . 

For what it's worth, John had some important and valid points. This dualism
of characteristics has been expressed using terms such as masculine-feminine
or as co-opted by the masculine (Apollonian-Dionysian). Vaska also has a
valid point in that these conventions are arbitrary (as are most language
conventions).

I have a problem with embedding all of our biases in language. Yes, at this
point, we can say that "man" in English means "man" and not "human," but to
say that it has always meant this is to ignore some pretty substantial
etymological evidence to the contrary. Whenever we make judgements about
cultural biases expressed in language, we should consider the conceptual
structure expressed in the usage of the time. (There's plenty of evidence to
support the feminist perspective in middle English texts, but it *may* also
support a different perspective on masculinity than the few perspectives
that are so very popular now.)

*---------------------------------------*
*Bill Burns           wdburns at micron.net*
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* "Waaaaagggghh!"                       *
*                     --Korn, 11/27/96  *
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