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Far Away from Human-land : Kafka’s Nonhumans in Günther Anders and Walter Benjamin

Seri, Bat Chen (Laila) LU (2024) 21st biennial conference of the International Society for Religion, Literature, and Culture (ISRLC) p.31-31
Abstract
In 1934, Walter Benjamin published his major study Franz Kafka: Zur zehnten Wiederkehr seines Todestages. In the same year, Günther Anders, another German Jew in exile, gave a lecture on Kafka which later, in postwar years, developed into a small book titled Kafka, Pro und Contra. Bringing these two in dialogue—the much-celebrated essay by Benjamin and the generally overlooked book by Anders—the paper offers a joint and comparative reading of the two thinkers on the category of nonhuman in Kafka. Kafka, according to both Anders and Benjamin, views the human being as homo alienatus. His work—abounding with nonhuman protagonists from nimble spools through inquisitive dogs to lethal apparatus—repeatedly and brutally... (More)
In 1934, Walter Benjamin published his major study Franz Kafka: Zur zehnten Wiederkehr seines Todestages. In the same year, Günther Anders, another German Jew in exile, gave a lecture on Kafka which later, in postwar years, developed into a small book titled Kafka, Pro und Contra. Bringing these two in dialogue—the much-celebrated essay by Benjamin and the generally overlooked book by Anders—the paper offers a joint and comparative reading of the two thinkers on the category of nonhuman in Kafka. Kafka, according to both Anders and Benjamin, views the human being as homo alienatus. His work—abounding with nonhuman protagonists from nimble spools through inquisitive dogs to lethal apparatus—repeatedly and brutally challenges the notion of the human being and her place in the world. Anders’ Marxian prism joined with Benjamin’s fantastic-historical lens offers an insight into alienation as the rift between the modern commodification of world and self and the primordial animality of the human body. Through Benjamin’s messianic hope and Anders’ urgent warning, the paper seeks to overturn the nonhuman in Kafka and recover a positive notion of human in a contemporary world.
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
unpublished
subject
pages
1 pages
conference name
21st biennial conference of the International Society for Religion, Literature, and Culture (ISRLC)
conference dates
2024-09-05 - 2024-09-08
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
18aa5c0e-2cd6-459b-9277-e868beace0f5
date added to LUP
2024-10-12 08:22:55
date last changed
2025-04-04 15:06:08
@misc{18aa5c0e-2cd6-459b-9277-e868beace0f5,
  abstract     = {{In 1934, Walter Benjamin published his major study <i>Franz Kafka: Zur zehnten Wiederkehr seines Todestages</i>. In the same year, Günther Anders, another German Jew in exile, gave a lecture on Kafka which later, in postwar years, developed into a small book titled <i>Kafka, Pro und Contra</i>. Bringing these two in dialogue—the much-celebrated essay by Benjamin and the generally overlooked book by Anders—the paper offers a joint and comparative reading of the two thinkers on the category of nonhuman in Kafka. Kafka, according to both Anders and Benjamin, views the human being as <i>homo alienatus</i>. His work—abounding with nonhuman protagonists from nimble spools through inquisitive dogs to lethal apparatus—repeatedly and brutally challenges the notion of the human being and her place in the world. Anders’ Marxian prism joined with Benjamin’s fantastic-historical lens offers an insight into alienation as the rift between the modern commodification of world and self and the primordial animality of the human body. Through Benjamin’s messianic hope and Anders’ urgent warning, the paper seeks to overturn the nonhuman in Kafka and recover a positive notion of human in a contemporary world. <br/>}},
  author       = {{Seri, Bat Chen (Laila)}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{31--31}},
  title        = {{Far Away from Human-land : Kafka’s Nonhumans in Günther Anders and Walter Benjamin}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}