Franz Kafka's The Trial: Guilty or innocent?

3Citations
Citations of this article
8Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.
Get full text

Abstract

Through an examination of The Trial by Kafka I attempt to show that the depiction of the Court apparatus is dynamically related to the commission of unconscious crimes of the type we encounter in our patients. To provide a context for the novel, I discuss Kafka's biography and some possible unconscious motivations. My goal is to show how the concept of a particular type of superego pressure can be used to understand the subtle irony in The Trial. Although Joseph K.'s behavior frequently involves oedipal crimes, there are many preoedipal themes that help account for his experience of the Court. I contrast this psychoanalytic understanding of K.'s guilt with that of literary critics who interpret The Trial as an allegory of guilt but who minimize the psychological dimensions.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Siegel, E. (1996). Franz Kafka’s The Trial: Guilty or innocent? Psychoanalytic Quarterly. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1080/21674086.1996.11927506

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free