Modern fools : an errant journey from the Quixotic to the Kafkaesque

Abstract

The work of Cervantes and Kafka would appear to have little basis for comparison on initial inspection. However, by means of a very close reading of, and dialogue between, Cervantes' Don Quijote and Kafka's Das Urteil and Der Proceß, I set out in this study to illustrate a very substantial narrative that is shared between both authors' work. The basis of our juxtaposition is the short aphorism, "Die Wahrheit über Sancho Panza", which proves Kafka's familiarity with Cervantes' novel and, it is argued, his understanding thereof. This aphorism is brought into dialogue with psychoanalytic theory, with a particular emphasis upon Norman O. Brown's reinterpretation of the Oedipus complex as the fantasy of being the father of oneself or causa sui. In addition, through a similarly close reading of selected theoretical texts, with a particular emphasis on the work of Michel Foucault, it will be argued that this shared narrative is an excellent allegory for the narrative of 'modernity', that is: for the 300 years of European intellectual and cultural developments that separate Cervantes and Kafka.