Kafkas Stereoscopes (Paperback)

Prof Isak Winkel Holm

ISBN 10: 1501378368 / ISBN 13: 9781501378362

Published by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, New York, 2021

About this Item

Paperback. In 1911, Franz Kafka encountered the Kaiser Panorama: a stereoscopic peep show offering an illusion of three-dimensional depth. After the experience, he began to emulate the apparatus in his literary sketches, developing a style we might call "stereoscopic," juxtaposing, like the optical stereoscope, two images of the same object seen from slightly different perspectives.Isak Winkel Holm argues that Kafkas stereoscopic style is crucial to an understanding of the relation between literature and politics in Kafka's work. At the level of content, the stereoscopic style offers a representation of the basic order of a specific community. At the level of form, the stereoscopic style is structured as the juxtaposition of two dissimilar images of the same community. At the level of function, finally, the style provokes a reconsideration, and perhaps even a reconfiguration, of the social order itself. With insights from literary studies, philosophical aesthetics and political theory, Kafkas Stereoscopes offers a detailed but highly readable argument for the relevance of Kafka's literary works in todays political reality. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781501378362

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Kafkas Stereoscopes (Paperback)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, New York
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1501378368
• ISBN 13: 9781501378362
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

In 1911, Franz Kafka encountered the Kaiser Panorama: a stereoscopic peep show offering an illusion of three-dimensional depth. After the experience, he began to emulate the apparatus in his literary sketches, developing a style we might call "stereoscopic," juxtaposing, like the optical stereoscope, two images of the same object seen from slightly different perspectives.

Isak Winkel Holm argues that Kafka's stereoscopic style is crucial to an understanding of the relation between literature and politics in Kafka's work. At the level of content, the stereoscopic style offers a representation of the basic order of a specific community. At the level of form, the stereoscopic style is structured as the juxtaposition of two dissimilar images of the same community. At the level of function, finally, the style provokes a reconsideration, and perhaps even a reconfiguration, of the social order itself.

With insights from literary studies, philosophical aesthetics and political theory, Kafka's Stereoscopes offers a detailed but highly readable argument for the relevance of Kafka's literary works in today's political reality.

About the Author

Isak Winkel Holm is Professor of Comparative Literature at University of Copenhagen, Denmark. His previous publications include Tanken i billedet. Søren Kierkegaards poetik (Thinking in Images: The Poetics of Søren Kierkegaard, Gyldendal 1998) and Stormløb mod grænsen: det politiske hos Franz Kafka (Storming the Border: the Political in Kafka, Gyldendal 2015).