"Fräulein Bürstners weiße Bluse": Making Sense Stick in Kafka's "The Trial"

Author(s): Gregor Kalinowski

Source: The German Quarterly, Vol. 83, No. 4 (Fall 2010), pp. 449-464
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the American Association of Teachers of German
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Gregor Kalinowski

"FräuleinBürstnersweiße Bluse":
MakingSense Stickin Kafka'sTheTrial

TheTrialhastwistedandturned veryproductively through generations of

readers7 hands, and one cannot do to
justice the breadth and depth of critical
inquirythathas accompaniedit down the eighty-odd yearsof its recep-
tion- notinanarticle, andcertainly notintheintroductory comments toan
article.I mention merely two of the trends pertinentto thepresent reading:
manyoftheearliest commentators ascribeto theworka rangeofhigh-pow-
eredsymbolical existentialist, mystical
spiritual, -
meanings (metaphysical,
alreadyin 1961 Sontag refersto the "mass ravishment77 ofKafka by "successive
armiesofinterpreters77), andmanylatercommentators drawattention toau-
tobiographical substructures that Kafka himself may have expected closer
his
to
friends recognize (at leastin part)- but could not have anticipated com-
mentators a century laterto decode with more insight into hispersonallife
thananyofhisfriends wereevergiven access to.
Notwithstanding thefactthatsymbolic andbiographical interpretations
no longerfeature at theforefront ofKafkascholarship, thisseverely reduced
overviewof TheTrial'sreception figures in thevariouseditionscommonly
availableto an English-reading audience.ThusIdrisParryprefaced his1994
Penguintranslation with biographical cross-referencing that soughtto
weakenthestillpopularideaofTheTrialas high-powered allegory; andyet
aroundthesametimeVintagereleaseditsown lineofKafka,as originally
translated byEdwinMuir,prefaced byMuirandwithan afterword byMax
Brod,whosevariouscomments effectivelycorroborate eachother7sviewsof
Kafkaas an exemplary spiritual andartistic figure.Alsoavailable,albeitnot
pitched tothegeneral publicandtomyknowledge onlyinGerman, isRoland
Reuß7sStroemfeld edition(1997),whichrestores
historisch-kritische thework
tothefragmentary anddisordered stateinwhichBrodfoundit,thereby physi-
callydemonstrating thevastinfluence Brodhad on theversionofTheTrial
thathas sincebecomeso familiar to readers.Mostofthesefragments were
written in thewakeofthefirst andfinalchapters ofTheTrial, bothwritten
around11August1914(Corngold, "MedialAllusions77 163),thesetwochap-
tersforming, as itwere,thelipsofa novelyettobeforced apartbytherestof
thework.

TheGerman 83.4(Fall2010) 449

Quarterly
©2010,American
Association
ofTeachersofGerman

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450 TheGermanQuarterly Fail2010

Withthisinmind,itis thesetwochapters whichcouldbe saidto reflect

mostcloselytheoriginal designofthenovelbeforeitsdevelopment appar-
entlygotoutofhand.I suggest, moreover, thatinthesefirst-written chapters
onecanbestdecipher thesameexegetical tensionthathasbeenrelayed tothe
novel'sreception, namelythatbetweenthemeaningful (symbolic) and the
mundane(bio-and autobiographical). In contrast to thenovel'sreception,
wherethesetendencies havecontrastive agendas, particularly attheoutsetof
thetexttheseinterpretative havea symbiotic
possibilities relationship which
iscentraltothetext'sdevelopment. As I proposetodemonstrate, interpreta-
tivechoicesmadein thegeneration of thenarrative favortheflatteringly
meaningful overthemundane - thusshamewouldrather beconstrued as the
of
possibility official
guilt,and a simpleapology wouldrather bedeferred until
afteran official
verdict.An initialsemantic derailment is subsequently sup-
portedbya trainofnarrative manipulations and seemingly deliberate mis-
readings.
Andyetwhoorwhat"wouldrather"? Aswe shallhaveopportunity toob-
serve,despitehis effortless
competence JosefK. does not appearin the least
cluedintojusthowheiscomplicit inandplaysalongwiththeprocessofplot
construction.On theotherhand,tracing thisagencyto theauthorhimself
wouldbethetaskofan autobiographical closereading whichwouldpossibly
focusonKafka'stendency toabdicatefrom personalresponsibility, as drama-
tizedandexplored in hiswritings, specificallyrelatingdevelopments in The
TrialtoKafka'srelationshipwithFeliceBauer.1 I
Althoughprovide a few com-
mentsin footnotes, I am lessconcerned herewiththebiographical subtext
thanwithmoments andtextualmovements at whichthemundanecan be
caughtdisappearing into themore alluringascription,as wellas specific word
choicesthatsupporttheseoperations.
A secondlineofinterpretation thatvergesuponthepresentreadingis
MalcolmPasley'sidentification ofjunctures at which(real-world) eventsin
theprocessoí compositionirruptupon,fuseintoandadvancethecomposition
oiDerProceß, a featurewhichStanleyCorngold further developsinhisclose
readingofpassagesfrom thebeginning ofTheTrialin"MedialAllusions atthe
OutsetoiDerProceß or,resinmedia"wherethetemporality ofcomposition is
shownretroactively to informand conditionplotdevelopments. Despite
someoverlap inambit,thisreading doesnotexplore thestrange, jestingprox-
imityofan authorfigure buttriestokeepitseyessquarely onJosef K. as the
unknowing vehicleofhisown plot.

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 Kafka's Trial
KALINOWSKI: 45 1

Negotiations
1

On themorning ofhisarrest Joseph K. is ushered intoFräulein Bürstner7s

roomforhisinterview withtheInspector. Theroomhasbeenchanged, osten-
siblytoaccommodate theinterview, anda whiteblousehangsat thelatchof
theopenwindow.LaterthatdayK.looksinandfindstheroomrestored toits
originalaspect and the white blouse missing. What subtlyescapes mention is
thatK. mustalreadyhavebeenfamiliar withBürstner ;s roomtoobservethe
originalchanges. Theextenttowhichhewasalready familiar withBürstner ;s
roomis signaled, potentially with a wink: "Dieses Zimmer wurde, wie K.
genauwußte,[...] voneinemFräulein Bürstner [...] bewohnt77 (19,emphasis
.
added)Just how one this
interprets genau reflects anundecidable differencein
narrative position vis-à-visK. Ifat this point the narrative merely K.7s
reflects
attitude thenthegenausimply reinforces K.7scertainty. If,ontheotherhand,
thenarrative distances itselffromK. at thispoint,thenthegenauassumesa
teasing,potentially accusingattitudetowardK. (approximately
even trans-
latableas "thisroom,as he knewperfectly well,was...77) which momentarily
betrays an elementofdenialinfluencing K.7sbehavior.
The Fräulein has onlyrecently movedintothehouse,andhas evidently
attracted K.7s interest.Perhaps itwas theblousethatfirst caughthiseye.The
openwindowalsosuggests a certain and
availability, K., who viewshisworld
interms ofopenings never
andopportunities, requires encouragement toavail
himself. In a senseK. viewsevery windowas a window of opportunity (the
GermanFenster sharestheseassociations withtheEnglish window), andthis
openwindowcontrasts withtheotherwindowsat theoutsetofTheTrial,
behindwhichan intrusive audienceis gathering.
Theblouse,then,signalsthepresence ofa newwomaninthehouse.White
isofcoursetraditionally associated withpurity, cleanliness, innocence, andin
facttheGerman expression erne weißeWeste (a whitewaistcoat)signifies both
a cleanrecord(whichis whatK. is soonto insiston forhimself) anda clean
slate(a freshstartunderfavorable conditions - a virgin opportunity).
TheweißeBluse:a virgin opportunity (a newwoman),a cleanrecord - or,
perhaps, theemptypage,priorto inscription, thestorybefore itbegins.Ex-
tendedineverydirection thewhiteblouseprefigures thesnowthatoverlies
everything inTheCastle,thedeathly blankness outofwhichKafka7s laterK.
unearthsthevillage.Moreimmediately, as an articleof freshly laundered
clothing, theblouseis ironically reprised in the publiclaundering of bed-
clothesat thetenements housingthecourts,and thenin thewashingand
scrubbing thatfeatures so prominently throughout TheTrial
The whiteblousecould,perhaps, alsoevokea whiteflag:hanging at the
latchoftheopenwindowintheinterview roomitsuggests that,wereJoseph

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452 TheGermanQuarterly Fail2010

K. tomakea cleanbreastofit (whatever"it"is),hemightyetescapeoutthe

window.
The openwindow:a wayinora wayout?Thatis,didthewindowfirst
drawK.;sattentionto Fräulein oris ittheescaperoutehe notesas
Bürstner,
soonas heenters
theinterview room?- atwhichthewhiteblouseishanging

Fordangling attheopenwindowtheblousealsorecallsa stripofflypaper.

Thisparticularassociation takesa yearintrial-time (bearing inmindthatthe
first
andlastchapters werewritten simultaneously) to hatch: as K.isbeinges-
cortedto thesceneof his execution"fielen[ihm]die Fliegenein,die mit
zerreißenden Beinchen vonderLeimrute wegstreben77 (307).Theassociation
ofprotagonist andinsectneedn'tsurprise us,comingas itdoesfromtheau-
thorofThe Metamorphosis" (written a coupleofyearsearlier).
On theonehand,then,theopenwindow(thepossibility ofescape)andon
theotherthewhiteblouse(a cleanrecord/slate): K. insistson hisinnocence
anddulytearshimself apart.
AsidefromtheInspector andthetwowatchmen, therearethreeyoung
menfromK.;sbankin theroom,standing andlookingat Bürstner;s photo-
graphs.Bürstner willlatertellhimthatthephotographs havebeenmoved
around(durcheinandergeworfen), whichK.withhisfaultless eyeforaccusation
on
pins Kaminer, the awkward young man who manifestly cannotkeephis
handstohimself. Thephotographs havebeenfiddled withinmuchtheman-
ner,perhaps,thattheInspector istoying, fornoimmediately apparent reason,
witha candle,a boxofmatches, a pincushionanda bookontopofBürstner 's
nighttable.
This tablehas been shoved into the centerof theroom as Verhand-
a negotiation
lungstisch, table.
Goingthrough another'sphotographs withoutpermission constitutes a
cleartransgressionofpersonalboundaries (ratherlikereadinga diaryunin-
vited),butherethephotographs alsosuggest photographic evidence (theyare
pinnedtoa matonthewallas ina criminal investigation - K.laterlinksmen-
tionofthephotographs to an "Untersuchungskommission" [41]).Thatthe
photographs havebeenmovedaroundcouldtherefore indicatethattheevi-
dencehasbeentampered with.Alternatively (oradditionally), insofaras each
photograph captures a singlescene,thismaybea warning orsignalthatscenes
havebeen"durcheinandergeworfen," thattheoriginal sequenceofeventshas
beenjumbled.
Everyone intheroomis waitingforK. to comprehend hissituation. The
sceneandsenseofthetransgression havebeenreconstructed witha battery of
indirectprompts, clues,innuendo. The evidenceis allinevidence - eventhe
evidencethattheevidencehasbeenmanipulated.
ButK. is havingnoneofit.
He launches anoutburst ata threesome ofobservers assembled behindthe
windowsacrosstheway,andturnsbackintotheroomto findtheInspector

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 KALINOWSKI:
Kafka'sTrial 453

comparing thelengthsofhisfingers,thewatchmenabsorbedly scratching

theirknees,and thethreebanknon-entities around
lookingaimlessly - all
childishmeasuresof diverting whichis precisely
admonitions, what K. is
doing,albeitseeminglyunawareofit.

WhenK. wakesup on themorning ofhisarresthecallsforhisbreakfast.

Insteada manenters hisroom.Thisfirst watchman doesnot,however, tellK.
anything, and when K. continues to insist
that the cook bring himhis break-
fast,thewatchmanrefers hisrequestthrough thedoorintothenextroom,
K.hears"einkleinesGelächter ;;
whereupon (8). MakingnoheadwaywithK.,
thewatchmanopensthedoorintotheadjoining room.
WhenK. leaveshisroomandentersthelivingroom,a secondwatchman
scoldshim,"'Siehättenin IhremZimmerbleibensollen!Hat es Ihnendenn
Franznichtgesagt?"7 (9). Ofcoursethereference appearstobetothepresent
instance: thefirstwatchman didindeedadvisehimnottoleavehisroom,and
K. responds accordingly. Thereis,however, an ambiguity herethatis as yet
onlysubterranean, and which willsubsequently gatherforce withtheafore-
mentioned sly allusion to K.7s familiaritywith Bürstner's room as wellas
otherevidence thatthewatchman's reference isnottothepresent situation,
butin factcallstheoccludedtransgression by its name:you shouldhave
stayedinyourroom,andoutofBürstner's.
Hat esIhnendennFranznicht gesagt?Further complicated bythepossible
bifurcation ofreference,therearea coupleofsensesatplayhereotherthanthe
oneK. selectsforresponse. didnotthesuddenappearance
Firstly, ofthefirst
watchman(whosename,we nowlearn,is Franz)joltyourmemory (either
withregard tothisruleortoyourtransgression)? Inotherwords,theappear-
ancealoneofthewatchman calledFranzshouldreallyhavesufficed totellyou.
Secondly, andmorestrikingly, didnotsomeone calledFranz(inotherwords,not
necessarily thefirstwatchman), whomwe separately knowon a first-name
basis,literallyadviseyouto stayinyourroomand,whatis more,warnyou
againsttheconsequences ofleaving it?Thisisa comicmetaf ictionalirruption
thatlendsitselfverywellto autobiographical interpretation.
The secondwatchmanthenordersK. to hisroom,whichreinforces the
ostensible sensethatK. shouldnothavelefthisroomat thisparticular time.
Bythistime,however, senseis straying andcreeping from itssignsrather like
K. fromhisroom.ThuswhenK. demandstoknowwhatheis charged with,
thewatchman cannot,willnot,say- yetina sensehemayalready have:You
shouldhavestayedinyourroom!
K. is advisedtogotohisroom- thepunishment metedouttoa disobedi-
entchild-and appropriately enoughK.flings himself ontohisbed(15-16).

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454 TheGermanQuarterly Fail2010

K.cannotkeeptohisroom.Itisn'tthecasethathewillnotkeeptohisroom
(hisWillehas alreadycomeapartin theaspectofWillem,thesubsequently
namedsecondwatchman[Corngold, "MedialAllusions77154]),butthathe
cannot.K.alwayskeepshiseyeonthedoor;hekeepshisowndooropen;head-
dressespeoplethrough chinksin doors.K. inhabitsa domainofopenand
half-opendoors,wherea closeddoornecessitates withthedoor-
negotiating
keeper.Yetall thedoorwaydramaticules disseminated throughoutTheTrial
failto compensate forthedoorthathas beenopened,thepersonalspace
breached,whichresultsin K.7syearlongstruggle themessages
to negotiate
andmessengers toward
gravitating him from this
customized ser-
intelligence
vicein thetermsofa businessdeal:
DerProceß warnichts alseingroßes
anderes, wieeresschonoftmit
Geschäft,
für
Vorteil dieBankabgeschlossen
hatte, innerhalb
einGeschäft, wiedies
dessen,
dieRegel
war, Gefahren
verschiedene lauerten, werden
dieebenabgewehrt muß-
ten.ZudiesemZwecke nicht
manallerdings
durfte mitGedankenanirgendeine
Schuld sondern
spielen, denGedanken Vorteil
andeneigenen festhal-
möglichst
ten.(168)
Asmanycommentators havenoted,a private worlddoesnotapplyforK.
Anagentconfigured almostentirely withinthetermsofnegotiation, Joseph
K.7sreflectiveliberty(muchlikeK.'ssinnlose
FreiheitinDasSchloß[169]) stands
himingoodsteadwhenitcomestodebunking theofficers ofthecourt.K.re-
flectsonthe"geistige ofhiswatchmen
Beschränktheit77 (17),ontheirinability
to turnthissituationto theadvantageofall concerned. Yetit appearsthey
wouldliketocometoan agreement withK. EventheInspector looksbriefly
to
inclined shake K.7s hand.As the watchman calledFranz tellsK. withregard
tohis(rejected) suggestionthat K.stayinhisroom, "Eswar gutgemeint77 (8).
Withitsbottomless abilityto produceintermediaries, themachinery of
thecourtcompensates forK.7scapacitytoturnevery situation to hisadvan-
tage,hisreflective libertyto spota wayoutofeverydeadend.K. andcourt
matcheachotherstepforstep:foreachmessagethecourtsends,K. spiesa
loophole.Messageandloopholerepeatedly coincide, withK.slipping through
eachmessageaddressing K.7sshortcomings.However, as inthetaleaboutthe
aggrieved hiddenbehindthedoorat thetopofthestairs,
official whokeeps
throwing thelawyerssentup toexhaust him down the stairs again,K. must
eventually tireofthecourt'sappeals.
In a banalsense,movement inTheTrial,theceaselesscirculation through
every opening thatpresents issimply
itself, theinability toremain inone'sown
company. K. cannotstayinevenings, butis impelled outintocompany. And
whenreturning from workonthedayofthearrest, he wants totalk toFräulein
Bürstner, ostensiblytoapologizeforthedisturbance inherroom(forwhichhe
willassureherheisnotdirectly K.
responsible), resentsthefactthatheisobliged
towaitinforherinsteadofgoingoutandindulging bachelor
his pastimes.

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 KALINOWSKI:
Kafka's Trial 455

WhenFräulein Bürstner returns

finally home(fromthetheater - she;un-
likeK.;cantelllifeandtheaterapart)andK. hasexpertly takenadvantage of
hertirednessandsenseofpersonal embarrassment to attainto herroom;he
beginsto elaborateon the morning's events.Bürstner quicklygraspsthe
problem shortof K.7sembellishments:'"Es istsonderbar [.. .] daßichgezwun-
gen bin;Ihnenetwas zu verbieten
was Siesich selbstverbieten müßten, näm-
lich in meiner
Abwesenheit
meinZimmerzu betreten111
(41, emphasisadded). A
crossed-out "
phraseinthemanuscript hasBürstner emphasize,jetzterstaus-
drücklich77 (Apparatband -
180) andonlynowexplicitly - whichmomentarily
breaksthe spellof implicitness and literally identifies the issueat stake.
Bürstner istootired, too
however, indifferent, to take K. to task.ButK.passes
on thisopportunity andinsistson hisversionofevents.Bürstner teaseshim
bysaying that there is indeed something curiously "attractive77about a court
oflaw (ithas"eineeigentümliche Anziehungskraft77 [42]).Again K. doesnot
budge, isfree to take her and
literally, duly takesher at her word to corroborate
hisownversionofeventsand,then,to solicitheractiveparticipation. After
she
all, says there is something anziehend about a court of law (as opposedto
theimplication thatthereisindeedsomething appealing about a courtoflaw
insofar as itenhancesK.7snondescript existence, and has the authority, what
is more,to declarehimcompletely innocent). When Bürstner tellshimthat
sheis goingto be working at a law officeK. responds bysaying, well,then
she7llbe ableto helphiminhiscourtaffairs.
K. getsso carried awayinthecourseofre-enacting thearrestthatat one
he
point shoutshisownnameoutloudly, whereupon thereis a knocking at
thedoor(thedoorintothelivingroomseparating K7sandBürstner 7srooms).
It fallsto Bürstner to feelembarrassed; K. recoilsbutrecovers quickly. The
suddenoccupation ofthelivingroombytheCaptainregisters a distanceor
barrier thatappearsbetweenBürstner andK. at precisely thepointwhenshe
seesK.carried awaybyhisstorytotheextentthatherefers loudlytohimself
inthethirdperson - butK. appearsunperturbed bythis(rather unfavorable)
changeincircumstances exceptinsofar as itinterferes withhisimmediate ob-
jectives.He ushersBürstner awayfromthedoorand presseson.
Thisepisodeexemplifies K.7shardened relationship towardsurprise. As K.
explains, earlierin theday,to theInspector regarding thearrest, he is sur-
prised, "aber[...] keineswegs sehrüberrascht77 (20).K.takeseveryeventuality
intoaccount;nothing can reallytakehimbysurprise. He is surprised, even
verysurprised - buthe has takensurprise itselfintoaccount.
On thesubjectofsurprises, whenK. returns homeonthedayofhisarrest
hefeelstherearecertain things thatneedclearing up.Thefirst thinghedoesis
engageFrauGrubach, hislandlady, ina discussion aboutthemorning's events.

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456 TheGermanQuarterly Fail2010

Grubach voiceshermisgivings
hesitantly theabstract
regarding na-
(gelehrte)
tureofthearrest,
andK. replies:
EsistgarnichtsDummes, wasSiegesagt
habenFrauGrubach, bin
wenigstens
auchichzumTeilIhrerMeinung,nur ich
urteile über
das noch
ganze schärfer
als
Sie,undhalteeseinfach
nicht
einmal
füretwasGelehrtes
sondern für
überhaupt
nichts.
Ichwurde daswares.(33-34)
überrumpelt,
Thisdefendant judgestheproceedings ofthewholethingstillmoreseverely?
Ofcoursepartoftheproblem isthatK.willalwaysbepartlyofanyopinion, he
hasa footinthedoorofeveryopinion.ButthatK.isalwaysprepared tojudge
(heis perpetuallyjudging,critically
assessingandsizingup everyone andev-
erything aroundhim) does not bodewellforhim insofar
as itappearsalsoto
determine thenatureofthecourtheisupagainst.K. bounces back fromevery
warning witha threat.Whentoldat hisfirst thathehasjustrobbed
hearing
himself oftheadvantage"deneinVerhör fürdenVerhafteten in jedemFalle
bedeutet/7K. counterswitha laugh,hishandonthelatchofthedoor,hiseye
on thedoor:"IhrLumpen[...] ich schenkeEuchalleVerhöre" - which,of
course,hedoes,insofarasheneverceasestoquestionthecourt'sauthority and
justabouteveryone else'smotives(72).

Itappearseveryone is partytothisplothatchedagainstK.Thedomainof
K.'sworkandhomelifeandthedomainofthecourtarescarcely to be told
apart.However, as illustratedinrelation to Bürstner,itis K.,clingingtotheno-
tionofhisVorteil,whoknitsthedomainstogether byexploiting rhetorical op-
portunities in the one to corroborate and developthe other.Thus Frau
Grubach isneverwitnessed engaging directly withthecourtofficials, buther
even
non-confrontational, obsequious relation to her lodgerstops seri-
her
ouslyquestioning K.'s abstractions. Much as Bürstneris tootiredtotakeK. to
task, Grubach would much rather come to an agreement withhim.
As K.was re-entering thelivingroomthatmorning withhisbirthcertifi-
cateto showto thewarders, "öffnete sichgeradediegegenüberliegende Tür
undFrauGrubachwolltedorteintreten. Man sahsienureinenAugenblick,
dennkaumhattesie K. erkannt, als sie offenbar verlegen wurde,um Ver-
zeihungbat, verschwand und äußerst vorsichtig die Türe schloß" (12-13).
Giventhepeculiar way evidence is stacked againstK., where eachappearance
ofa characterisstaged as a prompt (immediately translated byK.intohisver-
sionofevents), thisappearance suggests thatGrubach accidentally witnessed
K. ina compromising situation (exiting or in Bürstner's room, for
example),
henceherembarrassed withdrawal. WhenK.laterstatesinconversation with
Grubachthathe was "überrumpelt," he doesnotspecify by whom, i.e.,he

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 KalinowskI:Kafka'sTrial 457

doesnotriskdirect contradiction, andinfacttheir"clearing up"conversation

goesto considerable lengthsto skirtspecific referencesto itsoccasion.
Insofaras K. is obliviousto privateboundaries untilcaughtin theactof
violatingthem,his transgression has to be witnessed.Forinstance,in the
fragment "B.;sFreundin/' following thefrustrating interview withFräulein
Montag,withwhoma further barrier appearsbetweenK. andBürstner, K.
thinkslittleofthrowing openBürstner ;sdoorandlooking intoherroom,but
whenhenoticesMontagandtheCaptaintalking inthecorridor distractedly
observinghim, K. retreats to his room "an derWand entlang'7(326),likea rat
or,ofcourse,liketheUngeziefer Samsa.2
Inshort, therehastobesomething tomakeK. sticktothesceneifnotthe
senseofhistransgression, and Grubach'srecognition maybe theagentthat
transforms Bürstner 's "weißeBluse"intoa stripofflypaper.
A manuscript variantin theopeningsentenceofTheTrialusestheword
"gefangen" instead of"verhaftet." As Corngold, who usesthischangeas the
springboard formuch of his reading, indicates,"gefangen" cansignify "being
held,"captured(with possible existentialovertones)or, simply,caught
(Corngold referstothechildren's game"Gefangen" - "catch"- andpointsto
the textualproximity of "Böses,"whichcan mean trulyevil or,simply,
naughty ["MedialAllusions" 161]).InLambent Traces,
Corngold suggeststhat
this"shiftintolegallanguagesuppliesKafkawithhisinnerdesignforthe
novel,whichhekeptelaborating as hewroteit.Thedesignmaybegrasped as
therequirement thatJoseph K.cometoterms withhissenseofguiltbyinsuf-
- indeed,by childishmeans"(44). I propose,however,
ficient thatthereis
enough evidence to support at leastthe that
possibility K. was indeedcaught
doingsomething naughty, andthatthisis beingoccludedinandthrough the
generationofa morealluring interpretation.Hissecondpieceofnaughtiness,
on hisinnocence,
insisting occasionsthetrial.

TheLawcanbebrought tobearuponJoseph K.becauseheisn'tindifferent

to it:a courtoflaw appealstohim.Indeed,theaccusedis rather moreinter-
estedintheaspectofhisaccusersthaninthepossibility ofhisguilt.K. is not
trying tomakesenseofhispredicament - hehasalready madesenseofit- the
difficultyis brokering
a dealwherebythissensebecomestheonethatsticks.
K.'slegalentanglement ensuesbecausehe (childishly,
shamelessly) insistson
theconceptofa trial.Theoriginal whatever
transgression, itwas,merges into
theembarrassed imageofthecourtapparatus drawnuptopresshometheevi-
dence.K.'sobliviousness to thenatureofthistrialdevelopsa reflective
play,
endlesswereitnotthateverytrialisboundtocometoa verdict. K.istherefore

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458 TheGermanQuarterly Fail2010

doomedbyhischoiceofconcept, except, ofcourse, thatK.hasnochoiceinhis

choiceofconcepts.
Asonewatchman "
saystotheother:'SiehWillemergibtzu,erkennedas
Gesetznichtundbehauptet gleichzeitig schuldlos zu sein/"Theotherreplies:
"'Du hastganzrecht,aberihmkannmannichtsbegreiflich machen'"(15).
Whynot?NotbecauseK.isunreasonable, butbecause,ona certain point,ata
certainpoint,he becomesinfinitely reasonable.3
It takesoneyearforK.'sresistance tobe smoothed away,yetevenon the
evening ofhis birthday
thirty-first K. has not entirely accepted thenecessity
oftheLaw.Astheexecutioners closeinuponhim,K.stretches outhishandsin
onefinalappealforoutsidehelp."'WieeinHund!7sagteer,eswar,alssolltedie
Schamihnüberleben" (312).
Whatshame, however?
The entireprocessis contrived to theendofnegotiating shameintheas-
of
pect judicialguilt. K. behaves shamelessly throughout, heisa master
but at
recognizing of
(anddisapproving) many the shameful aspects of the court or-
ganization. ToarguethatK.undergoes ¿personal development onthebasisof
hisrecognition thathe alwayswantedto graspat theworldwithtwenty
hands(308) is to overlookthe embarrassing "alteuntergeordnete Schau-
spieler"K. stillrelies
on inthis lastscene (306).In an alternativefinalsentence
crossed outinthemanuscript - "seinletztesLebengefühl warScham"(Appa-
ratband 324) - shame breaks in upon shameproof ofK;soperations
the circle
atthemoment ofdeath.Intheversion Kafkakept,notwithstanding theambi-
guities of "sollte" ("es war, also sollte die Scham ihn überleben"- would/
should/was intended to), shame is not admitted.
K.endsthetrialonhisownterms, whichwereneverhisown.Theimpera-
tiveto himself - "das einzige was ich jetzttunkannist,bis zum Endeden
ruhigeinteilenden Verstand behalten" (281)- is theveryforce working athis
elimination. Thefeeble finalperistalticcontractions of hisenvironment evoke
judgment as a bodilyfunction. Consider inthisveinthetwoobscenely clean
palecheeks^Wangen) pressing together as K. is at lastpressed out of life (still
clinging totheideaofhisadvantage) .Already attheoutsetK.registers a lexical
awarenessofhisexecrable situation whenhe refers to hiswatchmen as the
"niedrigste Organe"(15)ofthesystem interfering with him: literally neth-
the
ermostorgans.4

Manipulations
I will now drawthrough a lexicalmotifthatkeptsticking its fingers
throughtheearlier whichisthatK.evidently
reading, cannot keep handsto
his
a pointhe concedeson hiswayto
himself, hisexecution:"Ich wollteimmer
mitzwanzigHändenindieWelthineinfahren" (308).The Inspectorcompar-

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 KalinowskI:Kafka's Trial 459

ingthelengthof his fingers morethanK.'s childishdumbshow;

signifies
namelytheimperative tokeepan eyeonone'shands.Again,thatK.thinks of
himself as snatching at theworldwithtwenty handsrecallsthe spectacle
Gregor Samsaawakensto.
InfacttheGerman titleof"TheMetamorphosis/7 "DieVerwandlung/7 ex-
emplifies theplot-generative function ofwordplay we arebroaching here.5
TheVerwandlungen referredto,as mostreadings areSamsa7s
find, transforma-
tionfromtraveling salesmanintoinsect,the subsequentmetamorphosis
whereby Samsacomesto termswithhisalteredprospects, andthetransfor-
mationofSamsa7sfamily: oftheparents, ofthesisterGrete(as Nabokovfor
oneobserves), andoffamily identityinthewakeofSamsa7sdeath.Thereis,
however, another, obscenelyliteral,Verwandlung thateasilyslipsthe eye:
Samsaisver-wand-elt inthefourwallsofhisroom,heiswalledin(Wand iswall;
Gewandis outwardappearance)andleftto die.Verwandlung is teasedapart
and slylyreprised underdifferent guises:Verwandte arerelatives,and to be
verwandt is to be relatedorto be familiarwith.HencethewordVerwandlung
smuggles, openlyconcealedwithinitself, suggestions ofa transformation of
familialandfamiliar relations:Samsaiswalledinbyhisfamily, andwalledout
offamiliarity. "'Wasistmitmirgeschehen?7 dachteer.EswarkeinTraum.Sein
ein
Zimmer, richtiges, nur etwas zu kleines Menschenzimmer, lag ruhig
zwischendenvierwohlbekannten Wänden77 (Druckezu Lebzeiten115).The
meaning ofthewordVerwandlung undergoes itsownprocessoftransforma-
tionwhichseemingly informs theplotandunobtrusively remains inevidence
as a lexicalundergrowth no longeressentialto itssuccess.
A verysimilar, rathertoosimilar,wordthatspinsoutlexicalrootsintothe
plot ofThe Trialis which
Verhandlung, first appearsthreetimesrapidly insuc-
cessionin thecontextoftheinterview withtheInspector(19-20:Haupt-
verhandlung;
Verhandlungstisch;
Verhandlung).
Briefly, denotesne-
Verhandlung
gotiation(andisrelated onthiscountwithHandel andhandeln, tradeandtrad-
ing),hearing (inthelegalsense)andtrial(inthesenseofStrafverhandlung). A
further,
crucial, complication is givenwithHandlung: shop,action,andplot.
One observes thatin "TheMetamorphosis77 Samsais a Handlungsreisender,a
travelingsalesman, whichshedsfurther lightonthenatureofhistransforma-
tion:he has traveledintoanother Handlung,intoanotherplot.6
Allofthesemeanings converge inthatmanicoutbreak ofhandsceaselessly
atworkinTheTrial. Forexample, whenonthedayofhisarrest K.brings allhis
charmtobearon Grubach(itis notmerely abstract,hetellsher,itis purefig-
ment,itneverhappened), hetriestoshakehandsonit:"'NunmüssenSiemir
aberdieHandreichen, einesolcheÜbereinstimmung mußdurchHandschlag
bekräftigtwerden.7 Ob siemirdieHandreichen wird?DerAufseher hatmir
dieHandnichtgereicht77 (34-35).
K. negotiates hisworldwitha handshake - a handshake is alwaysa hand
uporhandalong.Theobject,as withGrubach, is "Übereinstimmung.77 Here

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460 TheGermanQuarterly Fail2010

again,"agreement" doesnotcatchtheinternal suggestiveness oftheGerman

compound, whereStimme denotesvoiceandvote,andstimmen thesenseof
tuning.A literaltranslation ofthecompound couldthusproducesomething
liketuningvoices/votes to a singleharmonious point.The handis a tuning
fork- exceptofcoursethatK.isnolonger producing thesametoneashisenvi-
ronment, or,rather,thathissingle-minded logicisbending everyone torepro-
ducehistone/tune.
Ifweapplythesamepeculiar logictoVerhandlungas earlier
toVerwandlung,
through an act ofgrammatical overgeneralizationthe prefixver-functions
(as in
negatively verspielt, in the senseofgambled away, or andthere-
verachtet)
forecounter-intuitivelyinan otherwise familiarlexicalconnection,whilst
si-
multaneously itsfamiliar,
retaining dictionary As well,then,as itsdictio-
meaning.
narydefinitions, Verhandlung couldsuggest, to one sensitive to (oractively
lookingfor) this manner of misreading, that the subject is lost to,enclosed
within, undone by,Handlung: in other words, it can a
suggest miscarriage of
of
plotting, negotiation, or,simply, of hands.
ForK.'shandsoperatevirtually unsupervised, keeping himinlineforpro-
motionatwork,yetatthesametimetheyareapparently thecauseofhisruin.
Whenhisexecutioners escortK. fromhisroom,theyplacehimina veryspe-
cificgripclamping hishandsto his sides.Handsclamped,K. startsseeing
hands:herecalls theimageoffliestearing themselves apartonflypaper, andhe
observesanotherbraceofarmsreaching out ofa windowoverlooking the
sceneoftheexecution. K.;shandshavetoberestrained toarrest hisceaseless
negotiations,tointerrupt, breakoff, tearoff,thatshameless manipulation of
sensethrough which he is still
clinging to the idea of hisadvantage. Even as K.
is executed,he has his armsoutstretched again:"Erhob die Hände und
spreiztealleFinger.AberanK.;sGurgel legtensichdieHändedeseinenHerrn"
(312).Withhislastglimpseoftheworld,K.;s handsare stillsnatching at
-
it andhe stillfailsto seethathe hasdestroyed himself by his own hand.7
Despitethevirtuosity ofhismanipulations, K.hasnoinsight intotheplot
{Handlung) heisdeveloping a
againsthimself,Handlung generated bythebrisk
confidence ofhisVerhandlungen. Inotherwords, as Fräulein Bürstner isquick
toperceive,Joseph K.has,quiteliterally, K.;s
losttheplot: plot becomes auton-
omousas soonashecannot detachhimself from - a
it point that ismade partic-
ularlycleartoBürstner whenK. refers loudlytohimself inthethirdpersonat
theexpenseofallsocialexpectations. Handlung isoutofhishands,andyethe
continuesto inscribethisplot,to subscribe to thisplot,despitehimself,
aroundhimself.
Consider K.'slaterfascination withtheartist Titorelli'shand,as itnegoti-
atesthespaceofthecanvas,drawing outofemptiness an end intheform ofa
harmless image.K.seemsobscurely tointimate the
inthisperformance possi-
bilityofturning Verhandlungen intoHandlung, ofturning endlessnegotiation
intoa plot.Inthehandthathastoberestrained forHandlung toemerge from

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 Kafka's Trial
KALINOWSKI: 461

Verhandlungen, we intimate alsothewriting handandthenegotiations mani-

festedinthehand'scont(r)actwithlanguage: thepen,paperandinkofnegoti-
ation,theceaselessstriving to settlewithlanguage, andtheconstantactof
beingsoldshortbylanguage, whichstraysandescapesitself. WithTitorelli
we seehowHandlung emerges onlyoncethehandleavesthepaper,orinK.'s
casemustbeforcibly removed, atwhichinstant writing as infinite process, as
negotiating infinitely elasticspaces, passes into writing as product - the deci-
sivecutorarrest thatgivestheplota chancetoemerge orescapefrom negotia-
tion.8
K. seemsto be suffering fromwhatMauriceBlanchotcalls"persecutive
prehension" (405)- a grasping "sick"hand,unableto stopwriting, requiring
intervention by the other hand, whichcan confiscate thewriting tooland
thereby restore what has been written, the text and "its to
rights/7 itself.9
Gluedtohisstory, K.inscribes a deathsentence, whichconstitutes atthesame
timethepossibility ofa plotinhislife- anattractive plot,moreover, thatsur-
passes the humdrum monotony which is hislife.The plot costs him his life:K.
cannotcomeup withthesacrifice oradjustment whichwouldsparehimby
taking hisplaceundertheharrow ofhisvanity. Byneglecting thepossibility of
a K. the
composing petition, (unlikeKafka)neglects possibility diverting of
thisdeathsentence intotheharmless andslightly ridiculous receptacle offic-
of
tion, turning his hand to a story about himself and thereby avoiding ter-
the
minalactionoftheplothe cannotbuttranscribe.
YetinK.'scompetence, whichsweepseverything before we findre-
itself,
flectedKafka'sdemonic gift writing, lightness sleight handwith
of the and of
whicha worldswellsfullypreformed outofeachofhisfragments andfalse
starts.Andwe alsoseehowKafkacompensates forthislinguistic effortless-
nessbyabsorbing inhisfictions thedangers ofeffortlessness andtheaccom-
panying lightness thatultimately cannotsupport itsownoperations. Kafka's
effortless way withlanguageis reflected in theairlesseffortlessness with
whichJoseph K. signshislifeaway.The sameeffortlessness withwhichthis
spaceyieldstosenseironically revenges itselfon thesubjectintheeffortless-
nesswithwhichitisstretched orreduced withoutwarning, inthemanner of
thecoal bucketriderdisappearing up intotheicymountains("DerKübel-
reiter").
Paulde Man famously conceives ironyas occurring inconnection witha
duplication anda fall,a splitting ofthesubjectintoanempirical selfanda lin-
guisticself,wheretheempirical selfalwaysstandstofallat itsownexpense.
Something inthisveinhasalwaysalreadytakenplaceinTheTrial. Theevery-
dayfalloccludedat thesourceofthenarrative isreprised throughout thenar-
rativeas a seriesofembarrassed appealstothesubjecttochangeitstune.This,
however, is quiteout ofthequestion,becauseKafka'ssuperbly competent
subjectstickstothesenserescued inhisdefense andthusseemstohavesided
withthelinguistic element soas toavoidtheconsequences ofhishavingbeen

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462 TheGermanQuarterly Fail2010

caughtin a compromisingsituation.However,as a consequenceofhaving

withdrawn intolanguage'stucksand foldsto avoidtheconsequences,the
subjectabstracts likeanysubject,
tothepointwhereitcan;finally,
itself sim-
plybe changed.

Notes
1Thiswouldinvolve thelinksbetween Kafka;s serialfiancée
rendering transparent
FeliceBauerandFräulein Bürstner. Thus,specifically inrelation tothe"whiteblouse77
oftheessaytitle,a dayor twoafterKafkaseesFeliceBauerfortheveryfirsttime
(whoseinitials, FB,arenotonlythesameasBiirstner;s, butalsoasFriedaBrandenfeld;s
in"TheJudgment/ whichisalsodedicated toBauer),hewrites inhisdiary:"Knochiges
leeresGesicht, dasseineLeereoffen trug.Freier Hals.Überwortene Bluse"(Tagebücher
432,emphasisadded).(In a memorable scenetowardthebeginning ofthenovelK.
pouncesonBürstner andslobbers alloverherfaceandthroat.) Themeeting withBauer
an
sparks epistolary frenzy, in which Kafka greedily into
pries the everyday detailsof
Bauer'slife,as though the"empty" faceofthefirst encounter warranted aninvitation
tofillitwithletters.RonaldHaymanalsomakesthisconnection, contesting Canetti' s
earliersuggestion thatthewhiteblouseis associatedwithGreteBloch,an acquain-
tanceofBauer'swhowas toactas intermediary betweenKafkaandBauer(Hayman
190).Interestingly,Hayman alsodraws attention toAmalia'swhiteblouseinTheCas-
tle,whichis associated withtheruinoftheBarnabasfamily (284).
2 anestrangement be-
Again,ontherichsubjectofautobiographical connections,
tweenKafkaandFeliceBauerresulted inFeliceenlistinganintermediary, GreteBloch.
Kafka'ssubsequent epistolary relationship withBlochresulted ina humiliating show-
downata Berlin hotelinvolving Bauer,Bloch,Bauer'ssister, anda friend ofKafka's.Re-
garding FrauGrubner, itistempting toassociateherwithKafka'smother onthebasis
ofhernon-confrontational manner, aswellas thefactthatK.isherlodger. Atonepoint
Kafkadiscovered hismother secretly communicating with Felice Bauer,whichmay,
butonlyjustmay,be thesourceofGrubner's embarrassment.
3Witha viewto thedeliberate lexicalmisreading addressed inthesecondpartof
theessay,begreiflich ("ihmkannmannichtsbegreiflich machen")smuggles theaddi-
tionalsenseoígreifen (grasping/gripping), whichiscentral toK.'sgrasping nature. K.is
constantly grasping at the world, but theworld cannot make him graspanything, and
whenhisexecutioners escorthimfromhis room,theyplacehimin an "unwider-
stehlichenGriff."
41 thisinterpretation tothepsychological symbolism thatwouldhavethe
prefer
executioners represent the testicles to K.'s phallus.
5Kafka's to andexploitation ofthelinguistic levelofactivity has re-
sensitivity
ceiveda lotofcritical attention. Earlier readers indicatethe"generative function of
figuration"(Koelb12) behind some of Kafka's images.Corngold for
(1970), example,
follows Anders andSokelinexamining howa distortion ofordinary language ("Dubist
ein Ungeziefer") becomesthe "generative principle"behindDie Verwandlung
(Corngold, "Metamorphosis oftheMetaphor" 103).Closerto thekindoflexicalma-
nipulations addressedabove, Koelb (1989) writes compellingly on what he calls
logomimesis or "rhetoricaldissemination" in Kafka, on the text-generative placeof

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 KalinowskI:Kafka's Trial 463

wordplay. On thesubjectofwordplay increasinglyoperating attheexpenseofthecon-

scioussubjectinKafka, Frye;s earlierreading of "EinBericht füreineAkademie" (1981)
alsodemonstrates how"thelinguistic levelofactivity maybecomeabsorbing enough
toproject a realityofitsown,detachedfromandobscuring anycontents whichgave
risetoit"(458). Fryesplicestwoconceptions ofwordplay forhisreading. Thefirst,de-
rivedfrom Kierkegaard's of is
concept irony, wordplay deployed ironicallytothe end of
becoming free,
negatively replacing "restricted physical freedom with subjective free-
dom"(457).Thesecondisa Freudian reading,whereby abstraction through wordplay
compensates fora loss"ona morephysical level."Thedanger forRotpeter (asinthepres-
entreading forK.) is thathe becomes"stranded at theverballevel."
6The samehas to which is evidenced forexamplein thefollowing
happened K.,
statement: "DerProceßwarnichtsanderes, als eingroßesGeschäft" (168,emphasis
added).HereGeschäft (particularly whensupported bythearticle ein,whichis unnec-
essaryhere)could simplymeanshop {Handlung) as opposedto business,where
Handlung in turn signifiesplot.
7 andamusingly (almostas thoughtheyweretrying to provide fur-
Incidentally,
thersupport forthecurrent reading), Kafka'sfirstEnglish translators,theMuirs,pro-
videseveral further literal
references tohandsnotgivenintheGerman original. Forex-
ample, at his firsthearing K. is told he has flungaway his chances "with [his]own
hand"(theGerman originalis"Sie [haben] sich heute ... des Vorteilsberaubt" [72]),and
inthefinalscene"WarnochHilfe?"(312)becomes"Washelpat hand?"(250).
8Titorelli'snextact is also instructive: he showsand thenpeddlesoffhis old
"heathscapes." Inotherwords,after demonstrating howVerhandlungen canbeturned
intoHandlung, heconductsa littleHandel(trade)to hisadvantage.
9Kafka makesreference tohisownhandsinhisdiaries, andperhaps the
frequently
mostextensive description ofa struggle betweenleftandright handsisrecorded inthe
secondof TheBlueOctavoNotebooks.

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