HRC Events Calendar
CRPLA Seminar - Joshua Landy (Stanford)
Abstract: The Trial is delightfully mysterious in a whole host of ways, but none more than this: the protagonist is both responsible for what happens to him and not responsible for what happens to him. While the Court is cruel and capricious, there鈥檚 plenty of evidence that Josef K. is not entirely innocent either. So what鈥檚 going on here? The solution, on my proposal, involves an innovative take on Christian theology, in which we鈥檙e responsible for making our souls ready for Grace, but in which no amount of preparation will guarantee its arrival. This is not a 鈥渕essage鈥� sent by the novel; it is, instead, a shape for thought, a framework through which even secular readers can inspect a host of phenomena, from love to art, from inquiry to vocation. In more ways than one, we are all in Kafka鈥檚 world.