What makes something "Kafkaesque"? - Noah Tavlin

譯者: Jessica Lee 審譯者: 易帆 余

"Someone must have been telling lies about Josef K.

「一定有人誣陷了約瑟夫·K，

He knew he had done nothing wrong, but one morning, he was arrested."

他知道他自己沒有做錯任何事， 但在某一天的早上，他被捕了。」

Thus begins "The Trial,"

於是《審判》開始了，

one of author Franz Kafka's most well-known novels.

這是作家法蘭茲·卡夫卡的 著名小說之一。

K, the protagonist, is arrested out of nowhere

K 這位主角，莫明奇妙地被捕，

and made to go through a bewildering process

並經歷了一段茫然無措的過程，

where neither the cause of his arrest,

沒有逮捕他的任何原因，

nor the nature of the judicial proceedings

也沒有向他解釋司法程序，

are made clear to him.

就這樣逮捕他了。

這種情節一般被認為是 典型的「卡夫卡」作品，

This sort of scenario is considered so characteristic of Kafka's work

that scholars came up with a new word for it.

學者還為此發明了一個新詞。

Kafkaesque has entered the vernacular to describe unnecessarily complicated

「卡夫卡式」，這個詞 已被歸納為一種日常用語，

用來形容無謂的、複雜的 和不順遂的歷程，

and frustrating experiences,

like being forced to navigate labyrinths of bureaucracy.

就像被迫於應付繁沉的官僚體系。

But does standing in a long line to fill out confusing paperwork

但站在大排長龍的隊舞中， 填寫著摸不著頭緒的文件

really capture the richness of Kafka's vision?

是否真正詮釋了「卡夫卡式」的 豐富想像力呢？

Beyond the word's casual use, what makes something Kafkaesque?

這個詞除了日常的使用外， 卡夫卡式究竟還有什麼含義呢？

Franz Kafka's stories do indeed deal with many mundane and absurd aspects

法蘭茲·卡夫卡的故事 確實討論了許多

有關當代官僚主義的單調和荒謬，

of modern bureaucracy,

drawn in part from his experience of working as an insurance clerk

部分靈感是來自他當時

在 20 世紀初的布拉格 擔任保險員的時候。

in early 20th century Prague.

故事裡許多角色， 是在描述辦公室裡的同事，

Many of his protagonists are office workers

compelled to struggle through a web of obstacles

他們被迫得克服一大堆障礙

in order to achieve their goals,

來完成他們的目標。

and often the whole ordeal turns out to be so disorienting and illogical

然而在這一切的苦難之後， 結局卻經常令人迷惘而不合邏輯，

that success becomes pointless in the first place.

使得在獲得成功的當下， 變得毫無意義。

For example, in the short story, "Poseidon,"

舉例來說，在短篇小說 「海神波塞冬」中，

the Ancient Greek god is an executive so swamped with paperwork

古老的希臘神是一位行政官 有應接不暇的文書工作，

that he's never had time to explore his underwater domain.

祂從未有閒暇時間 來巡視祂的海底王國。

笑點在於，哪怕是神明也無法應付

The joke here is that not even a god can handle the amount of paperwork

現代職場所要求的文書工作量。

demanded by the modern workplace.

But the reason why is telling.

原因很簡單，

He's unwilling to delegate any of the work

祂不願意將任何一項工作 委派給他人，

because he deems everyone else unworthy of the task.

因為祂認為沒有人 配得上這樣的任務。

祂就是祂自我意識的俘虜。

Kafka's Poseidon is a prisoner of his own ego.

This simple story contains all of the elements

這簡單的故事包含了所有 卡夫卡式情節的元素，

that make for a truly Kafkaesque scenario.

它不僅反映了官僚體制的荒謬，

It's not the absurdity of bureaucracy alone,

but the irony of the character's circular reasoning in reaction to it

更諷刺了故事角色在面對 惡行循環時的反應。

這就是典型的卡夫卡作品。

that is emblematic of Kafka's writing.

His tragicomic stories act as a form of mythology for the modern industrial age,

他悲歡離合的故事架構 為現代的工業世代增添了神祕感，

employing dream logic to explore the relationships

他用夢幻般的邏輯手法，來詮釋 權力機構和個體之間的衝突關係。

between systems of arbitrary power and the individuals caught up in them.

舉例來說， 卡夫卡最著名的小說「變形記」

Take, for example, Kafka's most famous story, "Metamorphosis."

When Gregor Samsa awaken's one morning to find himself transformed

當格里高爾·薩姆莎有天早晨起床時， 發現自已變成了一隻巨大的昆蟲，

into a giant insect,

his greatest worry is that he gets to work on time.

他最關心的竟然是如何準時上班。

當然，這是不可能的。

Of course, this proves impossible.

It was not only the authoritarian realm of the workplace that inspired Kafka.

專制的工作環境不僅 啟發了卡夫卡的靈感，

Some of his protagonists' struggles come from within.

許多角色內心的掙扎橋段 也來自於它。

The short story, "A Hunger Artist,"

短篇小說《饑餓藝術家》中，

describes a circus performer whose act consists of extended fasts.

述說了一位馬戲團裡 長時間禁食的表演者故事，

He's upset that the circus master limits these to 40 days,

他很不高興馬戲團團長 限制他的表演只能進行四十天，

believing this prevents him from achieving greatness in his art.

他認為這是在妨礙他 偉大藝術的實現。

But when his act loses popularity,

但當他的表演不再受到歡迎，

he is left free to starve himself to death.

他乾脆就把自已餓死，

The twist comes when he lays dying in anonymity,

在他臨終前，故事急轉直下，

regretfully admitting that his art has always been a fraud.

他懊悔地承認，他的藝術表演 一直以來都是一場騙局。

He fasted not through strength of will,

他不是靠意志力禁食，

but simply because he never found a food he liked.

其實只是因為沒有找到 他喜愛的食物而已。

即便在「審判」這本書裡，

Even in "The Trial,"

which seems to focus directly on bureaucracy,

似乎直接說明了官僚體系的腐敗，

the vague laws and bewildering procedures point to something far more sinister:

模糊的法律和令人費解的程序， 也指出了險惡的事情在發生：

the terrible momentum of the legal system proves unstoppable,

法律系統的可怕動機勢不可擋，

even by supposedly powerful officials.

即便是極具權力的官員。

This is a system that doesn't serve justice,

這套權力系統並不主持正義。

but whose sole function is to perpetuate itself.

它唯一的功能就是 保護它自己不致崩潰。

What political theorist Hannah Arendt,

這就像政治理論家漢娜·鄂蘭

writing years after Kafka's death,

在卡夫卡過世多年後的著作中寫道，

would call "tyranny without a tyrant."

法律是「沒有暴君的暴政」。

Yet accompanying the bleakness of Kafka's stories,

然而，卡夫卡故事裡的蒼涼，

卻伴隨著深深的幽默，

there's a great deal of humor

rooted in the nonsensical logic of the situations described.

深根在故事情節裡的荒謬邏輯中。

So on the one hand, it's easy to recognize the Kafkaesque in today's world.

另外，閱讀他的小說，可以幫助我們 輕易地辨認出當今世界的卡夫卡式現象。

We rely on increasingly convoluted systems of administration

我們依靠日趨複雜的行政系統 來管理我們的社會，

that have real consequences on every aspect of our lives.

它們已經佔據了 我們生活的各個層面。

And we find our every word judged by people we can't see

我們發現我們的言論，

according to rules we don't know.

根據著我們不知道的規則， 被我們不認識的人所批判著。

On the other hand, by fine-tuning our attention to the absurd,

另一方面，透過調整我們的注意力 來觀察那些荒謬，

Kafka also reflects our shortcomings back at ourselves.

卡夫卡也反映了我們自身的缺點，

In doing so, he reminds us that the world we live in is one we create,

因此，他提醒我們，

這個世界其實也是我們自己 所創造出來的，

and have the power to change for the better.

所以我們也有能力 可以把世界變得更好。