Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature

by Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari

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In this classic of critical thought, Deleuze and Guattari challenge conventional interpretations of Kafka's work. Instead of exploring preexisting categories or literary genres, they propose a concept of "minor literature"--the use of a major language that subverts it from within. Writing as a Jew in Prague, they contend, Kafka made German "take flight on a line of escape" and joyfully became a stranger within it. His work therefore serves as a model for understanding all critical language show more that must operate within the confines of the dominant language and culture. show less

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3 reviews
D&G say, hey you creeps, HERE is what kafka is good for. chuck out your hack interpretations of the man and get beyond the psycho-babble. From out of the laughter of the abyss Kafka's work is a rejection of complacency and failure; he was making way for a new way to see the world...

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The last essay I ever composed for grade concerned this book and the (very) Minor Literature of Isabel Allende. That strikes me as incomprehensible in this day and age, where everything is surface and seditious. I appreciate D's arguments about a subversion via a dominant language. I can't believe I read all those Allende novels. One shouldn't bother with my bastardizing Deleuze's coherent exposition. Youth.
Disappointing. Strong start, in giving the artistic pursuits a base as a part of the schitzoanalytic & revolutionary project, but devolves into personal literary critique and an attempt to legitimise non-praxis based activities as valid revolutionary movements.

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Author Information

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Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995) was professor of philosophy at the University of Paris, Vincennes-St. Denis.
8 Works 3,062 Members

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Common Knowledge

Canonical title
Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature
Original publication date
1975 (original French) (original French); 1986 (English) (English)

Classifications

Genres
Nonfiction, Literature Studies and Criticism, Fiction and Literature
DDC/MDS
833.912Literature & rhetoricGerman & related literaturesGerman fiction1900-1900-19901900-1945
LCC
PT2621 .A26 .Z67513Language and LiteratureGerman, Dutch and Scandinavian literaturesGerman literatureIndividual authors or works1860/70-1960
BISAC

Statistics

Members
516
Popularity
58,154
Reviews
3
Rating
(3.76)
Languages
14 — Czech, Danish, English, Estonian, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
22
ASINs
4