Neumann - Kafkas Incomplete Texts

Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia
Script, Work and Published Form: Franz Kafka's Incomplete Text

Author(s): Gerhard Neumann
Source: Studies in Bibliography, Vol. 41 (1988), pp. 77-99
Published by: Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia
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Workand PublishedForm:
Script,
FranzKafka'sIncomplete
Text
by
GERHARD NEUMANN*
TOPIC IS ONE WHICH EXTENDS BEYOND THE FIELD OF EDITOR-

ship in the strictsenseand impingeson the theoryof lit-
eraryinterpretation. For I shouldlike to tryto extendthe
of
concept Incompleteness* beyondthe sphereof manu-
scriptsto embrace as wellthe idea of theliterary workand thatofits'pub-
lishedform'.
I do notknowwhetherthisproblemis ofgeneralrelevance.But with
Kafkait seemsto me essentialto widen the conceptof 'incompleteness'
beyondwhatit commonlysignifies. This is somethingof whichI have
been convincedas a resultof myworkon the criticalKafkaedition.I
shall therefore attemptto showhow the peculiarnatureof Kafka's'in-
complete text'is manifestfirstly in themanuscripts, secondlyin theway
theworkis constituted and lastlyin thecontextofthoseworkspublished
in Kafka'slifetime.I believethereis no otherauthorin theGermanlan-
guage who offers us greaterproblemsof understanding whenwe tryto
define'text','work' and,indeed,'authorship' itself
so as to do himjustice.
a
This is essentially reflection of the peculiar nature of Kafka's creativity
whichshowsitselfin whatone mightcall an innerdividedness.I shallex-
plain whatI mean bythisterm.This will meanlookingat the problem-
aticalnatureofhisliteraryproductionunderfourheadings.
Firstly:the ambivalencestowardsthe act of writing,whichare
verycommonamongmodernauthors,developin Kafka'scase into con-
flictingopposites:on the one hand, the uncompromising retreatto a
positionwhichaffirms theact ofwritingas somethingwhollyindividual
and private;on theother,thedesireto gain literaryfameand to impinge
on theworldofletters.
Secondly:thesetensionsare made more pronouncedby certain
# This
essay was a contributionfor the Symposiumon Textual Criticismand Editing
held in Charlottesville,Va., from 20th to 23rd April 1985. My sincere thanks are due to
AnthonyStephens for the translation.
78 STUDIES IN BIBLIOGRAPHY
dissonances
withinthehistoricalrelationof Kafka'sworkto itsreader-
ship.While Kafka largelyowes his standingas a worldliteraryfigure
tohisnovels,he himself
hada verylowopinionofthemand published
none.He believedthat,ifhe wereto achievefameat all, thenit would
be throughhisshortprosepieces.
Thirdly:theconflict attending the transmissionof the manu-
tous,theunrealised
scripts intentionsoftheauthorwithregardtotheir
Kafka'sfriend,
publication. Max Brod,discovered a lastwilland testa-
mentoftheauthor, whichreadsas follows:
Dear Max, perhapsI shall not leave thisbed ever again; afterthislast monthof in-
flammationof the lungs,pneumonia is a fairprobability,and not even writingthe
factdown will avertit-althoughwritingit does have a certainpower.
For the worsteventualitytherefore,thisis mylast will with regard to everything I
have written:
Of all thatI have written,only thefollowinghas any validity:the books: Judgement,
Stoker,Metamorphosis,Penal Colony,CountryDoctor and the story:Hunger Artist.
(The fewcopies of Meditationcan be left,I do not wish to put anyoneto the trouble
of pulping them,but nothingfromthe volume is to be reprinted.)When I say that
thesefivebooksand thestoryhave validity,I do not mean by thisthatI want themto
be reprintedand transmitted to futuregenerations;on the contrary:should theybe
lost entirely,then thiswould correspondto myreal desire.It is merelythatI would
not wish to obstructanyone in theirpreservation,should he wish to preservethem,
since theyare, afterall, there.
On the otherhand, anythingelse writtenby me thatmaystillexist (whetherprinted
in periodicals,stillin manuscriptor in letters)to the extentthatit is stillavailable or
can be recoveredby asking the correspondents(you know who most of them are,
and . . . has mostof the material,and in particulardo not forgetthe couple of note
books in the possessionof . . .)- all of thisis withoutexceptionand preferablyunread
(but I shall not forbidyou to have a look at it, althoughI would reallypreferyou
didn't,and on no account is anyone else to set eyeson it)- all of it is withoutexcep-
tion to be burned and I ask you to do thisas soon as possible,Franz [P. 316-318]1
By instructinghisbestfriendto destroy themanuscripts, Kafkaeffec-

placedhimina doublebind.BygivingMaxBrod,whosedevotion
tively
tohimmadeitlikelythathewould,in fact,notobeytheinstruction, the
taskof destroyingthemanuscripts, Kafkawasreallysaying:carryout
mycommand byignoring it.
A fourth instanceofconflict
followsonfromthisandconcerns the
production ofthetextsKafkaactuallymeantto publish.Kafkahimself
prepared veryfewofhisowntextsforthepress. Theycanbeassembled in
a singlevolumeofthecriticaledition(Druckezu Lebzeiten).The re-
mainderofthemanuscripts remainedunpublishedin Kafka'slifetime,
and thereforethewholeoftherestofhisworkpresents theproblems
of a
typical posthumous edition. Max Brodhad a difficult
roletoplayin
theprocess ofpublication, themoreso as hisaimwasto makeas many
textsof Kafkaas possibleinto'works'.He publishedthenovelsas if
theywerecomplete; he extractedfinished
orhalf-finished
textsfromthe
SCRIPT, WORK AND PUBLISHED FORM 79
manuscripts, gave themtitlesof his own and thusmade theminto

*works'.But it had been Kafka'sexpresswishthatthesetextsshould
neverbe published, and thusshouldneverbe madeinto'works'in the
classicalsense.This is a dilemmathatour editionmustconfront and
resolve;but,as well,thedilemmaitself a
mustremain visiblerealityfor
thereader.
Certainconsequences It should,
resultfromthiswealthofconflicts.
at anyrate,be clearthatthesimpledivisioninto"posthumous works'
and'works published by theauthor'couldnotdo to
justice thesituation,
sincein thecaseofKafkathesetwoareasarerelatedto one another in
complex and subtleways.
I shallattemptto contrive of theproblems
a confrontation ofone
areawiththoseoftheother.
Firstly,theproblems oftheposthumous edition:

It is a peculiarityof Kafka'swayofwriting thatit is governed bythe
antithetical principlesofflux and inhibition,of- ifyou like:inundation
anddrought. The alternation oftheonewiththeotherwasdetermined
notonlyin theprivatespherebut also witkinthatwhichsocialpsy-
chologyhas madeitsprovince. The culturalritualthatis writing in-
cludesbothpossibilities. On theone handit pavesthewayto maturity
and individualindependence; on theotherhand,thispathto freedom
must be learnedin school as compulsion anddiscipline. Whenever Kafka
writes, this
thisduality, contradictory linking of freedom and compul-
sion,comesintoitsown.Kafkaisa paradigmatic exampleoftheproblems
ofthemiddle-class individual in hisquestforidentity- a questthattakes
placeagainstthebackground of a sternpedagogical discipline.
Kafkawasacutelyawareofthishimself, and againandagainin his
workturneda fundamental incompatibility betweenlivingandwriting
intothestuff of his writing. Thus he nevertiresof expounding the
problemofthe'birthoftheindividual'intosociety, oftheprocess that
leadsfromthestrictures oflifewithinthefamily intotherelativefree-
domofsociety at large.Againandagain,Kafkaposesthequestion:can
artisticcreationoffer sucha pathto freedom? One thatleadsoutofthe
constraints ofdiscourse within thefamily intoa widersocialandcultural
milieu?
This constant antithesis ofcompulsion and freedom led in Kafka's
caseto twodifferent forms ofproduction. On theone hand,thereis a
creative statethatis almostunconscious, dream-like, and whichresults
in sometextsturning out to be virtually definitive whenfirst written
down.On theotherhand,therearewhatI call 'thickets ofscratchings
out'thatspringup whentheinternal censorhasbeenactiveand when
8o STUDIES IN BIBLIOGRAPHY
thethreadofcreativity hasbrokenandcouldnotbe joinedagain.2

Secondly, theproblems ofeditingthoseworksKafkasawthrough the
press:
The relationship ofscriptandprinted wordis,in Kafka'scase,particu-
larlyfraught withdifficulty. Whilehe felthandwriting to be something
congenial tothelifeofthebody,healwaysexperienced theprinted word
as a distancing fromthebody,indeedas itselimination, which,in turn,
leadstotheultimate survival ofthescriptin thetransmuted formofthe
book.An examplefromKafka'swriting is thetextentitledA Dream
whichbelongstothecomplexofThe Trial.In thisfragment, JosefK.'s
bodysinksintotheearthwhilehisnameflashes ina strong, ornatescript
acrossthetombstone abovehim.
This structure reflects a culturalissue,namelytheambivalent role
ofwriting withintheprocessbywhichtheindividualacquiresan iden-
tity.Forthisprocess is guidedon theonehandbythebodyandon the
otherbya conglomerate ofsocialcodes.As an expression ofthebody,
as
writingappears something unique,bearing the unmistakable and
inalienablestampof individuality. This is something which,inciden-
tally,accounts forthemarket pricesofautograph manuscripts. The nega-
tiveobverseof thisis thereadyreproduction of suchunique scripts
through themachines weall haveatourdisposal.
Fromtheperspective of societyand itscodes,writing appearsin a
different guise:on the one it
hand, partakes of theanonymity ofsocial
discourse, on the other, it manifests itselfin the positiveconceptof
authorship. Authorship means the of
legitimation the individualin
terms oflegalandeconomic structures. The situation Kafkafaceswhen
writing can thus be seen as a general cultural problem. We maydescribe
thisas theindividual'sdilemmaas to whereto seekor to locatehis
identity: in theuntidyscribblings ofthemanuscripts or in theluxury
editions'ofwhichKafkahimself wasalwaysso fond.
This is thecentralproblemconfronting the selfthatsetsout to
acquirelegitimacy in an age dominated by thewritten word.Shallit
be attainedbythepurelyIntimateself,defined bythefactthatfeelings
areprivate andinalienable, andaremirrored as suchbythehandwritten
text?Or shallit be achievedas a 'publicindividual', determined bythe
opinionsofothersandbytheeffects ofone'sownprinted workswithin
theculturalspherethatguarantees thepersonalunityof 'authorship'?
The realproblemofmodernauthorship can be summedup in the
question:howcantheoneexperience ofsubjectivity be transmuted into
theother?How can thefluidsituation ofthemanuscript be converted
intothestaticone oftheliterary work?In generalit is a process ofseg-
mentation, ofdissecting thescriptin a waythatwillbe totheadvantage
SCRIPT, WORK AND PUBLISHED FORM 8l
ofthefuture work.In thisactofdissection theintimacy ofthecreative

flowcannothelpbutbe converted intothepublicphenomenon thatis
theliterary work.
Overthedecades,theproblematic figure of 'Kafkatheauthor'has
beenshapedonthisbasis.It wasMaxBrodwhosettheprocess in motion
whenhe transformed thenovels,whichKafkahimselfthoughtof as
failures,intofinished documents and worksof WorldLiterature. As
against Brod's practice,one must never lose sight of thefact that Kafka
put mostvalueon his collections of shortnarrative pieces.These he
arranged carefully within each volume, and thus created newstructures
of meaningthrough theirpositioning. In a sense,thiswas Kafka'sat-
temptto workagainstthe closed'workstructure' of the individual
printed text. He saw thisstructure,but wanted to re-open it bycombin-
ing several such textsinto a sequencesuggestive ofa new flowofcrea-
tivity.
Our Kafkaeditionattempts to do justiceto thesecontradictory fac-
tors.I shouldnowliketodiscussthreeareasofoureditorialworkwhere
theyhavebeensignificant.
The first areais thatofthecriticalapparatus oftheeditionandour
to
attempt adapt the reproduction of the text to reflect thedifferent
modesofcomposition, whichmeans,in effect, usingboththelinearand
thestereometric presentation ofvariants as theneedarises.In thelast
analysisit is the editor'sown decisionas towhichmethodisappropriate.
I offera simpleexampletomakethisclear:
B Presentationof variants:
<wie (ich>er) fluchtigfeststellte>H
6120 linear: wie er fluchtigfeststellte]
6 120 in stages: ]
(1) <wie ich fluchtigfeststellte>
(2) wie (ich>er) fluchtigfeststellte
C Interventionsof the editor:
6i20 hatte,]hatte
feststellte
feststellte,]
D Edited text:
[Page 61, line 20] Olga hatte, wie er fluchtigfeststellte,doch den Weg zu ihrem
Bekanntengefunden.
whichtheeditionhastofaceisthatoftherelation-
A secondproblem
the
shipof manuscript text.Thismeanstakingaccountof
totheprinted
thedialectical interaction oftheflowofcreativity, on theonehand,with

theclosedstructure ofthefinished workas itismanifest throughout the
wholeofKafka'sworkon theother.Herewehaveadoptedthesolution
of the'doubleedition*. Textswhichexistbothas partof thecreative
flowwithina manuscript andwhichwerealsoliftedoutofit byKafka
himself andprepared forthepressareto be printed twice,onceas com-
ponentsofa largercontext, namelythemanuscript, and thena second
timeas 'works'publishedseparately. One exampleofthisis thefamous
parablefromThe TrialBeforetheLaw, whichis in thefirst instance
embedded in themanuscript ofthenovel,butwhichwasalsopublished
byKafkaas theonlypartofthenoveltobe printed in hislifetime.
A thirdproblemis thatofrepresenting withintheeditiontheway
inwhichKafkawentaboutdetermining theprinted formofthoseworks
hedidpublish.The pointofviewI wishtodefendhereisthateventhose
textsKafkawaswillingto publishdo notconstitute 'finished works'in
thenormalsense.Rather,theirordering is meantto preserve thechar-
acterofthe'opentext',as doesthemanuscript thatreflects theprocess of
composition. This is obvious when we consider thatall the work Kafka
publishedhimself is subjectto thedual principles of segmenting and
integration. There are various texts which he firstpublishedsingly, for
in a
example periodical, then as part ofa small group of texts in another
periodical, thenas partof a collection, and finally as a singletextex-
tracted fromthiscomplexandrepublished.
The following figure illustratesthesecondcollection oftextswhich
Kafkapublished himself: A Country Doctor.
Fromitwe see,forexample,thatKafkafirst publishedthetwotexts
Jackals and Arabs and an
Reportfor Academy singly, thentogether in a
Der
periodical Jude finallyand together with twelve other in
pieces the
collection A Country Doctor.
It is important to recognise that,whileeach of thesetextscan be
understood byitself,theydo havea commonfieldof reference when
paired,namelytheproblemofattaining an identity in thecontextof
culturalsystems. Aswell,wecanseethemforming an intertextual struc-
turewiththeotherstories in thevolumeA Country Doctor,andwecan
tryand reconstruct thisthrough preciseinterpretation. I have,in fact,
triedtodo thisin variousessays.3
Aseditor, onecanonlydealwiththisphenomenon byaddinga com-
mentary. One cannotreproduce all thevariouscontexts ofa singletext
in extensowithintheedition.It wouldbe fartoocostly.Therefore we
needa commentary to drawthereader'sattention to thepatterning of
themes andmotifs createdbysuchjuxtapositions. We mustensurethat
thereaderbecomesawareof the'open'character of thiscollectionof
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texts.This meanswemustdemonstrate itsincompleteness. Our edition

will endeavourto presentthechanging configurationstheprinted
of
textsas clearlyas possible,usingtablessimilarto theone reproduced
above.
These indications shouldsuffice to showthatthe problemof the
'open' text,of 'unfinished writing'is presenton all levelsof Kafka's
work.It is evidentin themanuscripts in thealternation oftheflowing
anddrying up ofthestream ofcreativity; itisevidentin therelationship
ofmanuscript toprinted textonceweshowtheprocess ofsegmentation;
finallyit is evidentin thewayin whichKafkapublished, thatis: in the
wayhe arranged singletextsintogroupsandcollections.
I shouldnowliketogiveindividual examples ofall oftheseinstances,
starting with the manuscripts.
The first problem ishowtoshowthevariousstages inthecomposition
ofa text,specifically thoseplaceswherethecreativeflowdriesup and
variouslevelsof correction overlayone another.Thereare twomain
contexts in Kafka'sworkswherecomplications occurin shapingthetext
andwhereitfrequently breaksoff:thishappenson theonehand,where
thetextbecomesmetaphorical and,on theother,wherepassages ofan
or
explanatoryinterpretative nature are found.
Asaninstance ofthecomplications thatarisefrom metaphor, I should
like to takepartofBuildingthe GreatWall of China.The example
showsveryclearly howthe'incompleteness' ofa textis rootedin thedif-
of
ficulty finding precisemetaphors for the ideasseekingexpression.
In thisstoryKafkasetsout to depicta collectiveidentity, whichsup-
plants that of the individuals makingup the Chinese people.It was
written in thatphaseofhiscreativity whenhe wasproneto replacehis
earlierimagesofthefamily andofitspowertocreateidentity withfan-
tasiesofcollective The
identity. underlying is, issue once more,thatof
Europeansubjectivity between the conflicting claims of privateandpub-
lic spheres. It is important to notethatKafkapurports to survey these
problems with the distanced regard of the anthropologist.
Withinthisfantasy ofcollectiveidentity, thepointis reachedwhere
theidentity the
of people needs to be legitimised. Withinourowncul-
turalframework thiswouldnormally be achievedbyinvoking thecon-
ceptofa purely'representative' poweras it developed withinthefeudal
system: as the'ideal' subjectoftherulerwhoin turnvalidatestheex-
istenceoftheothermembers ofthebodypolitic.
Thisideaisexpressed byKafkahimself atonepointand,significantly,
in metaphorical guise.Ifwetakethelaststageofthemanuscript version
andleaveasideall previous crossings-out,thetextreads:
Wenn man aus solchenErscheinungenfolgernwollte,daB wirim Grunde

gar keinen Kaiser haben, ware man von der Wahrheitnicht weit ent-
fernt.ImmerwiedermuB ich sagen: Es gibtvielleichtkein kaisertreueres
Volk als das unsrigeim Siiden,aber die Treue kommtdem Kaiser nicht
5 zugute. Zwar stehtauf der kleinen Saule am Dorfausgangder heilige
Drache und blast huldigendseit Menschengedenken den feurigenAtem
genau in die Richtungvon Peking-aber Pekingselbstist den Leuten im
Dorf viel fremderals das jenseitigeLeben. Sollte es wirklichein Dorf
geben,wo Haus an Haus steht,Felder bedeckend,weiterals der Blick
10 von unseremHiigel reichtund zwischendiesenHausern stiindenbei Tag
und bei Nacht MenschenKopf an Kopf? Leichterals eine solche Stadt
sich vorzustellenist es uns, zu glauben, Peking und sein Kaiser ware
eines,etwa eine Wolke, ruhigunterder Sonne sich wandelnd im Laufe
der Zeiten.
If one wished to conclude fromphenomenasuch as thesethatwe have,
in reality,no Emperorat all, thenone would not be farfromthe truth.
I mustsay it again and again: thereis perhapsno people so loyal to the
Emperoras we in the South, but the Emperorderivesno benefitfrom
our loyalty.Certainlythe holydragonstandson its littlecolumn at the
exitto our villageand blows,as it has sincetimeimmemorial,thehomage
of its fierybreathin the precisedirectionof Peking-but Pekingitselfis
much more alien to the people in the village than even the hereafter
would be. Could therereallybe such a thingas a village where house
standsby house,coveringthe fieldsand stretchingfurtherthan one can
see fromour hilltop, with people standingcrammedtogetherin the
spaces in between?Rather than tryto imagine such a city,it is easier
for us to believe that Peking and its Emperor are one and the same
thing,for instance: a cloud, calmly alteringits contoursbeneath the
sun, throughoutthe passage of the ages.
Here, the order of the state derives its legitimacy from an ideological
construct disguised as a natural phenomenon: the institution of the
Emperor is thought of as a cloud. Roland Barthes has said that it is a
trademarkof ideologies that theyseek to assume the quality of natural
phenomena.4
Kafka never did publish this text. He was dissatisfiedwith the meta-
phorical constructand tried various other ways of expressingthe deriva-
tion of legitimacy before the text was finallyabandoned in an incom-
plete state. We can see this if we look at the state of the variants. The
transcriptionof the text above, beginning with line 7, is accompanied
by an apparatus of its variants in the systemused in our edition:
7 in die. . . Peking- ]
(1) in derRichtung in derPekingliegt,
(2) in derRichtung[inder]<von> Peking[liegt,]
8 Dorf]Dorfe H
9 wo][mit]woH
/';-=09 )(8*=-0/']
/';-=09 )(8*=-0/']
9 steht,]steht,[weiterals der BliA]H

9 Felderbedeckend,]bedeckendFelder,H
10 stiinden][stehen]<stiinden> H
n Kopf?]Kopf(.>?j
ii eine solche][solche][eijne1solche
i2 vorzustellen,] vorstellen,H
12 uns,]
(1) <etwa>
(2) (etwa>uns>)
12 und sein Kaiser] <und (der>sein) Kaiser> H
12-13 ware... eine]
(1) wareeine
(2) ware<n>2 <nur> eine
(3) warenfnur>eines>)eine
(4) wareneines <,etwa> eine
13-14 Wolke . . . Zeiten.]
(1) Wolke, langsam sich wandelnd wie Wolken an Sommerabenden
und I [in ihrerMitte] [sasse]in diesem Peking sasse erscheinendin
der geheimnisvollenFarbe Violett der Kaiser, aus der Feme [best]
[X] bestrahltvon den fernenelterlichenSonnen,jener im Aufgang
und jener im Untergang-
(2) Wolke, <im Laufe der Zeiten> [langsam]<ruhig> sich wandelnd
wie Wolken a(n>in) Sommerabendjen]und | <und [im] durch-
schnittenvom Strahlder mutterlichenSonne> [in diesem Peking]
<dort> sasse [erscheinendin der geheimnisvollenFarbe Violett]
der Kaiser, [aus der Feme bestrahltvon] <im Strahlenkranz>
defn>r) [fernen]elterlichenSonnen, jener im Aufgangund jener
im Untergang-
Wolken am
(3) Wolke, [im Laufe der Zeiten ruhig sich wandelnd wie
Sommerabendund | und durchschnittenvom Strahl der mutter-
lichen Sonne dort sasse der Kaiser im Strahlenkranzder elterlichen
Sonnen,jener im Aufgangund jener im Untergang- ] <ruhig sich
wandelnd im Laufe der Zeiten wie Wolken am Sommerabendunter
dem Strahlder mutterlichen Sonne.> withthe drafttextpresumably
extendingto herriiberreicht. On the second manuscriptpage, this
insertionand the subsequent ones were probably inscribedin the
blankspace below,undera separatingrule acrossthepage
am
(4) Wolke, [ruhigsich wandelnd im Laufe der Zeiten wie Wolken
Sommerabendunter dem Strahl der mutterlichenSonne.] Absatz
<die sich ruhigwandeln im Laufe der Zeiten unterdem Strahlder
mutterlichen Sonne.>
(5) Wolke, die sich ruhigwandelfn>t) im Laufe der Zeiten <am Som-
merabend>3 unter[demStrahl]der mutterlichen Sonne.
(6) Wolke, [die sich ruhig wandelt im Laufe der Zeiten am Sommera-
bend unter der mutterlichenSonne.] <ruhig unter der Sonne sich
wandelnd im Laufe der Zeiten.> separated bya rule acrossthepage
fromthe precedingdraftsketches;a markof insertionbeforeruhig
links back to a correspondingmarkon thepreviousmanuscriptpage
afterWolken
1. eine probablydeletedonlybyaccident
2. The insertionperhapsbelongsto stage(3) or (4)
3. A place of insertionis not markedfor im Laufe der Zeitenwhichappearsas an
interlinearadditionabove thesewords
Thus itisclearthatKafkaexperimented withvariousmetaphorsin order

to rendertheprocessof makingtheImperialPowerlegitimate.Firsthe
speaksin termsof a patriarchalsystemand uses "parentalsuns". In a
secondattempttheempireis legitimisedin matriarchaltermsand so we
find"motherlysuns". Finallyhe opts forthe naturalphenomenon,un-
embellished,and theimperialinstitution becomesa "cloud".
This passagedocumentsKafka'sattemptto expressthe nature of
familialand social structures by meansof a model based on feudalism
and shows,as well,itsfailure:theretreatto a 'natural'modeloflegitima-
tion.A passagelike thisrevealstheessenceof Kafka's'construct'ofmid-
dle-classindividuality-and does so preciselyby theunresolvedtensions
whichareevidenthere,thevacillationbetweentwodifferent legitimising
structures:culture,in thesensethatit is an outgrowth ofthefamilyand
developsinto a genealogicalordering;nature,to the extentthatit can
be exploitedto clothean ideologicalconstruct.
An exampleofhow Kakfa'sflowofcreativity maydryup whenhe is
inhibitedby hisown explanatorymode of writingis to be foundin the
Report for an Academy.A transcription dramaticallyemphasizesthe
natureof the textin the bottomhalfof the manuscriptpage; the lem-
matisationof thelast sentencedemonstrates thiscomplication:
kommen. Es wirdfurdie Akademienichtswesentlich Neuesbeibringen
und weithinterdemzuriickbleiben, was manvonmirverlangt hat und
wasichbeimbestenWillennichtsagenkann-immerhin, es soildochdie
Richtliniezeigen,auf welcherein gewesener Affein die Menschenwelt
5 eingedrungen hat.Ergibtsichdannvielleicht,
istundsichdortfestgesetzt
daftalle vomTore des Paradiesesab diesenWeg eingeschlagen haben,
einerfriiher einerspaterdestobesser,destoschlimmer dann: und wir
liegenunsalle in den Armen.
5 festgesetzt hat. [Ergibt sich <dann vielleicht>, dass alle vom
hat.] festgesetzt
Tore des Paradieses ab diesen Weg eingeschlagenhaben, einer friihereiner
spaterdesto besser,desto [schlechtA]schlimmer<dann:> und wir liegen uns
alle in den Armen.]H
I shouldnowlike to illustratetheproblemsthatconcerntherelation
of themanuscriptto the publishedwork.I have chosenexamplesfrom
what are called the "Octavo Note Books" which containsome of the
manuscripts laterused forthe volumeA CountryDoctor. In thiscon-
text, thereare fourdifferent pointsI mustbringout. The "Reportfor
an Academy"is particularlyinstructive.Kafkatriedno less than four
beginningsbeforehe produceda versionwhichseemed good enough
forhim to publish.The difficulties he had wereessentiallythoseof nar-
rativeperspective.How can an ape, who becomeshumanso as to survive
/';-=09 )(8*=-0/']
SCRIPT, WORK AND PUBLISHED FORM Ql
in a humanworld,depicttheprocesshe has undergone?Let us consider

thetableon thenextpage.5
Kafka'sfirstattemptat thestorytakesthe formof an interviewwith
theimpresarioof theape becomehuman(I). The secondbeginning(II)
is an interviewwiththe ape himself.In the third(III) and fourth(IV)
attemptstheape addressesa humanacademy.A fifth beginning(V) takes
the formof a letterfromthe ape's teacher,who has lost his wits as a
resultof his pedagogicalexertions.Only the thirdand fourthattempts
satisfiedKafkaas being suitableforpublication.All the otherperspec-
tiveson thestorywereruledout,buttheystillbelongto one and thesame
thematiccomplexand cannotbe separatedfromit.There is,in addition,
whatI can only terma 'counterfantasy'concerningan "old man with
wings",whichis interpolatedinto the middle of the text(a). In it the
ape becomehumanis, as it were,confronted bya humanbeingwho has
becomean angel.
Whatconcernsme hereas editoris the following:the Reportforan
Academyappearsin twodifferent contexts.On theone hand it is inter-
wovenwithvarious other fantasiesin the "Octavo Note Books"; on the
otherit is embedded in the volume A CountryDoctor. If the textis to
be interpreted adequately,one mustmake both extendedcontextstan-
gible forthe reader.Hence the criticalKafkaeditionwill publish the
texttwice,once as it appearsin thecreativeflowof themanuscript, then
a secondtimewithintheframework of thecollectionswhichKafkahim-
selfpublished.
A further textfromthe "Octavo Note Books" providesa good dem-
onstrationof anotherproblem.It is a text that breaksoffduringthe
processofcomposition, as it were,and whichone would falsify as editor
if one triedto turnit into a definitivetextwiththe closed qualityof a
literarywork.A featureof thistextis that Kafka firstplanned it as a
generalobservation,thentriedto cast it as an autobiographicalnarra-
tive,but gaveup half-way throughtheprocessof transforming it. I shall
firstquote a versionof Kafka'stext,as it mightpresentitselfto the
readerifan editorwereto turnit intosomethinglookinglike a finished
'work',and thenappend an Englishtranslation.
Eine stinkende Hiindin,reichlicheKindergebarerin, stellenweise schon
faulend,die aberin meinerKindheitmiralleswar,die in Treue unauf-
horlichmirfolgt,die ich zu schlagenmichnichtiiberwinden kannund
vorderichihrenAthemscheuendschrittweise weicheund die
rixckwarts
5 michdoch,wennich michnichtandersentscheide in den schonsicht-
barenMauerwinkel drangenwird,umdortaufmirund mitmirganzlich
zu verwesen, bis zum Ende-ehrtes mich?-das Eiter-und Wurmfleisch
ihrerZungean meinerHand.
- i »- ■ 555 OS I MM O ^mmm_ _ __ tmmmm T3
O Q Ul g
fc 1 |||
^ 's 1 1 •§
/';-=09 )(8*=-0/']
A stinkingbitch,thathas had manylitters,whosebody is alreadyrotting

in places,but whichmeanteverything to me as a child,whichneverceases
followingme faithfully,that I can't bring myselfto beat and before
whose foul breathI retreatbackwardsstep by step and whichwill never-
theless,if I don't change my mind about beating it, forceme into that
cornerin thewall I can alreadysee,so as to putrefyentirelyupon me and
with me there,and till the last moment-should I feel honoured?-the
pussy,wormyfleshof its tongueon myhand.
If we have access to the manuscript and can surveyall the variants,then
the followingpicture emerges:
1-2 Eine . . . die]
(1) Die Weltein stinkender Hund,stellenweise <faulend>, der
schon[verwesend]
(2) pie Welt] (e>E)in stinkend(er>e)Hund(,>in), reichliche(H>K)inderge-
barerinstellenweise schonfaulend,d(er>ie)
2-3 unaufhorlich . . . und]
(1) unaufhorlich <,> [undvor dem i] den ich nicht[([mi]>Zuzu)] [Zu] schlagen
darf
(2) unaufhorlich <mir folgt>,den ich [nicht]<zu> schlagen[darf]<mich nicht
iiberwinden kann> und
(3) unaufhorlich mirfolgt,d(en>ie) ich zu schlagenmichnichtiiberwinden kann
und
3 die]d(er>ie)
4 vor. . . schrittweise]
(1) vordemichschrittweise [nach]
(2) vordemich <jede seinerBeriihrungen scheuend> schrittweise
(3) vorde(m>r) ich [jede](seiner>ihre)Beriihrungen <ihren Athem> scheuend
schrittweise
(4) vor der ich [ihre]Beriihrungen [ihren]<ihrefn>sj> Athemscheuendschritt-
weise
(5) vorderich[Beriihrungen] ihresAthemscheuendschrittweise
4 riickwarts] [nach]riickwarts
4 die]dfer>ie;
5 doch,]doch<,>
5-6 den. . . Mauerwinkel]
(1) dieschonsichtbare Ecke
(2) d(ie>en) schonsichtbare [Ecke]<Mauerecke>
(3) denschonsichtbare Mauer[ecke]<winkel>
6 auf](miA>au)f
7 ehrt]ehr(ts>t)
8 ihrer]( seiner >ihrer)
8 an] (auf>an)
Once we are in a positionto followthegenesisofthetextin thisman-
ner,thenwe see that Kafkaoriginallymeantto make it a maxim.He
began: "The world [is] a stinkingdog, alreadyrottingin places . . ."
Thus a judgementabout the world was to be made in the formof a
metaphoricalcomparison.In thecourseofworkingoverthe text,Kafka
thenturnedit backintoa kindofautobiographical reminiscence.Traces
ofthisprocess are visiblein thegrammatical uncertaintythatmarks two
placesin the text.If an editordoes as Max Brod did and removes these
'grammar mistakes', thenhe producesa textwhichtheauthornever

intended. We, on thecontrary, areoftheviewthattheunfinished quality
ofthetext-bywhichwe mean:thetextas process- mustbe respected,
andso thegrammatical errors havetoappearin theeditedtextto bring
thisaspectoutclearly.
A further problemthatcomesundertheheadingofthe'incomplete
text*is demonstrated by Kafka'sonlyattemptat drama,namelyThe
WardenoftheCrypt- Der Gruftwachter.6 Kafkarevisedthislongscene
and
again again and the method he used was tosketch a situation in one
ofthe"OctavoNoteBooks",crossit out,copyit againwithalterations,
thencrossit out againso as to produce,on a thirdor fourth attempt,
further different versions.The following diagram shows the sequenceof
textsin the'OctavoNoteBooksA to E' and in particular thesixstages
ofcomposition ofThe WardenoftheCrypt(1-6).
Kafka'sfirst editor,Max Brod,conflated thesedifferent versions and
madeofthema textthatcouldbe playedon stage.He had,as it were,
distilleda definitive textoutofa seriesofre-writes byconflating them
withone another.But thisdestroys the 'incompleteness of the text*.
Therefore it is our taskto presentthesuccessive versions in theiren-
tiretyas a series and as a process- moreover in such a way that thecross-
are
ings-out signalledby the edited text, but the reader can stillrecon-
structall thechanges in their proper order.
A fourth setof problems centresaroundKafka'sstruggle to evoke
adequately whatEmileBenveniste calls'theauthorities of discourse', "les
instances du discours" invarious texts.
The text The New Advocate pro-
videsan eloquentdemonstration ofthis.Therearefivedifferent versions
ofthisstory, as shownin thediagramabove.Kafkafirst (15) triesa first-
person-singular narrative,thenonein thethirdperson(16),thenonein
thesecond(17). Finallyhe findsthesolutionoftellingthestoryin the
personplural(18). If we wereto suppress
first all theearlierattempts,
wewouldbe leftwithonlythelast,definitive text,whichKafkain fact
had published.But it is equallyimportant to documentthefactthat
withinthesametextualambienceKafkahad threeothertriesat estab-
lishingthepointofauthority forhiscreative discourse.Nowthisissome-
thingthe 'double edition'can do byprinting the same text twice:oncein
thecontext ofthe"OctavoNoteBooks"wherethevariousstagesofcom-
positionareclearlyrevealed, and thena secondtimein thecontextof
thecollection as A
published Country DoctorwhereKafkahimself ulti-
mately placed it.
Finally, we shouldbe awarethatKafkaalsoappliedtheprinciple of
the'unfinished text'tohisownattitude towards publication. Let us look
oncemoreat thetablewhichdemonstrates whatKafkadidwhenputting
C
•H
=
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_jsiii
Z42 BNHH
= lll!§ __| if
- «»«i
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/// /// -H § 5 « 5 \
--il-lll
///
Q
PQ
jummvMW ■:udnn
<
^zz 22z tj . .
i
=zz 3i
"
S
o W
Q
ibiipiiiii inniRF
o
B
u
o
o
1 k ■1 1 z 1 1
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1 == i_
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liiiiii
< nlnnit
«
togetherthe collectionof storiespublishedas A CountryDoctor. (Cf.

figure1.) We mustrecall that Kafka firstpublishedmanyof his texts
singly,then in small groupsof texts,then in a largercollectionand,
finally,thata fewof themwere takenout of the collectionsagain and
republishedsingly.It is veryinteresting, forexample,withregardto the
storiesin A CountryDoctor,thatKafkahad previouslypublishedthe-
maticallyrelatedstoriesseparatelyin groupsof twoand three-alsothat
he tooka textout of thecollectionat thelastmoment,in factfromthe
page proofs,and thensubsequentlypublishedit byitselfin a newspaper.
The textis Der Kubelreiter,meaningroughlyThe Rider on thePail.
WhatI thinkis significant is thatKafkatriedin thismannertorestore
the originallyfluidand unfixedqualitywhichthesetextshad possessed
in the manuscriptstagethroughtheirinter-relation withtheircontext
and othertexts,and to do so againand differently in theprintedmedium.
I haveshownthattheprintedcollectionshave theirown unique manner
of construction, thattheymanifestchangingperspectivesin a play of
fantasiesof identity,- one whichKafkain the printedversionarranged
in a new order.But, in doing so, he applied the principleof the 'open
text',so as to suggesttheflowofcreativity ratherthanthatof thedefini-
the
tive, closed 'work*.
To sumup whatI have triedto showin thisdiscourse:whereaswith
manyotherwritersthe conceptof the 'incompletemanuscript'is only
relevantto theirposthumousworks,in Kafka'scase it has to be applied
to the whole of his literaryachievement.Problemsof the Incomplete
manuscript'or the 'open text'confrontus not onlywhen dealingwith
the manuscriptsthemselves,but theyalso affectthe relationbetween
manuscriptand printedtext and the separateissue of the structural
compositionof the printedcollections.The dialecticalinteractionbe-
tweenthe flowof creativity and the consolidationof textsinto literary
worksis evidentat everystageof Kafka'sachievement,bothin the inti-
macyof the autographversionand in the public manifestation of the
printed work. His desireon the one hand,to shape closed works thatare
perfect in themselves, and his contrarydesire: to keep the flowof crea-
tivitygoing,constantlyinteractwithone another,and this interaction
has its effects at everystageof his literaryendeavour,rightup to the
ordering of texts in thecollectionshe published.We finda similarsitua-
tionwiththeworkof theGermanwriterArnoSchmidt.He too triedto
preservetheopenqualityofhiswritingand theprocessofitscomposition
bypublishinghismanuscripts withall theircorrections thus
in facsimile,
making of them a 'work'and inscribingthem as such in the world of
letters.The work in question is called Zettels Traum, i.e. Bottom's
Dream.
In conclusion,itseemstomethattheissueswhicharesoconspicuous
in Kafka'sworkareboundup withthecomplication ofthreefundamen-
talconceptswhichall bearonwhatwehavetounderstand by'text'inthe
modernsituation. These arefirstly theconceptof 'script'or 'writing';
secondlytheconceptof the'work'and thirdly theconceptof a 'fluid
composite' whichisneverwholly theonenortheother.Ifoneallowsonly
oneoftheseconcepts toemerge intotheforeground, thenofnecessity one
theuniquetextualcharacter
falsifies ofwhatKafkaproduced. Ifwecon-
sideronlytheaspectof'script'or 'writing', acknowledging onlytheflow
ofcreativity,we wouldcertainly reproduce theautograph versions, but
wewouldhaveexcludedtheareaof'authorship' as an institutionandthe
communicative function ofliteratureasa socialphenomenon. Ifweonly
consider theideaofthe'work',thenwewoulddo justiceto theconcept
of'authorship' and itsemblemofauthority the'definitive version', the
'Ausgabeletzter Hand'asonesaysinGerman, butthequestions oftextu-
alityandcommunication wouldremainunanswered. Finally,ifwe only
lookat theaesthetics ofpotential effectand concentrate purelyon the
intertexualityofthe collectionsKafka arranged as the 'fluidcomposite'
ofthevarioustextualunits,thenwe wouldhavedonenothing to shed
light on theareas of and
manuscript authorship. So one has littlechoice
but to bringout all threeaspectsin an editionas the onlywayof
doingjusticetoonespecific understanding oftextuality in thesphereof
modern writing.
Our editionemploysvariousmeansto achievethis.To represent
adequatelythe'creativeflow'of Kafka'smanuscripts thewholeof the
"OctavoNoteBooks"arereproduced in a moreor less'diplomatic' ver-
sionwhichremainsfaithful to thevisualformof theoriginal.These
'diplomatic' renderings willhaveon thefacingpagea facsimile ofthe
manuscript. Then,through sheerfidelity to theprincipleofauthorial
approval, we shallprintthetextsKafkahimself publishedagainin the
volumeWorkPublishedin hisLifetime and thusdo justiceto thecon-
ceptofthe'definitive version'.
Then,finally, theeditionwillsetoutto
demonstrate a thirdaspect,namelythatofintertextuality, andbythisI
meantheinterrelation oftextsbothinthemanuscripts andin thecollec-
tions.Suchinterrelations areextremely difficult to indicatetypographi-
callyand so we musthaverecourseto commentary, usingfigures and
tablessuchas I haveshownhere.Thisthreefold technique should ensure
thattheeditionconveys as complete an impression as possibleofKafka's
'opentexts'.
The successof thisundertaking assumes, of course,thatthesame
personmustbe botheditorand interpreter. Editingis no longera me-
chanicaltaskof unquestioning reproduction, butrathertheprojectof
combining theskillsofinterpreting
and philological
reconstructionso
as todo justicetomodern of
concepts author, workand text.
These con-
ceptsbecameincreasingly in thecourseofthenineteenth
problematical
as
century,theydeveloped outofthecomplicationsthatbesetthelegend-
ary'unityofself of themiddle-class individualand todaystillreflect
theproblems ofidentitywhicharehischronic affliction.
NOTES
1. Franz Kafka, Amerika. Roman. New York/Frankfurt, 1953 (Gesammelte Werke, ed.
Max Brod), p. 3i6f. All translationsof Kafka's textsare by AnthonyStephens.For the kind
permission to reproduce Kafka's manuscriptsthe author wishes to thank Mrs. Marianne
Steiner, Sir Malcolm Pasley, the Fischer Verlag (Frankfurtam Main) and especially the
Bodleian Library.
2. This state of affairshad practical consequences for the typographyof the edition.
It proved necessaryto combine two types of editorial technique: for large segments of
text: a linear reproduction,a syntagmatictype of editing, as it were; but in those places
where Kafka had made many corrections,we had to apply the principle of reproducingthe
text by stages, thus pursuing a more paradigmatic method. One might term this 'stereo-
metric' in the sense that it is meant to reveal the stratificationof the various levels of the
text and thus reproduces the process of composing the text.
Wherever these two modes of writingwhich, in turn, call for two differentmodes of
editing,intersect,two typical kinds of correctionappear in Kafka's text: on the one hand
the firstletterof a word never writtenout ('Buchstabenansatz': (KA > Gjeorg), and, on the
other,lettersand partsof wordswrittenover one another('Oberschreibung':(Brief > BlickJ).
In thesetwoformsthe interruptionand the resumptionof the flowof creativityare manifest.
A model forthe 'stereometric'representationof variantsis offeredfor Holderlin's poem
Hdlfte des Lebens in my essay (co-author Martin Ehrenzeller): "Rudolf Borchardt: Der
unwiirdigeLiebhaber." In: Zeit der Moderne,Zur deutschenLiteraturvon der Jahrhundert-
wende bis zur Gegenwart,ed. Hans-Henrik Krummacher,Fritz Martini and Walter Muller-
Seidel. Bernhard Zeller zum 65. Geburtstag.Stuttgart,1984, pp. 89-118. I have also treated
aspects of this problem in the followingarticles: "Werk oder Schrift?Voriiberlegungenzur
Edition von Kafkas 'Bericht fur eine Akademie'." In: Jahrbuchfur Internationale German-
istik. Reihe A. Kongressberichtevol. 11. Edition und Interpretation.I Edition et Interpre-
tation des Manuscritslitteraires,ed. Louis Hay and WinfriedWoesler. Bern/Frankfurt/ Las
Vegas, 1981, pp. 154-173; and simultaneouslyin Ada Germanica 14 (1981), 1-21.- Wolf
Kittler and Gerhard Neumann, "Kafkas 'Drucke zu Lebzeiten'- Editorische Technik und
hermeneutischeEntscheidung."In: FreiburgerUniversitdtsbldtter 21 (December 1982), Heft
78, pp. 45-84.- "Der verschleppte Prozess. Literarisches Schaffenzwischen Schreibstrom
und Werkidol." Poetica 14 (1982), 92-112.- "Schriftund Druck. Erwagungen zur Edition
von KafkasLandarzf-Band."ZeitschriftfiirDeutsche Philologie 101 (1982), 115-139 (Sonder-
heft: Probleme neugermanistischer Edition).- "L'ecrit, l'oeuvre, l'imprime":le texte inacheve"
de Franz Kafka." In: Le manuscritinacheve. £criture,creation,communication.Louis Hay,
Jacques Neefs, Pierre-Marcde Biasi, Jean-YvesTadie, Gerhard Neumann, Jean Levaillant,
Jean-Louis Lebrave. Textes et manuscrits.Collection publtee par Louis Hay. Paris, 1986,
pp. 87-99 (Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). '
3. Cf.myessayson "Der verschleppteProzess" and "Schriftund Druck in note 2 above.
4. Cf. Roland Barthes,Mythologies.Paris, 1957.
5. In the diagram differentshadings indicate related bodies of text. For our purposes
the sequence of compositionof the "Report for an Academy" (I-V) is relevanthere.
6. The compound "Gruftwachter"appears to be Kafka's own coinage.

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Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia

Script, Work and Published Form: Franz Kafka's Incomplete Text

TOPIC IS ONE WHICH EXTENDS BEYOND THE FIELD OF EDITOR-

By instructinghisbestfriendto destroy themanuscripts, Kafkaeffec-

manuscripts, gave themtitlesof his own and thusmade theminto

Firstly,theproblems oftheposthumous edition:

thethreadofcreativity hasbrokenandcouldnotbe joinedagain.2

ofthefuture work.In thisactofdissection theintimacy ofthecreative

thedialectical interaction oftheflowofcreativity, on theonehand,with

S o •£ *<J 7^>0 I -3 Is5

texts.This meanswemustdemonstrate itsincompleteness. Our edition

Wenn man aus solchenErscheinungenfolgernwollte,daB wirim Grunde

9 steht,]steht,[weiterals der BliA]H

Thus itisclearthatKafkaexperimented withvariousmetaphorsin order

in a humanworld,depicttheprocesshe has undergone?Let us consider

A stinkingbitch,thathas had manylitters,whosebody is alreadyrotting

'grammar mistakes', thenhe producesa textwhichtheauthornever

togetherthe collectionof storiespublishedas A CountryDoctor. (Cf.

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