La voce degli spettri. Guerra e sogno nel Processo di Kafka

In a close reading of Kafka’s The Trial, this essay reconstructs the effects of war on an isolated individual, who observes himself from the outside. Rooms, stairs, doors, faces, disputes, and other anomalies are signs of constant and sudden shifts between dream and reality, which the reader witnesses without ever being able to reassemble the narrative threads. Why does war echo in the life of someone who is isolated and safe, far from the clamor of battle? Perhaps its seeds are found in the violence of public discourse? The senselessness of the accusation and the ensuing trial can only suggest the war that transcends and oppresses, compelling conformity through institutional mechanisms. An irresistible force, a calm yet organized fury, toward which one might long to revolt; yet the act of resistance against the injustice of a few chosen ones is little more than a contortion, almost a jolt endured in a dream.