Kafka's The Trial: Philosophical Perspectives

Kafka’s The Trial is the third in the Oxford Studies in Philosophy and Literature series, following Shakespeare’s Hamlet (edited by Tzachi Zamir) and Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler (edited by Kristin Gjesda), both published earlier this year. The anthology is edited by Espen Hammer, Professor of Philosophy at Temple University, who has published extensively on German philosophy and the work of Theodor Adorno and Stanley Cavell. Hammer’s contribution includes the introduction as well as one of the nine essays on The Trial, which was first published as Der Proceß in 1925, a year after Kafka’s death. The former introduces Kafka, the curious history of the novel, its subject and themes, the context of its admission to the canon, and its legacy for literature, philosophy, and cinema. Hammer is quick to distinguish the purpose of this Oxford Study from previous commentary, criticism, and interpretation on and of Kafka, stating that the contributors ‘have sought to highlight how its philosophical layers are shaped by literary form’ (p.2).