Abstract

OLIVEIRA, Richard de. Odradek, little criminal of language: the form and poetic value of life. Ide (São Paulo) [online]. 2020, vol.42, n.70, pp. 61-77. ISSN 0101-3106.

In this essay, I address matters concerning the question of the value of life regarding the intertwining of literature and forms of existence in Franz Kafka's short story "The cares of a family man". As a frame to the discussion, I present an introduction that contextualizes it within the diagnosis of the generalized depoliticization of life in contemporary times, and explore the relationship between politics and art in the composition of life forms endowed with meaning and value. Having this problematization in mind, I analyze Kafka's short story, focusing on the theme of the relationships between life forms and language awakened by reading, and fed by consecrated analysis of the author's short story and lifework. Based on this particular short story, I aim to offer an accurate diagnosis of the misery of life and language in our civilization, and to explore how gaps of freedom and reinvention in life can be provided by poetic language.

Keywords : Literature; Kafka; Modernity; Poetry.

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