This paper investigates anthropogenesis, which is the process of becoming human, from an interdisciplinary perspective, namely among science, theatre, and visual arts. The motif of animals locked in a cage – especially apes, but not only – is recurrent when talking about humans and their origin as cultural beings. Relying on some monkey portraits made by Gabriel von Max, in which the animals appear deprived of their freedom, the focus is on Kafka’s short story Ein Bericht für eine Akademie (A Report to an Academy, 1917) and on Elias Canetti’s novel Die Blendung (Auto da Fé, 1935), mainly on a chapter entitled “Ein Irrenhaus” (A Madhouse).
In the Cage of Kafka and Canetti
Jelena Ulrike Reinhardt
2022
Abstract
This paper investigates anthropogenesis, which is the process of becoming human, from an interdisciplinary perspective, namely among science, theatre, and visual arts. The motif of animals locked in a cage – especially apes, but not only – is recurrent when talking about humans and their origin as cultural beings. Relying on some monkey portraits made by Gabriel von Max, in which the animals appear deprived of their freedom, the focus is on Kafka’s short story Ein Bericht für eine Akademie (A Report to an Academy, 1917) and on Elias Canetti’s novel Die Blendung (Auto da Fé, 1935), mainly on a chapter entitled “Ein Irrenhaus” (A Madhouse).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
