“THE FORCE OF DEMOLITION” OR ODRADEK’S ENIGMA. READING KAFKA WITH ADORNO, BENJAMIN AND SCHWARZ

Abstract

This article is based on the close affinity between the philosophical intentions of Theodor W. Adorno’s critical theory and the dislocated view of everyday life offered by Kafka’s narrative. From these premises, the paper approaches the interpretation of a short story by Kafka, “The Worries of a Family Man”, focusing particularly on the enigmatic figure of Odradek. On the basis of the exegesis of this piece by the Brazilian critic Roberto Schwarz, and drawing on the interpretations of Benjamin and Adorno, the essay analyzes what lies behind the puzzling relationship between Odradek and the family man, and to what extent it disrupts the norm of bourgeois everyday life. In this way, Kafka’s story allows us to glimpse the fragility on which its order is based and what might emerge once its apparent certainties begin to shatter.