Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam > Blaise Pascal Instituut > Girard Studiekring > COV&R 2007 > Abstracts Papers 

Nancy Hoogsteder

Vulnerability of the heroine in Franz Kafka’s last story Josephine the singer, or the Mouse Folk

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ABSTRACT

In Geert Mak’s pamphlet there are statements that appeal to me: “In the end we have to go to the very source; to people who are uprooted and humiliated, the rage of the non-western world that is constantly increasing.”

Since Girard affirmed in an interview that his theory of mimetic rivalry could be applied to current international problems, I would like to invite you to disseminate the theory of mimetic rivalry, each in our own field.

My field is the theory of literature.

In Franz Kafka’s story I have tried to ascertain the vulnerability of Josephine, the heroine. I have deduced that Josephine is a priest who sings to avert danger and that her vulnerability lies in the fact that she is an exception. After all, she is the only one who loves music, although the mouse folk are not a music-loving race. Or could it be that she has such an enormous influence and that she asserts to save the mouse folk from danger? The mice who belong to the opposition do not know what her task is and so their envy is roused.

Girard once said: “Toutes les conclusions romanesques sont des conversions”. I  wonder whether the  story could be counted  to this category. Is Josephine indeed a  “gregarious heroine gaining solitude”? Or does she move off  because she knows she cannot avert danger anymore? Does it mean then that she renounces slavery or does she only leave the stage because she is afraid that her enemies might eliminate her? Could one draw conclusions from a heroine on paper that are applicable to the problems we are facing?