Kafkas "Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer" im Lichte Themenverwandter Texte by Ralf R. Nicolai (review)

Book Reviews245 view. When these terms are isolated and embedded in the text, they lose the particular meaning Minahan desires and confuse the reader. Further confusion comes because ordinary is used with no differentiation between the first realm and the altered state of the third realm. In addition, simply capitalizing Special does not express the nature of the central realm. Other terms such as not-one-ness, word-as-idea-and-sound, and not-there-nesses also muddy an otherwise clear, valuable study. The strength of Minahan's work lies in the fact that he avoids the more common practices of interdisciplinary criticism. He does not compare moods, look at surface similarities, or attempt to link the content of the two works. Instead, he concentrates on basic methods of employing sound, metaphor, time, and particularly organization in the development of a theme. These methods articulate the philosophical underpinnings of Romanticism. In doing so, Word Like a Bell demonstrates the effectiveness of this method of criticism in the understanding of an artist, text, and age. NORMA S. DAVIS Brigham Young University RALF R. NICOLAI. Kafkas "Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer" im Lichte Themenverwandter Texte. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 1991. 112 p. This slim volume painstakingly dissects Kafka's short story, "Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer." In a close reading marked by discursive references to Kafka's other stories, novels, and personal writings, Nicolai discovers a complex web ofinterrelated themes and motifs that in his opinion shed light on the major problematic in Kafka's work. Building on his previous Kafka research, Nicolai identifies the conflict between human existence before the fall from grace and the calculating mind that suppresses natural inclinations as the central focus ofKafka's writing. This study analyzes "Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer" and related texts within the framework of this split between being and consciousness or nature and intellect. Nicolai interprets the building of the great wall in Kafka's story as the laying of the foundation of cultural activity itself. The wall's alleged purpose is to protect China from the nomads to the north, who represent civilization-threatening nature. He thus sees the wall as symbolizing a bastion against nature, albeit an incomplete one. Nicolai maintains that the narrator's references to the incompleteness of the wall are meant to reveal the weakness and unreliability of the defense mechanisms set up by people against nature. The narrator's investigations into the reasons and plans for the construction of the wall stand at the center of Nicolai's analysis. The narrator's studies of previous cultural developments, including the construction of the unsuccessful tower of Babylon, show self-alienation caused by the chasm between nature and intellect and the desire to overcome it in order to achieve 246Rocky Mountain Review new heights of consciousness in harmony with nature. The narrator's reflections on the system of partial construction of the wall result in questions concerning the intentions, essence, and authority of the leadership. Yet, as Nicolai points out, although the narrator delves further into the background of the process than his contemporaries, he is unable or unwilling to answer the questions he has raised. The book draws connections between Kafka's notion of "Führerschaft" and Nietzsche's "Adel," who, to further their own interests, suppressed instincts for freedom by condemning nature and encouraged the development of religious beliefs as a means of control. Nicolai explores Kafka's preoccupation with the people's ambivalent relationship to authority and leadership in texts such as "Die Abweisung," "Die Aufhebung," "Zur Frage der Gesetze," and "Ein altes Blatt." Invoking Freud's studies on taboo and repression , he connects Kafka's depiction of the building of the wall in China with the establishment of inner walls to achieve the "civilizing" function of self-censorship. For Nicolai, the narrator's discussion of the villagers' isolation from Peking and their tendency to confuse past and living emperors is indicative of the suppression of natural instincts. He makes a distinction between the empire and the living emperor. The empire stands for the divine authority of past emperors established by the leadership, whereas the living emperor is the embodiment of the nature principle...