Abstract

The burrow dug into the ground of abandoned property on the veld by J.M. Coetzee’s Michael K, as well as the hole dug by Kafka’s burrower in “The Burrow,” are curiously opposite dwellings. While Michael K’s burrow is constructed so as to appear to be built without pride, Kafka’s burrower’s mine exhibits a kind of perfection, both in terms of the mathematic and the aesthetic. However, what these burrows share, in addition to being dug into the soil, is the level of care attached to their construction. Michael K works to make sure that his burrow remains simple and seemingly unassuming; Kafka’s character strives for the perfection and invisibility of his burrow. The measure of care introduced by these characters in their architectural projects results in poetic dwelling — dwelling that is measured by the amount of care (caru) and kindness (charis) that each character exhibits for his project. Heidegger’s discussion of Hölderlin’s line “. . . poetically man dwells . . .” serves to illuminate this assertion, and by reading Heidegger’s discussion, one sees that the architectural feats of the authors’ characters result not only in poetic dwelling in Heidegger’s terms, but also in the manifestation of the texts themselves as poetic undertakings.

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