The monstrous real

reading the metamorphosis through lacanian materialism

Abstract

This article proposes an analysis of Franz Kafka's novella The Metamorphosis (1915) through the lens of concepts associated with Lacanian Materialism, represented primarily by the writings  of the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek. It seeks to address the following question: starting from the narrator's presentation of the experiences that four characters – "the mother," "the father," "Grete," and "the manager" – undergo in relation to the existence of the protagonist Gregor Samsa (before and after his transformation), to what extent does his presence end up catalyzing the encounter with the Real in the trajectory of each character? As we began our research, our hypothesis was that these four aforementioned characters, when forced to deal with the "monstrous insect" [ungeheueres Ungeziefer], would be reminded of their own traumatic experiences and would seek refuge in the Symbolic. As a result, we found that, although the reactions of each character differ from one another, the characters identified as "the mother", "the father", "the manager" and Grete show marks, in the manifest content of Kafka's fictional text, that remind us of Žižek's considerations on the ideas of escape and passion for the Real. Thus, since the Real is unrepresentable, the transformations of the characters around Gregor reveal symptoms of the recollection of past sufferings, the origins of which are predominantly material. Therefore, throughout the article, we aim to demonstrate the relevance of this renewed interpretation through texts by Žižek, as well as to provide a detailed analysis of these findings.

Key words: Slavoj Žižek; Lacanian Real; Modern Foreign Literature; Franz Kafka; The Metamorphosis.