The law is a theme that pervades the work of Franz Kafka as a whole, from his early writings, such as “The Judgment,” through The Trial, to later works such as The Castle and the neglected piece “The Animal in the Synagogue.” Yet despite its critical importance, the law remains a “cloudy spot” in Kafka’s oeuvre and a bone of contention for subsequent critics and interpreters. The symposium will explore some of the literary, philosophical, and theological aspects of the law in Kafka’s writings, and suggest ways to situate it within his work as well as within the general context of Jewish thought and modernist literature.

The conference is sponsored by the Department of Jewish Thought at UB and the UB Humanities Institute. It will take place in 708 Clemens, North Campus, SUNY Buffalo, on April 4th-5th, 2016. An open roundtable session on the importance of Kafka today will take place on April 4th, 8:00pm, 280 Park Hall, North Campus. Entrance is free and open to the general public.

April 4th 9:00-17:00

April 4th, 8pm — Roundtable Panel “Kafka in Our Time” in 280 Park Hall

April 5th, 9:00-14:00

Participants)

Paul North (German, Yale)

Nitzan Lebovic (History, Lehigh)

Max Pensky (Philosophy, SUNY Binghamton)

Richard Cohen (Jewish Thought, UB)

Sergey Dolgopolski (Jewish Thought, UB)

Noam Pines (Jewish Thought, UB)

April 4th, 708 Clemens

9:00 reception and opening remarks

Session I

9:30 am – 10:50

Nitzan Lebovic (Lehigh University)

The Law of the Land and No Man’s Land: On Kafka and porous borders

11:00 am – 12:20 pm

Richard A. Cohen (SUNY at Buffalo)

Pusillanimous Kafka: A Sad Case 

Session II

2 pm – 3:20 pm

Sergey Dolgopolski (SUNY at Buffalo)

Anteriorities: Kafka’s critique of the political in the Talmud

3:30 pm – 4:50 pm

Max Pensky (SUNY Binghamton)

Spooky Action at a Distance: Kafka and the Laws of Spacetime

Evening Panel on the the topic: “Kafka in Our Time,” 8 pm, 280 Park Hall  

An open discussion in which the conference participants will answer questions from the audience.

April 5, 708 Clemens Hall

Session III

9:00-10:20 am

Paul North (Yale University)

To Defraud But Not to Deceive

10:30 am-11:50 am

Noam Pines (SUNY at Buffalo)

On Shechita in Kafka’s The Trial

12:30 pm – 2 pm

Conclusion and Roundtable Discussion