Kafka's Indictment of Modern Law

The legal system is often denounced as Kafkaesquebut what does this really mean? This is the question Douglas E. Litowitz tackles in his critical reading of Franz Kafkas writings about the law.Going far beyond Kafkas most familiar workssuch as The TrialLitowitz assembles a broad array of works that he refers to as Kafkas legal fictionconsisting of published and unpublished works that deal squarely with the law, as well as those that touch upon it indirectly, as in political, administrative, and quasi-judicial procedures. Cataloguing, explaining, and critiquing this body of work, Litowitz brings to bear all those aspects of Kafkas life that were connected to lawhis legal education, his career as a lawyer, his drawings, and his personal interactions with the legal system. A close study of Kafkas legal writings reveals that Kafka held a consistent position about modern legal systems, characterized by a crippling nihilism. Modern legal systems, in Kafkas view, consistently fail to make good on their stated pretensionsin fact often accomplish the opposite of what they promise. This indictment, as Litowitz demonstrates, is not confined to the legal system of Kafkas day, but applies just as surely to our own.A short, clear, comprehensive introduction to Kafkas legal writings and thought, Kafkas Indictment of Modern Law is not uncritical. Even as he clarifies Kafkas experience of and ideas about the law, Litowitz offers an informed perspective on the limitations of these views. His book affords rare insight into a key aspect of Kafkas work, and into the connection between the writing, the writer, and the legal world.