Scattered looking out

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Scattered looking out is a sketch by Franz Kafka that narrates a few lines and appeared in the anthology of the anthology contemplation in 1913 and has so far been little interpreted.

content

A we-narrator describes how, looking out of the window, a cloudy morning turns into a surprisingly beautiful spring evening. There is also mention of a passing girl who is overtaken by a man. The setting sun shines alternately on the whole scene.

Text analysis and interpretation approach

After the first sentence, the we-form changes into the impersonal man-form; the narrator takes a back seat in his statement. He appears shadowy and indifferent . It is unclear where his initial question about what to do in this approaching spring is aiming. It is neither explained as a problem nor answered. The discovery of the beautiful spring day outside does not induce him to open the window or to go out, but rather he leans his cheek against the handle of the window.

The things that happen on the street seemingly pass by without comment. Nevertheless, the few sentences are full of associations . When the girl's sunlit face is obscured by the shadow of the man quickly behind her, danger seems to loom. One might think of movie scenes like the Fritz Lang films made years later. The cinematographic perspective in Kafka's literature is seen more and more clearly.

But the girl is not a threatened child; she is one of the nannies that appears frequently in Kafka's fantasies - and in his actual society. This gives the scene a further meaning. The fast passing man, like a hunter, covers the girl with a shadowy touch. This adds an erotic moment, which is confirmed by the previous description of spring, the time of the awakening instincts. In the end, however, the girl's face is very bright in the reflection of the sun.

Hell associates purity and integrity. There was probably neither danger nor temptation in the brief incident. The narrator, who remains in the house, no longer comments on the scene at the end. His attention was limited anyway. One does not find out what really worries him, what is the reason for his distraction.

expenditure

  • All the stories. Published by Paul Raabe . Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1970, ISBN 3-596-21078-X .
  • Short stories and other selected prose. Edited by Roger Hermes. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1997, ISBN 3-596-13270-3 .
  • Prints in lifetime. Edited by Wolf Kittler, Hans-Gerd Koch and Gerhard Neumann . Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 1996, ISBN 3-10-038152-1 , p. 14/15.

Secondary literature

  • Peter-André Alt Franz Kafka. The Eternal Son. A biography. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2005. ISBN 3-406-53441-4 .
  • Peter-André Alt: Kafka and the film. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-406-58748-1 .
  • Beatrix Brüning: light and shadow. Mind games for Kafka's “Scattered Look Out”. In: Hans Jürgen Scheuer (Ed.): Kafka's “Contemplation” . Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2003. ISBN 3-631-51315-1 , pp. 94-101.
  • Roland Reuss : eyes wide closed. To Franz Kafka's little story “Scattered look out”. In: Elmar Locher (ed.): The small forms in modernity. Studien-Verlag, Innsbruck 2001, ISBN 3-7065-1678-0 , pp. 219-230.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alt, Kafka and the film , p. 11 ff.

Web links

Wikisource: Scattered Look  - Sources and Full Texts