Polysemy and suspense as literary and political style: Parabolic narratives of “Jackals and Arabs” and “The Silence of the Sirens”

Abstract

Parable is a genre of oral and written literature, usually utilized to convey ethical and moral lessons. Yet, Kafka's parabolic stories, “Jackals and Arabs” and “The Silence of the Sirens” undermine any dominant perspective by transforming the conventions of the parable genre: when socially controversial matters are presented through the parable form in a modern context, readers come to observe a variety of perspectives simultaneously, instead of a presiding one in the parabolic stories of Kafka. In detail, such a provocative juxtaposition of perspectives is achieved by narrating the story in deliberately secularized parabolic form. In this context, the point in both stories is by no means to teach readers, but the narrative itself shows that possibilities of readings or variety of perspectives are far from being monolithic or limited. In other words, when the perspectives and interpretations are not easily consumable, the parabolic narrative itself formally invites its readers to suspect their own perspectives, sense of belonging and the elements constitutes their identities. Such deliberate opaqueness and resistance to easy interpretation are among the reasons that render Kafka’s “Jackals and Arabs” and “The Silence of the Sirens” modern literary works.