Toward an Integration of Compatible Critical Approaches: A Study of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis

By focusing on Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1915), the present essay intends to show the shortcomings of single critical methods in adequately accounting for certain important features of a writerly text. Drawing on Althusser’s notion of ideology, as discussed in his “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses” (1971), the essay first tries to shed light on the ideological framework of the story. In search of a better justification for Gregor’s metamorphosis, it then turns to Gramsci’s concepts of hegemony and dissent. Having examined the conscious nature of dissent in Gramsci, the argument is then led to examine the unconscious nature of the protagonist’s dissatisfaction with the dominant ideology adopting a Freudian perspective. In the end, the growing apathy and final death of Gregor are discussed in the same context. The concluding note of the essay draws an analogy between practical criticism and interdisciplinary sciences aiming to show how different critical modes can be integrated to provide a more comprehensive account of a given work.