In the law: the subjection of political subjects (in) Before the law

Abstract

This article proposes an analysis of Franz Kafka’s short story Before the law from a perspective that is situated within the theoretical coordinates of contemporary post-foundational political thought and post-Marxism. Building on Derrida, Žižek and Agamben’s interpretations of the parable and complementing them with other relevant perspectives, I will explore 1) which elements of the short story function as mechanisms that keep the peasant subjected to a law without foundation; 2) how they achieve it.

The employed theoretical resources will sustain the detailed textual analysis of the symbolic devices and the narrative elements that form the parable to situate it, not just as an allegory of the law’s lack of foundation, but also as a metaphor of the subjective relationship through which political subjects are subjected to it. Following this purpose, I propose a novel way of approaching the text through the distinction of the three spaces implicit in the tale: the outside world from which the peasant comes, the gate in which the story occurs, and the interior where the Law resides.