Tausk's "Influencing Machine" and Kafka's "In The Penal Colony"

In this paper we have discussed Franz Kafka's extraordinary story In The Penal Colony in terms of Tausk's hypotheses concerning the origin of the "influencing machine" in schizophrenia. The ego functioning of the author in the creative process reveals fundamental psychic processe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American imago 1966-01, Vol.23 (3), p.191-207
Main Authors: Globus, Gordon G., Pillard, Richard C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Capital punishment
Ego
Enlightenment
Eternal condemnation
History of medicine
History, 20th Century
Humans
Kafka
Libido
Machinery
Medicine in Literature
Narcissism
Penal colonies
Prisons
Psychoanalytic Theory
Schizophrenia
Soldiers
Tausk
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Summary:In this paper we have discussed Franz Kafka's extraordinary story In The Penal Colony in terms of Tausk's hypotheses concerning the origin of the "influencing machine" in schizophrenia. The ego functioning of the author in the creative process reveals fundamental psychic processes which are congruent with Tausk's theory. Tausk sees the influencing machine as a projection of the body and a defense against regression to primary narcissism. We have demonstrated that the apparatus in Kafka's story is an influencing machine and is a projection of the Officer's body. Rather than observing the development of an influencing machine, we have traced the dissolution of one, i. e., the breakdown of a defense. This begins with the loss of the ego ideal, an influx of narcissistically directed homosexual libido, and regression to a primary state with manifestations of primary narcissism and primary destructiveness. This regression of the Officer is contrasted with the partial regression to the oral state and the maintenance of object differentiation in the ecstatic experience of the prisoners. There is a remarkable parallel between Tausk's hypotheses derived from psychoanalysis, and Kafka's literary creation.
ISSN:0065-860X
1085-7931