Alienated Labor, Non-Hegemonic Development Trajectories and Capitalism

What Does Kafka’s Metamorphosis Have to Tell Us about This?

Abstract

This article reflects on the conditions of work in capitalism articulated to non-hegemonic trajectories of development, based on a critical analysis of the work The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka (1883-1924), which unveils the crisis in modern society in a creative and at the same time blunt way. We argue that these issues are interconnected in the plot, having at its core the drama experienced by Gregor Samsa - narrator-protagonist - who wakes up one day having been transformed into an insect. The metamorphosis brings a series of impediments: social segregation and Gregor's extermination. In this analytical context, we highlight the alienation processes in bourgeois society articulated: 1) to the loss of the sense of being-species, advocated by Marx, and 2) to the hegemonic standards of so-called normality. In conclusion, we point out how the conditions of life in capitalism lead to silencing through oppression and subjective erasure.