Edward Ziff

Dissociation, Delusion and the Splitting of the Self in The Trial by Franz Kafka: Phenomenology and Neurobiology of Schizophrenia

In this essay, we propose an association between Franz Kafkas novel, The Trial, and phenomenological and neurobiological processes in schizophrenia. We begin by presenting a summary of the plot, pointing to some of its remarkable literary aspects. We next compare the mental processes of dissociation, disorientation and delusion as represented in the novel with phenomenological processes that take place in the prodromal states of schizophrenia. We discuss how such disorders of the self and disorders of thought, both crucial aspects of the schizophrenic experience, appear in The Trial and in other literary and private writings by Franz Kafka. We relate how these disorders may arise from the false attribution of salience and false associative learning caused by hyperactivity of dopaminergic function associated with chaotic firing of dopaminergic neurons. Finally, we show how Kafka leads not just the protagonist of The Trial, but even more the reader to experience a quasi-delusional state. We discuss the relationship between the perturbation of thought and disorientation of mind evoked by the novel in the reader and the need of our brains for empathy and predictability.