199 Cultural and Linguistic Communication International Journal of Communication Research THE TRUTH ABOUT SANCHO PANZA BY F. KAFKA IN THE ASPECTS OF HUMANIZATION OF MYTH: PARTICIPATION OF F. KAFKA IN THE TRICKSTER TRADITION OF J. W. GOETHE AND TH. MANN Jozefna CUŞNIR 1 1 PhD, Institute of Cultural Patrimony of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, Republic of Modova Corresponding author: cushnir.j@gmail.com Abstract The tradition established by European literature is revealed within the framework of the author’s concept of humanization of myth (applying its terms and concepts such as the myth of laughter, the myth of non-totem-death’s abolition, benefcent trickster, etc.). This tradition implies using in a trickster manner the reminiscences of the Book of Job and implementing in a laughter way the intention offered by the mythologem of Job, i.e. abolishing non-totem- death by joint efforts of God and man. The tradition is represented by such names as J. W. Goethe, F. Kafka and Th. Mann. According to Goethe, the story of the torment predetermined by God of a man known to be righteous (Job) is replaced by the story of the salvation predetermined by God of a man known as a sinner (Faust), who has sold his soul to the devil. God Himself is a trickster. According to Goethe, God actually verbalizes the postulate of the powerlessness of evil. Kafka accentuates human actions. Sancho makes a righteous choice when faced by evil-non- totem: the protagonist is haunted by a demon who is supposed to destroy him and initiate a lot of disasters through him. However, Sancho, using the books of chivalry, in a laughter manner frees himself, the Universe and even the demon from the terrible predestination: Sancho gives the demon a human name (Don Quixote), tempts him by good and never abandons him.According to Th. Mann, the aspect of cooperation between God and man is verbalized in a trickster way. Keywords: European tradition, humanization of myth, mythologem of Job, myth of laughter, myth of non-totem-death’s abolition. The Truth about Sancho Panza, a laughter novel by F. Kafka (1917), “a little prose piece which is his most perfect creation” (Benjamin, p. 139) holds a specifc place in his enormous artistic heritage 1 . For instance, it is characterized by a happy ending almost unimaginable in the works by this author 2 . Moreover, The Truth about Sancho Panza is an implicit yet a laughingly convincing development of a happier version of the mythologem of Job, which also seems implausible at frst. This conclusion (which is to be subsequently confrmed), in its turn, prompts us to ask the following question, “What can be said about the great works of European literature which include clear reminiscences of the Book of Job?” It has been stated that both Faust (1808) by J.W. Goethe and Joseph and His Brothers (1943), a tetralogy by Th. Mann, also develop a happy ending in relevant reminiscences widely using the means of laughter. Therefore, the great European literature consistently comprehended the Book of Job in both creative and laughter manners. This research brought us back to the Book of Job itself, prompting the following suggestion: its conventional concepts do not correspond to its original interpretation the mythologem was created for. It should be taken into account that these concepts result from the humanity’s millennial pondering over this mythologem. Such prominent thinkers as S. Kierkegaard, C.G. Jung, etc. are listed only among the authors of the most “recent” centuries. Hence, as we verify our assumption of the Book of Job, we could only hope for success if we apply a special approach to the mythologem and /or special tools never used before. For this purpose, we have applied the concept of humanization of myth 3 . (It has been developed by us in order to identify the basic harmonizing regularities of mythological consciousness). As a result, the following fact has been revealed: • The original interpretation of the mythologem of Job is far from the widespread concept related to it. In particular, it did not originate as a theodicy (the justifcation of God), and had a true happy ending in this different capacity.