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noteworthy about her voice taken by itself, except perhaps its fragility, but that there must be something special about
Josephine, since seeing her perform makes everyone forget, at least temporarily, any criticisms they may have about her; he wonders if her effect may come from making a spectacle of an everyday thing, in which case her average voice could be an asset. After some further refining of his estimation of Josephine and what she provides to the community, the narrator decides that what is held so dearly by the mouse people is not her 'ability', but the opportunity to gather and reflect in silence that her performances provide. They value these gatherings the most when times are the hardest, and Josephine remains influential in the community even though her performances sometimes attract the attention of the many enemies of the mouse people and lead to an attack from which she is always rushed to safety.
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practical, the practice of their children being turned out from their families into the wider community very shortly after birth, that they keep no written records, etc). They are described by the narrator, one of their number, as, when
Josephine begins to sing, falling "quiet as mice"—aside from the title, this is the only time that mice are referred to. It is probable that Kafka intended the issue to be left up to our own judgment, the suggestion playfully bandied about, but no explicit answer given. Either way, whether they really are mice is of little importance to our understanding of the story, while the necessity for the idea to be in the reader's mind is central to the reading experience.
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sing even better if she had time to recuperate between performances, but the community ignores her pleas, so she begins to shorten her performances and feign injuries, but no one except for her supporters takes much notice. Eventually, Josephine disappears. She is initially missed and looked for, but the narrator comments that, in the end, she has only hurt herself by running away, since the mouse people were able to survive before she was alive and will now go on without her, at first with only their memories of her songs, and later without even those.
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clear to anyone, only the fact seems to be established. But what has been entrusted to one's care one does not laugh at; to do so would be a breach of duty; the utmost spite that the most spiteful amongst us can vent on
Josephine is when they sometimes say: "When we see Josephine it is no laughing matter."
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So perhaps we shall not miss so very much after all, while
Josephine, for her part, delivered from earthly afflictions, which however to her mind are the privilege of chosen spirits, will happily lose herself in the countless throng of the heroes of our people, and soon, since we pursue no history,
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There are regular attempts made by
Josephine to get the community of mouse people to allow her to stop her regular work so she can focus on her 'singing', though the narrator thinks what she is actually looking for is public recognition of the value of her art. She starts by arguing that she could
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Josephine is a rarity among the mouse people, for she has the innate ability to sing, which no others in the community have displayed in recent history. Although they are not a musical people and some question
Josephine's ability, while others adore her and consider her a communal treasure, all of
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The narrator begins by asserting that whoever has not heard
Josephine sing does not know the true power of music, but, upon reflection, he questions if Josephine even sings, or simply whistles, which all the mice people can do, and indeed do regularly. He says there is really nothing particularly
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Sometimes I have the impression that our people sees its relationship with
Josephine rather like this: that she, this fragile, vulnerable, somehow distinguished creature, in her opinion distinguished by her song, has been entrusted to us and that we must look after her; the reason for this is not
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It is of note that the mouse people are not ever described as such within the story. It is uncertain if they are actually mice. Many aspects of them and their lives are mouselike (that danger is always imminent and enemies many, the terrain they live in, that they are so very hardworking and
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Josephine the singer suffers in the mouse community, for she is alone in her talent and mindset. Because she sings for the rest of the mice, she is looked upon as different—for better or for worse. When she eventually disappears, people soon forget her.
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to critique the factory-like aspects of the university and the industrial characteristics of the arts. In Raunig's book, the relationship between
Josephine's singing and the daily life of the mouse folk entails both
253:. Specifically, the allure of Josephine's song is a concentrating, reterritorializing force, while the daily life of the mouse folk involves constant movement or deterritorialization.
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the mouse people gather round to listen whenever
Josephine starts to sing and appreciate her performances as something that helps them tolerate their unusually hardworking lives.
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Josephine the singer is part of the mouse people family. They love her, protect her and think she is vitally important to the community.
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353:. By Raunig, Gerald. Semiotext(e) Intervention Series. Vol. 15. Translated by Derieg, Aileen; Mecchia, Giuseppina. Semiotext(e).
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included a song entitled "Josephine the Singer" on their debut album
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249:, concepts found in the work of philosophers
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515:Shamefaced Lanky and Impure in Heart
1231:Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life
529:Wedding Preparations in the Country
397:The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
349:Negri, Antonio (2013). Afterword.
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421:, Smithsonian magazine, May 2011
419:The Mystery of the Singing Mice
280:produced an EP interpretation.
16:Short story by Franz Kafka
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594:Blumfeld, an Elderly Bachelor
1282:Short stories by Franz Kafka
801:The Truth about Sancho Panza
1277:Mice and rats in literature
706:The Knock at the Manor Gate
273:for Best Play of the Year.
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857:The Conscription of Troops
622:A Message from the Emperor
581:"The Village Schoolmaster"
267:Josephine the Mouse Singer
161:soon after Kafka's death.
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1055:The Blue Octavo Notebooks
1028:Description of a Struggle
808:The Silence of the Sirens
734:The Cares of a Family Man
557:The Aeroplanes at Brescia
522:Description of a Struggle
261:The story was adapted by
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51:Clement Greenberg (1942)
1157:Franz Kafka and Judaism
986:The Great Wall of China
850:The Problem of Our Laws
766:Investigations of a Dog
615:The Great Wall of China
1135:The Warden of the Tomb
1014:Parables and Paradoxes
629:A Report to an Academy
232:uses "Josephine" as a
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1200:Statue of Franz Kafka
1048:The Diaries 1910–1923
822:The City Coat of Arms
395:Kafka, Franz (1996).
224:Austrian philosopher
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1152:Ottla Kafka (sister)
1082:Letter to His Father
993:The Complete Stories
251:Deleuze and Guattari
247:reterritorialization
243:deterritorialization
124:Published in English
54:Willa and Edwin Muir
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1174:Franz Kafka Society
1117:The Office Writings
1062:The ZĂĽrau Aphorisms
608:The Hunter Gracchus
575:In the Penal Colony
158:Verlag Die Schmiede
38:Original title
1272:1924 short stories
1215:The Loves of Kafka
1169:Franz Kafka Museum
1163:Richard and Samuel
927:The Married Couple
794:A Common Confusion
284:Cultural Influence
153:Ein HungerkĂĽnstler
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1179:Franz Kafka Prize
1103:Letters to Milena
1089:Letters to Felice
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671:Jackals and Arabs
664:A Visit to a Mine
643:Up in the Gallery
550:The Metamorphosis
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1233:(1993 film)
1225:(1991 film)
1218:(1988 film)
1209:(1986 play)
1038:Diaries and
957:collections
955:Short story
941:On Parables
934:Give It Up!
871:The Vulture
752:The Refusal
720:My Neighbor
713:Eleven Sons
456:Franz Kafka
257:Adaptations
234:frame story
143:Franz Kafka
141:written by
139:short story
91:Publication
85:Short story
32:Franz Kafka
28:Short story
1266:Categories
1074:and essays
899:Homecoming
836:Fellowship
815:Prometheus
780:The Burrow
678:The Bridge
543:The Stoker
483:The Castle
390:References
271:Obie Award
111:periodical
48:Translator
1040:notebooks
920:Advocates
744:1917–1923
567:1914–1917
507:1902–1912
476:The Trial
417:Dunn R.,
288:The band
276:In 2014,
1251:Category
1000:The Sons
864:The Test
843:At Night
829:Poseidon
211:Solitude
81:Genre(s)
71:Language
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1072:Letters
885:The Top
636:A Dream
490:Amerika
61:Country
1194:statue
468:Novels
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198:Themes
75:German
56:(1948)
1223:Kafka
1127:Plays
460:works
300:Notes
401:ISBN
355:ISBN
245:and
165:Plot
127:1942
119:1924
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