Part 4 takes a single sentence from Kafka and shows how all of
his French translations are wrong. His point is that the author who
moves his art forward takes it beyond what is considered "good
style" at the time, whereas the translator usually tries to promote
"good style", thereby undoes the author's innovation in order to
bring the work back within accepted boundaries.
Part 5 analyzes a short story by Hemmingway to demonstrate how
the modern novel tries to capture the essence of the present as it
happens, not as a reconstruction of something that has happened or
as an artificial construct that supports the action, but as it
happens in real life, in all its mundanity and irregularity.
Part 6 contrasts the classic period, where form was all
important and pieces include strong parts held together by
bridges and structural elements. Modernity breaks out of
the form and does away with the weaker elements, keeping only the
strong ones. And this happened across Western culture, in music,
novels, and even philosophy with Nietzsche.
Part 7 covers the artistry of Janacek as a one who ushered in
modernity in Western music. He also discusses how Czechoslovakia,
with it's small country mentality, hindered his recognition by the
larger cultural scene. This is a theme he will revisit later in
The Curtain.