Meaning of 〜ってどうあるものか


I do not understand this sentence: 「膝が折れたってどうあるものかと思った」. My guess is it means
something like “I thought my knee was going to fracture or something like
that.” But I’m not sure how to interpret 「ってどうあるものか」.

I consulted a translation, which says: “Let them break, then, I thought, but
it still hurt.” Is “let + V” the correct interpretation of 「V + ってどうあるものか」?

I include additional context here:

> 膝の接目が急に痛くなった。膝が折れたってどうあるものかと思った。けれども痛い。苦しい。(第二夜、夏目漱石)




It is at least not common in the modern usage (BCCWJ Shonagon returns 0
results for どうあるものか).

I (and most native readers) would read it as something like なにがあるものか = what
will there be = what will happen, which is a rhetorical negative sentence
_there will be nothing_ , or _it is no big deal_.

* * *

The same question is asked in
[chiebukuro](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q10154158785),
where the answer says it means "I don't care".

> どうあるものか＝どうということがあろうか（反語）＝どうってことない＝へっちゃらだ




It is at least not common in the modern usage (BCCWJ Shonagon returns 0
results for どうあるものか).

I (and most native readers) would read it as something like なにがあるものか = what
will there be = what will happen, which is a rhetorical negative sentence
_there will be nothing_ , or _it is no big deal_.

* * *

The same question is asked in
[chiebukuro](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q10154158785),
where the answer says it means "I don't care".

> どうあるものか＝どうということがあろうか（反語）＝どうってことない＝へっちゃらだ

