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Revision as of 14:06, 4 July 2023 editTarhalindur (talk | contribs)186 edits Personality: Claiming that people "invariably" observed a personality trait of Kafka's is almost certainly unverifiable.Tag: 2017 wikitext editor← Previous edit Latest revision as of 13:17, 6 December 2024 edit undoCorvus (talk | contribs)420 edits Judaism and Zionism 
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{{short description|Bohemian writer from Prague (1883–1924)}} {{short description|Bohemian writer (1883–1924)}}
{{redirect|Kafka}} {{redirect|Kafka}}
{{pp-pc|small=yes}} {{pp-pc|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox person {{Infobox person
| name = Franz Kafka | name = Franz Kafka
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| alt = Black-and-white photograph of Kafka as a young man with dark hair in a formal suit | alt = Black-and-white photograph of Kafka as a young man with dark hair in a formal suit
| birth_date = {{birth date|1883|7|3|df=y}} | birth_date = {{birth date|1883|7|3|df=y}}
| birth_place = ], ], ] | birth_place = Prague, ], Austria-Hungary
| death_date = {{death date and age|1924|6|3|1883|7|3|df=y}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1924|6|3|1883|7|3|df=y}}
| death_place = Kierling, part of ], ], ] | death_place = ], Lower Austria, Austria
| resting_place = ], ] | resting_place = ]
| occupation = {{flatlist| | occupation = {{flatlist|
* ] * Novelist
* short story writer * short story writer
* insurance officer * insurance officer
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| alma_mater = ] | alma_mater = ]
| citizenship = {{plainlist| | citizenship = {{plainlist|
* born with General ]n citizenship based on ] ] of 1867 * Austria (until 1918){{efn|Based on ] of 1867}}
* ] (1918–1924){{sfn|Koelb|2010|p=12}}{{sfn|Czech Embassy|2012}} * ] (from 1918){{sfn|Koelb|2010|p=12}}{{sfn|Czech Embassy|2012}}
}} }}
| parents = {{plainlist| | works = ]
| style = ]
* Hermann Kafka
* Julie Kafka (] Löwy)
}}
| notable_works = {{plainlist|
* '']''
* '']''
* '']''
* '']''
* '']''
* '']''
* '']''
}}
| style = ]
| signature = Franz Kafka's signature.svg | signature = Franz Kafka's signature.svg
}} }}
'''Franz Kafka'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|k|æ|f|k|ə}}, {{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|k|ɑː|f|-}};<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226161214/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kafka |date=26 December 2014 }}, '']''</ref> {{IPA-de|ˌfʁant͡s ˈkafka|lang|De-Franz Kafka.ogg}}; {{IPA-cs|ˈkafka|lang}}; in Czech he was sometimes called '''František Kafka'''.}} (3 July 1883&nbsp;– 3 June 1924) was a ] ]n novelist and short-story writer based in ], who is widely regarded as one of the major figures of ]. His work fuses elements of ] and the ].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Spindler|first=William|title=Magical Realism: A Typology|year=1993|doi=10.1093/fmls/XXIX.1.75|journal=Forum for Modern Language Studies|volume=XXIX|issue=1|pages=90–93}}</ref> It typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-] powers. It has been interpreted as exploring themes of ], ], ], and ].<ref name="Britannica">{{Britannica|309545}}</ref> His best known works include the novella '']'' and novels '']'' and '']''. The term '']'' has entered English to describe absurd situations like those depicted in his writing.{{sfn|Steinhauer|1983|pp = 390–408}} '''Franz Kafka'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|k|æ|f|k|ə}}, {{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|k|ɑː|f|-}};<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kafka |title=Kafka |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226161214/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kafka |archive-date=26 December 2014 |url-status=live |work=]}}</ref> {{IPA|de|ˌfʁant͡s ˈkafka|lang|De-Franz Kafka.ogg}}; {{IPA|cs|ˈkafka|lang}}; in Czech, he was sometimes called '''František Kafka'''.}} (3 July 1883&nbsp;– 3 June 1924) was an Austrian-Czech<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24645937|title=Franz Kafka and Austria: National Background and Ethnic Identity|date=1978|jstor=24645937 |access-date=11 October 2024 |last1=Herz |first1=Julius M. |journal=Modern Austrian Literature |volume=11 |issue=3/4 |pages=301–318 }}</ref> novelist and writer from ]. He is widely regarded as a major figure of ]; he wrote in German. His work fuses elements of ] and the ].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Spindler|first=William|title=Magical Realism: A Typology|year=1993|doi=10.1093/fmls/XXIX.1.75|journal=Forum for Modern Language Studies|volume=XXIX|issue=1|pages=90–93| issn = 0015-8518 }}</ref> It typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-] powers. It has been interpreted as exploring themes of ], ], ], and ].<ref name="Britannica">{{Britannica|309545}}</ref> His best known works include the novella '']'' and the novels '']'' and '']''. The term '']'' has entered English to describe absurd situations like those depicted in his writing.{{sfn|Steinhauer|1983|pp=390–408}}

Kafka was born into a middle-class German- and ]-speaking ] family in Prague, the capital of the ], which belonged to the Austrian part of the ] (today the capital of the ], also known as Czechia).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dbs.bh.org.il/luminary/kafka-franz|title=Heroes – Trailblazers of the Jewish People|website=Beit Hatfutsot|access-date=14 November 2019|archive-date=31 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731194725/https://dbs.bh.org.il/luminary/kafka-franz|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.jta.org/2023/01/12/culture/a-new-translation-of-franz-kafkas-diaries-restores-much-of-his-jewish-musings | title=A new translation of Franz Kafka's diaries restores much of his Jewish musings | access-date=2 October 2024 | website=www.jta.org| date=12 January 2023 }}</ref> He trained as a lawyer, and after completing his legal education was employed full-time, for a year handling cases for the indigent in the city's Provincial and Criminal Courts by an insurance company, then working for nine months for an Italian insurance company, and finally, starting in 1908, spending 14 years with the Austrian Imperial and Royal Workmen's Accident Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia and its successor under the Czechoslovak Republic, rising to the position of chief legal secretary.<ref>Gray, Jefferson M., review in ''The Federal Lawyer'', October 2009, of ''Franz Kafka: The Office Writings''. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2009.</ref>


Kafka was born into a middle-class German-speaking ] family in Prague, the capital of the ], then part of the ] (today the capital of the ]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dbs.bh.org.il/luminary/kafka-franz|title=Heroes – Trailblazers of the Jewish People|website=Beit Hatfutsot|access-date=14 November 2019|archive-date=31 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731194725/https://dbs.bh.org.il/luminary/kafka-franz|url-status=live}}</ref> He trained as a lawyer, and after completing his legal education was employed full-time by an insurance company, forcing him to relegate writing to his spare time. Over the course of his life, Kafka wrote hundreds of letters to family and close friends, including his father, with whom he had a strained and formal relationship. He became engaged to several women but never married. He died in obscurity in 1924 at the age of 40 from ]. Being employed full-time forced Kafka to relegate writing to his spare time. Over the course of his life, Kafka wrote hundreds of letters to family and close friends, including his father, with whom he had a strained and formal relationship. He became engaged to several women but never married. He died in obscurity in 1924 at the age of 40 from ].


Kafka was a prolific writer, spending most of his free time writing, often late in the night. He burned an estimated 90 per cent of his total work due to his persistent struggles with self-doubt. Much of the remaining 10 per cent is lost or otherwise unpublished. Few of Kafka's works were published during his lifetime: the story collections '']'' and '']'', and individual stories (such as his novella ''The Metamorphosis'') were published in literary magazines but received little public attention. Kafka was a prolific writer, spending most of his free time writing, often late into the night. He burned an estimated 90 percent of his total work due to his persistent struggles with self-doubt. Much of the remaining 10 percent is lost or otherwise unpublished. Few of Kafka's works were published during his lifetime; although the story collections '']'' and '']'', and individual stories, such as his novella ''The Metamorphosis'', were published in literary magazines, they received little attention.


In his will, Kafka instructed his close friend and ] ] to destroy his unfinished works, including his novels ''The Trial'', ''The Castle'', and {{lang|de|]}}, but Brod ignored these instructions and had much of his work published. Kafka's writings became famous in German-speaking countries after World War II, influencing ], and its influence spread elsewhere in the world in the 1960s. It has also influenced artists, composers, and philosophers. In his will, Kafka instructed his close friend and ] ] to destroy his unfinished works, including his novels ''The Trial'', ''The Castle'', and {{lang|de|]}}, but Brod ignored these instructions and had much of his work published. Kafka's writings became famous in German-speaking countries after World War II, influencing ], and its influence spread elsewhere in the world in the 1960s. It has also influenced artists, composers, and philosophers.


== Life == == Life ==
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| footer = His parents, Hermann and Julie Kafka | footer = His parents, Hermann and Julie Kafka
}} }}
]


Kafka was born near the ] in ],<!-- next to the Church of St Nicholas --> then part of the ]. His family were German-speaking middle-class ]. His father, Hermann Kafka (1854–1931), was the fourth child of Jakob Kafka,{{sfn|Gilman|2005|pp=20–21}}{{sfn|Northey|1997|pp=8–10}} a {{lang|he-Latn|shochet}} or ] in ], a Czech village with a large Jewish population located near ] in southern Bohemia.{{sfn|Kohoutikriz|2011}} Hermann brought the Kafka family to Prague. After working as a travelling sales representative, he eventually became a fashion retailer who employed up to 15 people and used the image of a ] ({{lang|cs|kavka}} in Czech, pronounced and colloquially written as ''kafka'') as his business logo.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp = 3–5}} Kafka's mother, Julie (1856–1934), was the daughter of Jakob Löwy, a prosperous retail merchant in ],{{sfn|Northey|1997|p = 92}} and was better educated than her husband.{{sfn|Gilman|2005|pp = 20–21}} Kafka was born near the ] in Prague,<!-- next to the Church of St Nicholas --> then part of the ]. His family were German-speaking middle-class ]. His father, Hermann Kafka (1854–1931), was the fourth child of Jakob Kafka,{{sfn|Gilman|2005|pp=20–21}}{{sfn|Northey|1997|pp=8–10}} a {{lang|he-Latn|shochet}} or ] in ], a Czech village with a large Jewish population located near ] in southern Bohemia.{{sfn|Kohoutikriz|2011}} Hermann brought the Kafka family to Prague. After working as a travelling sales representative, he eventually became a fashion retailer who employed up to 15 people and used the image of a ] ({{lang|cs|kavka}} in Czech, pronounced and colloquially written as ''kafka'') as his business logo.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp=3–5}} Kafka's mother, Julie (1856–1934), was the daughter of Jakob Löwy, a prosperous retail merchant in ],{{sfn|Northey|1997|p=92}} and was better educated than her husband.{{sfn|Gilman|2005|pp=20–21}}


Kafka's parents probably spoke a German influenced by ] that was sometimes pejoratively called ], but, as German was considered the vehicle of social mobility, they probably encouraged their children to speak ].{{sfn|Gray|2005|pp = 147–148}} Hermann and Julie had six children, of whom Franz was the eldest.{{sfn|Hamalian|1974|p = 3}} Franz's two brothers, Georg and Heinrich, died in infancy before Franz was seven; his three sisters were Gabriele ("Elli") (1889–1944), ] ("Valli") (1890–1942) and ] ("Ottla") (1892–1943). All three were murdered in ] of ]. Valli was deported to the ] in ] in 1942, but that is the last documentation of her; it is assumed she did not survive the war. Ottilie was Kafka's favourite sister.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Metamorphosis|last=Kafka|first=Franz|publisher=Simon and Schuster Paperbacks|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4165-9968-5|location=New York|page=ix|ref=none}}</ref> Kafka's parents, from traditional Jewish society, spoke German replete with influences from their native ]; their children, raised in an acculturated environment, spoke ].{{sfn|Gray|2005|pp=147–148}} Hermann and Julie had six children, of whom Franz was the eldest.{{sfn|Hamalian|1974|p=3}} Franz's two brothers, Georg and Heinrich, died in infancy before Franz was seven; his three sisters were ] ("Elli") (1889–1942), ] ("Valli") (1890–1942) and ] ("Ottla") (1892–1943). All three were murdered in ] of ]. Valli was deported to the ] in ] in 1942, but that is the last documentation of her; it is assumed she did not survive the war. Ottilie was Kafka's favourite sister.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Metamorphosis|last=Kafka|first=Franz|publisher=Simon and Schuster Paperbacks|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4165-9968-5|location=New York|page=ix|ref=none}}</ref>


Hermann is described by the biographer ] as a "huge, selfish, overbearing businessman"{{sfn|Corngold|1972|pp = xii, 11}} and by Franz Kafka as "a true Kafka in strength, health, appetite, loudness of voice, eloquence, self-satisfaction, worldly dominance, endurance, presence of mind, knowledge of human nature".{{sfn|Kafka-Franz, Father|2012}} On business days, both parents were absent from the home, with Julie Kafka working as many as 12&nbsp;hours each day helping to manage the family business. Consequently, Kafka's childhood was somewhat lonely,{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 9}} and the children were reared largely by a series of governesses and servants. Kafka's troubled relationship<!-- abrupt shift to troubled relationship here; suggest moving down later b/c more to do with later life --><!-- - the father issues have roots in early life, which is why it was put here - --> with his father is evident in his {{lang|de|]}} (''Letter to His Father'') of more than 100&nbsp;pages, in which he complains of being profoundly affected by his father's authoritarian and demanding character;{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp = 15–16}} his mother, in contrast, was quiet and shy.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp = 19–20}} The dominating figure of Kafka's father had a significant influence on Kafka's writing.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp = 15, 17, 22–23}} Hermann is described by Kafka scholar and translator ] as a "huge, selfish, overbearing businessman"{{sfn|Corngold|1972|pp=xii, 11}} and by Franz Kafka as "a true Kafka in strength, health, appetite, loudness of voice, eloquence, self-satisfaction, worldly dominance, endurance, presence of mind, knowledge of human nature, a certain way of doing things on a grand scale, of course with all the defects and weaknesses that go with all these advantages and into which your temperament and sometimes your hot temper drive you".{{sfn|Kafka-Franz, Father|2012}} On business days, both parents were absent from the home, with Julie Kafka working as many as 12&nbsp;hours each day helping to manage the family business. Consequently, Kafka's childhood was somewhat lonely,{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=9}} and the children were reared largely by a series of governesses and servants. Kafka's troubled relationship<!-- abrupt shift to troubled relationship here; suggest moving down later b/c more to do with later life --><!-- the father issues have roots in early life, which is why it was put here --> with his father is evident in his {{lang|de|]}} (''Letter to His Father'') of more than 100&nbsp;pages, in which he complains of being profoundly affected by his father's authoritarian and demanding character;{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp=15–16}} his mother, in contrast, was quiet and shy.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp=19–20}} The dominating figure of Kafka's father had a significant influence on Kafka's writing.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp=15, 17, 22–23}}


The Kafka family had a servant girl living with them in a cramped apartment. Franz's room was often cold. In November 1913 the family moved into a bigger apartment, although Ellie and Valli had married and moved out of the first apartment. In early August 1914, just after World War I began, the sisters did not know where their husbands were in the military and moved back in with the family in this larger apartment. Both Ellie and Valli also had children. Franz at age 31 moved into Valli's former apartment, quiet by contrast, and lived by himself for the first time.{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp = 390–391, 462–463}} The Kafka family had a servant girl living with them in a cramped apartment.{{sfn|Stach|2005|p=}} Franz's room was often cold. In November 1913, the family moved into a bigger apartment, although Ellie and Valli had married and moved out of the first apartment. In early August 1914, just after World War I began, the sisters did not know where their husbands were in the military and moved back in with the family in this larger apartment. Both Ellie and Valli also had children. Franz at age 31 moved into Valli's former apartment, quiet by contrast, and lived by himself for the first time.{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp=, }}


=== Education === === Education ===
] where Kafka attended ] and his father owned a shop|alt=An ornate four-storey palatial building]]


From 1889 to 1893, Kafka attended the {{lang|de|Deutsche Knabenschule|italic=no}} German boys' elementary school at the {{lang|cs|Masný trh/Fleischmarkt}} (meat market), now known as Masná Street. His Jewish education ended with his '']'' celebration at the age of 13. Kafka never enjoyed attending the synagogue and went with his father only on four high holidays a year.{{sfn|Kafka-Franz, Father|2012}}{{sfn|Stach|2005|p = 13}}{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp = 26–27}} From 1889 to 1893, Kafka attended the German boys' elementary school at the {{lang|cs|Masný trh/Fleischmarkt}} (meat market), now known as Masná Street. His Jewish education ended with his '']'' celebration at the age of 13. Kafka never enjoyed attending the synagogue and went with his father only on four high holidays each year.{{sfn|Kafka-Franz, Father|2012}}{{sfn|Stach|2005|p=13}}{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp=26–27}}


After leaving elementary school in 1893, Kafka was admitted to the rigorous classics-oriented state ], {{lang|de|Altstädter Deutsches Gymnasium|italic=no}}, an academic secondary school at Old Town Square, located within ]. German was the language of instruction, but Kafka also spoke and wrote in Czech.{{sfn|Hawes|2008|p=29}}{{sfn|Sayer|1996|pp=164–210}} He studied the latter at the gymnasium for eight years, achieving good grades.{{sfn|Kempf|2005|pp=159–160}} Although Kafka received compliments for his Czech, he never considered himself fluent in the language, though he spoke German with a Czech accent.{{sfn|Koelb|2010|p=12}}{{sfn|Sayer|1996|pp=164–210}} He completed his ] exams in 1901.{{sfn|Corngold|2004|p=xii}}
] where Kafka attended ] and his father owned a shop|alt=An ornate four-storey palatial building]]


Kafka was admitted to the {{lang|de|]|italic=no}} of Prague in 1901. He was originally admitted for philosophy, and he had additionally signed up for chemistry.{{sfn|Karl|1991|p=148}} Kafka began studying chemistry but switched to law after two weeks.{{sfn|Diamant|2003|pp=36–38}} Although this field did not excite him, it offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father. In addition, law required a longer course of study, giving Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp=40–41}} He also joined a student club, {{lang|de|Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten|italic=no}} (Reading and Lecture Hall of the German students), which organised literary events, readings and other activities.{{sfn|Gray|2005|p=179}} Among Kafka's friends were the journalist ], who studied philosophy, the actor ] who came from an orthodox ] Warsaw family, and the writers ], ] and ].{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp=43–70}}
After leaving elementary school in 1893, Kafka was admitted to the rigorous classics-oriented state ], {{lang|de|Altstädter Deutsches Gymnasium|italic=no}}, an academic secondary school at Old Town Square, within the ]. German was the language of instruction, but Kafka also spoke and wrote in Czech.{{sfn|Hawes|2008|p = 29}}{{sfn|Sayer|1996|pp = 164–210}} He studied the latter at the gymnasium for eight years, achieving good grades.{{sfn|Kempf|2005|pp = 159–160}} Although Kafka received compliments for his Czech, he never considered himself fluent in the language, though he spoke German with a Czech accent.{{sfn|Koelb|2010|p = 12}}{{sfn|Sayer|1996|pp = 164–210}} He completed his ] exams in 1901.{{sfn|Corngold|2004|p = xii}}


At the end of his first year of studies, Kafka met ], a fellow law student who became a close friend for life.{{sfn|Gray|2005|p=179}} Years later, Brod coined the term {{lang|de|Der enge Prager Kreis}} ("The Close Prague Circle") to describe the group of writers, which included Kafka, Felix Weltsch and Brod himself.{{sfn|Spector|2000|p=17}}{{sfn|Keren|1993|p=3}} Brod soon noticed that, although Kafka was shy and seldom spoke, what he said was usually profound.{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=40}} Kafka was an avid reader throughout his life;{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=14}} together he and Brod read Plato's '']'' in the original ], on Brod's initiative, and ]'s {{lang|fr|]}} and {{lang|fr|]}} (''The Temptation of Saint Anthony'') in French, at his own suggestion.{{sfn|Brod|1966|pp=53–54}} Kafka considered ], Gustave Flaubert, ], ],{{sfn|Stach|2005|p=362}} and ] to be his "true ]s".{{sfn|Gray|2005|pp=74, 273}} Besides these, he took an interest in ]{{sfn|Hawes|2008|p=29}}{{sfn|Sayer|1996|pp=164–210}} and was also very fond of the works of ].{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp=51, 122–124}}{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp=80–83}} Kafka was awarded the degree of Doctor of Law on 18 June 1906{{efn|Records of the university list June as Kafka's graduation month, as well was some secondary sources (Murray), while Brod lists July, possibly confusing the date with that of an exam three years earlier, on 18 July 1903.{{sfn|Murray|2004|p=62}}{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=78}}{{sfn|German University Prague – Doctor of Law|1906}}{{sfn|German University Prague – Exam|1906}}{{sfn|German University Prague – Exam|1905}}{{sfn|German University Prague – Exam|1903}}}} and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as a law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.{{sfn|Steinhauer|1983|pp=390–408}}
Admitted to the {{lang|de|]|italic=no}} of Prague in 1901, Kafka began studying chemistry but switched to law after two weeks.{{sfn|Diamant|2003|pp = 36–38}} Although this field did not excite him, it offered a range of career possibilities which pleased his father. In addition, law required a longer course of study, giving Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp = 40–41}} He also joined a student club, {{lang|de|Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten|italic=no}} (Reading and Lecture Hall of the German students), which organised literary events, readings and other activities.{{sfn|Gray|2005|p = 179}} Among Kafka's friends were the journalist ], who studied philosophy, the actor ] who came from an orthodox ] Warsaw family, and the writers ], ] and ].{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp = 43–70}}

At the end of his first year of studies, Kafka met ], a fellow law student who became a close friend for life.{{sfn|Gray|2005|p = 179}} Years later, Brod coined the term {{lang|de|Der enge Prager Kreis}} ("The Close Prague Circle") to describe the group of writers, which included Kafka, Felix Weltsch and Brod himself.{{sfn|Spector|2000|p=17}}{{sfn|Keren|1993|p=3}} Brod soon noticed that, although Kafka was shy and seldom spoke, what he said was usually profound.{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 40}} Kafka was an avid reader throughout his life;{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 14}} together he and Brod read Plato's '']'' in the original ], on Brod's initiative, and ]'s {{lang|fr|]}} and {{lang|fr|]}} (''The Temptation of Saint Anthony'') in French, at his own suggestion.{{sfn|Brod|1966|pp = 53–54}} Kafka considered ], ], ], ],{{sfn|Stach|2005|p = 362}} and ] to be his "true ]s".{{sfn|Gray|2005|pp = 74, 273}} Besides these, he took an interest in ]{{sfn|Hawes|2008|p = 29}}{{sfn|Sayer|1996|pp = 164–210}} and was also very fond of the works of ].{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp = 51, 122–124}}{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp = 80–83}} Kafka was awarded the degree of Doctor of Law on 18 June 1906{{efn|Records of the university lists June as Kafka's graduation month, as well was some secondary sources (Murray), while Brod lists July, possibly having mistaken the date with the one of an earlier exam three years earlier, 18 July 1903.{{sfn|Murray|2004|p=62}}{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=78}}{{sfn|German University Prague - Doctor of Law|1906}}{{sfn|German University Prague - Exam|1906}}{{sfn|German University Prague - Exam|1905}}{{sfn|German University Prague - Exam|1903}}}} and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.{{sfn|Steinhauer|1983|pp = 390–408}}


=== Employment === === Employment ===

] ]


On 1 November 1907, Kafka was hired at the {{lang|it|]|italic=no}}, an insurance company, where he worked for nearly a year. His correspondence during that period indicates that he was unhappy with a work schedule—from 08:00 until 18:00{{sfn|Karl|1991|p = 210}}{{sfn|Glen|2007|pp = 23–66}}—that made it extremely difficult to concentrate on writing, which was assuming increasing importance to him. On 15 July 1908, he resigned. Two weeks later, he found employment more amenable to writing when he joined the ] for the ]. The job involved investigating and assessing compensation for ] to industrial workers; accidents such as lost fingers or limbs were commonplace, owing to poor ] policies at the time. It was especially true of factories fitted with ] ]s, ]s, ]s and ]s, which were rarely fitted with safety guards.{{sfn|Corngold et al.|2009|p = 28}} On 1 November 1907, Kafka was employed at the {{lang|it|]|italic=no}}, an insurance company, where he worked for nearly a year. His correspondence during that period indicates that he was unhappy with a work schedule—from 08:00 until 18:00{{sfn|Karl|1991|p=210}}{{sfn|Glen|2007|pp=23–66}}—that made it extremely difficult to concentrate on writing, which was assuming increasing importance to him. On 15 July 1908, he resigned. Two weeks later, he found employment more amenable to writing when he joined the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia ({{lang|cs|Úrazová pojišťovna dělnická pro Čechy v Praze|italic=no}}). The job involved investigating and assessing compensation for ] to industrial workers; accidents such as lost fingers or limbs were commonplace, owing to poor ] policies at the time. It was especially true of factories fitted with machine ]s, ]s, ]s and ]s, which were rarely fitted with safety guards.{{sfn|Corngold et al.|2009|p=28}}


The management professor ] credits Kafka with developing the first civilian ] while employed at the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute, but this is not supported by any document from his employer.{{sfn|Drucker|2002|p = 24}}{{sfn|Corngold et al.|2009|pp = 250–254}} His father often referred to his son's job as an insurance officer as a {{lang|de|Brotberuf}}, literally "bread job", a job done only to pay the bills; Kafka often claimed to despise it. Kafka was rapidly promoted and his duties included processing and investigating compensation claims, writing reports, and handling appeals from businessmen who thought their firms had been placed in too high a risk category, which cost them more in insurance premiums.{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp = 26–30}} He would compile and compose the ] on the insurance institute for the several years he worked there. The reports were well received by his superiors.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp = 81–84}} Kafka usually got off work at 2 p.m., so that he had time to spend on his literary work, to which he was committed.{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp = 23–25}} Kafka's father also expected him to help out at and take over the family ] store.{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp = 25–27}} In his later years, Kafka's illness often prevented him from working at the insurance bureau and at his writing. His father often referred to his son's job as an insurance officer as a {{lang|de|Brotberuf}}, literally "bread job", a job done only to pay the bills; Kafka often claimed to despise it. Kafka was rapidly promoted and his duties included processing and investigating compensation claims, writing reports, and handling appeals from businessmen who thought their firms had been placed in too high a risk category, which cost them more in insurance premiums.{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp=26–30}} He would compile and compose the ] on the insurance institute for the several years he worked there. The reports were well received by his superiors.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp=81–84}} Kafka usually got off work at 2 p.m., so that he had time to spend on his literary work, to which he was committed.{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp=23–25}} Kafka's father also expected him to help out at and take over the family ] store.{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp=25–27}} In his later years, Kafka's illness often prevented him from working at the insurance bureau and at his writing.


In late 1911, Elli's husband Karl Hermann and Kafka became partners in the first ] factory in Prague, known as Prager Asbestwerke Hermann & Co., having used ] money from Hermann Kafka. Kafka showed a positive attitude at first, dedicating much of his free time to the business, but he later resented the encroachment of this work on his writing time.{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp = 34–39}} During that period, he also found interest and entertainment in the performances of ]. After seeing a Yiddish theatre troupe perform in October 1911, for the next six months Kafka "immersed himself in Yiddish language and in Yiddish literature".{{sfn|Koelb|2010|p = 32}} This interest also served as a starting point for his growing exploration of Judaism.{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp = 56–58}} It was at about this time that Kafka became a vegetarian.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp = 29, 73–75, 109–110, 206}} Around 1915, Kafka received his draft notice for military service in World War{{nbsp}}I, but his employers at the insurance institute arranged for a deferment because his work was considered essential government service. He later attempted to join the military but was prevented from doing so by medical problems associated with ],{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 154}} with which he was diagnosed in 1917.{{sfn|Corngold|2011|pp = 339–343}} In 1918, the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute put Kafka on a pension due to his illness, for which there was no cure at the time, and he spent most of the rest of his life in ]s.{{sfn|Steinhauer|1983|pp = 390–408}} In late 1911, Elli's husband Karl Hermann and Kafka became partners in the first ] factory in Prague, known as Prager Asbestwerke Hermann & Co., having used ] money from Hermann Kafka. Kafka showed a positive attitude at first, dedicating much of his free time to the business, but he later resented the encroachment of this work on his writing time.{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp=34–39}} During that period, he also found interest and entertainment in the performances of ]. After seeing a Yiddish theatre troupe perform in October 1911, for the next six months Kafka "immersed himself in Yiddish language and in Yiddish literature".{{sfn|Koelb|2010|p=32}} This interest also served as a starting point for his growing exploration of Judaism.{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp=56–58}} It was at about this time that Kafka became a vegetarian.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp=29, 73–75, 109–110, 206}} Around 1915, Kafka received his draft notice for military service in World War{{nbsp}}I, but his employers at the insurance institute arranged for a deferment because his work was considered essential government service. He later attempted to join the military but was prevented from doing so by medical problems associated with ],{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=154}} with which he was diagnosed in 1917.{{sfn|Corngold|2011|pp=339–343}} In 1918, the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute put Kafka on a pension due to his illness, for which there was no cure at the time, and he spent most of the rest of his life in ]s.{{sfn|Steinhauer|1983|pp=390–408}}


=== Private life === === Private life ===
]
Kafka never married. According to Brod, Kafka was "tortured" by sexual desire,{{sfn|Hawes|2008|p = 186}} and Kafka's biographer ] states that his life was full of "incessant womanising" and that he was filled with a fear of "sexual failure".{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp = 44, 207}} Kafka visited brothels for most of his adult life{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp = 186, 191}}{{sfn|European Graduate School|2012}}{{sfn|Stach|2005|p = 43}} and was interested in pornography.{{sfn|Hawes|2008|p = 186}} In addition, he had close relationships with several women during his lifetime. On 13 August 1912, Kafka met ], a relative of Brod's, who worked in Berlin as a representative of a ] company. A week after the meeting at Brod's home, Kafka wrote in his diary:

Kafka never married. According to Brod, Kafka was "tortured" by sexual desire,{{sfn|Hawes|2008|p=186}} and Kafka's biographer ] states that his life was full of "incessant womanising" and that he was filled with a fear of "sexual failure".{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp=44, 207}} Kafka visited brothels for most of his adult life{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp=186, 191}}{{sfn|European Graduate School|2012}}{{sfn|Stach|2005|p=43}} and was interested in pornography.{{sfn|Hawes|2008|p=186}} In addition, he had close relationships with several women during his lifetime. On 13 August 1912, Kafka met ], a relative of Brod's, who worked in Berlin as a representative of a ] company. A week after the meeting at Brod's home, Kafka wrote in his diary:


{{blockquote|Miss FB. When I arrived at Brod's on 13 August, she was sitting at the table. I was not at all curious about who she was, but rather took her for granted at once. Bony, empty face that wore its emptiness openly. Bare throat. A blouse thrown on. Looked very domestic in her dress although, as it turned out, she by no means was. (I alienate myself from her a little by inspecting her so closely&nbsp;...) Almost broken nose. Blonde, somewhat straight, unattractive hair, strong chin. As I was taking my seat I looked at her closely for the first time, by the time I was seated I already had an unshakeable opinion.{{sfn|Banville|2011}}{{sfn|Köhler|2012}}}} {{blockquote|Miss FB. When I arrived at Brod's on 13 August, she was sitting at the table. I was not at all curious about who she was, but rather took her for granted at once. Bony, empty face that wore its emptiness openly. Bare throat. A blouse thrown on. Looked very domestic in her dress although, as it turned out, she by no means was. (I alienate myself from her a little by inspecting her so closely&nbsp;...) Almost broken nose. Blonde, somewhat straight, unattractive hair, strong chin. As I was taking my seat I looked at her closely for the first time, by the time I was seated I already had an unshakeable opinion.{{sfn|Banville|2011}}{{sfn|Köhler|2012}}}}


Shortly after this meeting, Kafka wrote the story "{{lang|de|]|italic=no}}" ("The Judgment") in only one night and worked in a productive period on {{lang|de|]}} (''The Man Who Disappeared'') and ] (''The Metamorphosis''). Kafka and Felice Bauer communicated mostly through letters over the next five years, met occasionally, and were engaged twice.{{sfn|Stach|2005|p=1}} Kafka's extant letters to Bauer were published as {{lang|de|]}} (''Letters to Felice''); her letters do not survive.{{sfn|Banville|2011}}{{sfn|Seubert|2012}}{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp = 196–197}} According to the biographers Stach and ], Kafka became engaged a third time around 1920, to Julie Wohryzek, a poor and uneducated hotel chambermaid.{{sfn|Stach|2005|p = 1}}{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp = 129, 198–199}} Although the two rented a flat and set a wedding date, the marriage never took place. During this time, Kafka began a draft of '']'', who objected to Julie because of her ] beliefs. Before the date of the intended marriage, he took up with yet another woman.{{sfn|Murray|2004|pp = 276–279}} While he needed women and sex in his life, he had low self-confidence, felt sex was dirty, and was cripplingly shy—especially about his body.{{sfn|Steinhauer|1983|pp = 390–408}} Shortly after this meeting, Kafka wrote the story "{{lang|de|]|italic=no}}" ("The Judgment") in only one night and in a productive period worked on {{lang|de|]}} (''The Man Who Disappeared'') and ] (''The Metamorphosis''). Kafka and Felice Bauer communicated mostly through letters over the next five years, met occasionally, and were engaged twice.{{sfn|Stach|2005|p=1}} Kafka's extant letters to Bauer were published as {{lang|de|]}} (''Letters to Felice''); her letters did not survive.{{sfn|Banville|2011}}{{sfn|Seubert|2012}}{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp=196–197}} After he had written to Bauer's father asking to marry her, Kafka wrote in his diary:


{{blockquote|My job is unbearable to me because it conflicts with my only desire and my only calling, which is literature.... I am nothing but literature and can and want to be nothing else ... Nervous states of the worst sort control me without pause ... A marriage could not change me, just as my job cannot change me.{{sfn|Wagenbach|2019|pp=119–120}}}}
Stach and Brod state that during the time that Kafka knew Felice Bauer, he had an affair with a friend of hers, Margarethe "Grete" Bloch,{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp = 379–389}} a Jewish woman from Berlin. Brod says that Bloch gave birth to Kafka's son, although Kafka never knew about the child. The boy, whose name is not known, was born in 1914 or 1915 and died in Munich in 1921.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp = 240–242}}{{sfn|S. Fischer|2012}} However, Kafka's biographer Peter-André Alt says that, while Bloch had a son, Kafka was not the father as the pair were never intimate.{{sfn|Alt|2005|p = 303}}{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp = 180–181}} Stach points out that there is a great deal of contradictory evidence around the claim that Kafka was the father.{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp = 1, 379–389, 434–436}}


According to the biographers Stach and ], Kafka became engaged a third time around 1920, to Julie Wohryzek, a poor and uneducated hotel chambermaid.{{sfn|Stach|2005|p=1}}{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp=129, 198–199}} Kafka's father objected to Julie because of her ] beliefs. Although Kafka and Julie rented a flat and set a wedding date, the marriage never took place. During this time, Kafka began a draft of '']''. Before the date of the intended marriage, he took up with yet another woman.{{sfn|Murray|2004|pp=276–279}} While he needed women and sex in his life, he had low self-confidence, felt sex was dirty, and was cripplingly shy—especially about his body.{{sfn|Steinhauer|1983|pp=390–408}}
Kafka was diagnosed with tuberculosis in August 1917 and moved for a few months to the ]n village of Zürau (Siřem in ]), where his sister Ottla worked on the farm of her brother-in-law Karl Hermann. He felt comfortable there and later described this time as perhaps the best period of his life, probably because he had no responsibilities. He kept diaries and {{lang|de|Oktavhefte}} (]). From the notes in these books, Kafka extracted 109 numbered pieces of text on ''Zettel'', single pieces of paper in no given order. They were later published as {{lang|de|] oder Betrachtungen über Sünde, Hoffnung, Leid und den wahren Weg}} (The Zürau Aphorisms or Reflections on Sin, Hope, Suffering, and the True Way).{{sfn|Apel|2012|p = 28}}


Stach and Brod state that during the time that Kafka knew Felice Bauer, he had an affair with a friend of hers, Margarethe "Grete" Bloch,{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp=379–389}} a Jewish woman from Berlin. Brod says that Bloch gave birth to Kafka's son, although Kafka never knew about the child. The boy, whose name is not known, was born in 1914 or 1915 and died in Munich in 1921.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp=240–242}}{{sfn|S. Fischer|2012}} However, Kafka's biographer ] says that, while Bloch had a son, Kafka was not the father, as the pair were never intimate.{{sfn|Alt|2005|p=303}}{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp=180–181}} Stach points out that there is a great deal of contradictory evidence around the claim that Kafka was the father.{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp=1, 379–389, 434–436}}
In 1920, Kafka began an intense relationship with ], a Czech journalist and writer. His letters to her were later published as {{lang|de|]}}.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=389}} During a vacation in July 1923 to ] on the ], Kafka met ], a 25-year-old kindergarten teacher from an orthodox Jewish family. Kafka, hoping to escape the influence of his family to concentrate on his writing, moved briefly to Berlin (September 1923-March 1924) and lived with Diamant. She became his lover and sparked his interest in the ].{{sfn|Hempel|2002}} He worked on four stories, including {{lang|de|]}} (''A Hunger Artist''),{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=389}} which were published shortly after his death.

Kafka was diagnosed with tuberculosis in August 1917 and moved for a few months to the ]n village of Zürau (Siřem in Czech), where his sister Ottla worked on the farm of her brother-in-law Karl Hermann. He felt comfortable there and later described this time as perhaps the best period of his life, probably because he had no responsibilities. He kept diaries and made notes in exercise books ({{lang|de|Oktavhefte}}). From those notes, Kafka extracted 109 numbered pieces of text on single pieces of paper ({{lang|de|Zettel}}); these were later published as {{lang|de|] oder Betrachtungen über Sünde, Hoffnung, Leid und den wahren Weg}} (The Zürau Aphorisms or Reflections on Sin, Hope, Suffering, and the True Way).{{sfn|Apel|2012|p=28}}

In 1920, Kafka began an intense relationship with ], a Czech journalist and writer who was non-Jewish and who was married, but when she met Kafka, her marriage was a "sham".{{sfn|Wagenbach|2019|pp=154, 159}} His letters to her were later published as {{lang|de|]}}.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=389}} During a vacation in July 1923 to ] on the ], Kafka met ], a 25-year-old kindergarten teacher from an orthodox Jewish family. Kafka, hoping to escape the influence of his family to concentrate on his writing, moved briefly to Berlin (September 1923-March 1924) and lived with Diamant. She became his lover and sparked his interest in the ].{{sfn|Hempel|2002}} He worked on four stories, including {{lang|de|]}} (''A Hunger Artist''),{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=389}} which were published shortly after his death.

===Siblings===
], Elli, ]]]

Kafka's parents had six children; Franz was the eldest.{{sfn|Hamalian|1974|p=3}} His two brothers, Georg and Heinrich, died in infancy; his three sisters, Gabriele ("Elli") (September 22, 1889 – fall of 1942), ] ("Valli") (1890–1942) and ] ("Ottla") (1892–1943), are believed to have been murdered in ] of the ]. Ottilie was Kafka's favourite sister.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Metamorphosis|last=Kafka|first=Franz|publisher=Simon and Schuster Paperbacks|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4165-9968-5|location=New York|page=ix|ref=none}}</ref>

Gabriele was Kafka's eldest sister. She was known as Elli or Ellie; her married name is variously rendered as Hermann or Hermannová. She attended a German girls' school in Prague's Řeznická Street and later a private girls' secondary school.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Elli Kafka |url=https://www.franzkafka.de/leben/familie/gabrielekafka |access-date=4 April 2024 |website=Franz Kafka}}</ref> She married Karl Hermann (1883–1939), a salesman, in 1910. The couple had a son, Felix (1911–1940), and two daughters, Gertrude (Gerti) Kaufmann (1912–1972), and Hanna Seidner (1920–1941).<ref name=":0" /><ref name="kafkamuseum">{{cite web|url=https://kafkamuseum.cz/en/franz-kafka/family/sisters/|title=Sisters – Franz Kafka|website=kafkamuseum.cz|access-date=4 April 2024}}</ref> After her marriage to Hermann, she became closer to her brother, whose letters showed an active interest in the upbringing and education of her children. He accompanied her on a 1915 trip to Hungary to visit Hermann, who was stationed there, and spent a summer with her and her children in ] the year before he died.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Zur Erinnerung an Gabriele Kafka |url=https://gabriele-kafka.zurerinnerung.at/ |access-date=5 April 2024 |website=gabriele-kafka.zurerinnerung.at |language=de}}</ref>

With the outbreak of the ] in 1929, the Hermann family business experienced financial difficulties and eventually went bankrupt.<ref name=":0" /> Karl Hermann died February 27, 1939, and Elli was supported financially by her sisters.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> On October 21, 1941, she was deported together with her daughter Hanna to the ], where she lived temporarily with her sister Valli and Valli's husband in the spring of 1942. She was probably killed in the ] in the fall of 1942.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Valli Kafka |url=https://www.franzkafka.de/leben/familie/valeriekafka |access-date=5 April 2024 |website=Franz Kafka |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ottla Kafka |url=https://www.franzkafka.de/leben/familie/ottiliekafka |access-date=5 April 2024 |website=Franz Kafka |language=de}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Kafkas Schwestern |url=https://www.juedisches-museum-muenchen.de/ausstellungen/kafkas-schwestern |access-date=5 April 2024 |publisher=]|language=de}}</ref> Of Elli's three children, only her daughter Gerti survived the ].{{Cn|date=April 2024}} A memorial plaque commemorates the three sisters at the family grave in the ] in Prague.<ref name=":1" />


=== Personality === === Personality ===
]
Kafka had a lifelong suspicion that people found him mentally and physically repulsive. However, many of those who met him found him to possess obvious intelligence and a sense of humour; they also found him handsome, although of austere appearance.{{sfn|Janouch|1971|pp = 14, 17}}{{sfn|Fichter|1987|pp = 367–377}}{{sfn|Repertory|2005}}
Brod compared Kafka to ], noting that both writers had the ability to describe a situation realistically with precise details.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 41}} Brod thought Kafka was one of the most entertaining people he had met; Kafka enjoyed sharing humour with his friends, but also helped them in difficult situations with good advice.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 42}} According to Brod, he was a passionate reciter, able to phrase his speech as though it were music.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 97}} Brod felt that two of Kafka's most distinguishing traits were "absolute truthfulness" ({{lang|de|absolute Wahrhaftigkeit|italic=no}}) and "precise conscientiousness" ({{lang|de|präzise Gewissenhaftigkeit|italic=no}}).{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 49}}{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 47}} He explored details, the inconspicuous, in depth and with such love and precision that things surfaced that were unforeseen, seemingly strange, but absolutely true ({{lang|de|nichts als wahr|italic=no}}).{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 52}} Kafka had a lifelong suspicion that people found him mentally and physically repulsive. However, many of those who met him found him to possess obvious intelligence and a sense of humour; they also found him handsome, although of austere appearance.{{sfn|Janouch|1971|pp=14, 17}}{{sfn|Fichter|1987|pp=367–377}}{{sfn|Repertory|2005}} Kafka was thought to be "very self-analytic".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Robertson |first1=Ritchie |url=|title=Kafka: A Very Short Introduction|date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=4}}</ref> Brod compared Kafka to ], noting that both writers had the ability to describe a situation realistically with precise details.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=41}} Brod thought Kafka was one of the most entertaining people he had met; Kafka enjoyed sharing his humour with his friends but also helped them in difficult situations with good advice.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=42}} According to Brod, he was a passionate reciter, able to phrase his speech as though it were music.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=97}} Brod felt that two of Kafka's most distinguishing traits were "absolute truthfulness" ({{lang|de|absolute Wahrhaftigkeit}}) and "precise conscientiousness" ({{lang|de|präzise Gewissenhaftigkeit}}).{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=49}}{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=47}} He explored inconspicuous details in depth and with such precision and love that unforeseen things surfaced that seemed strange but absolutely true ({{lang|de|nichts als wahr|italic=no}}).{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=52}}


Kafka's letters and unexpurgated diaries reveal repressed homoerotic desires, including an infatuation with novelist ] and fascination with the work of ] on male bonding. ] argues that this mental struggle may have informed the themes of alienation and psychological brutality in his writing.{{sfn|Banville|2013}}
Although Kafka showed little interest in exercise as a child, he later developed a passion for games and physical activity,{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 14}} and was an accomplished rider, swimmer, and rower.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 49}} On weekends, he and his friends embarked on long hikes, often planned by Kafka himself.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 90}} His other interests included ], modern education systems such as ],{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 49}} and technological novelties such as airplanes and film.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 92}} Writing was vitally important to Kafka; he considered it a "form of prayer".{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 214}} He was ] to noise and preferred absolute quiet when writing.{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 156}}


Although Kafka showed little interest in exercise as a child, he later developed a passion for games and physical activity{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=14}} and was an accomplished rider, swimmer, and rower.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=49}} On weekends, he and his friends embarked on long hikes, often planned by Kafka himself.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=90}} His other interests included ], modern education systems such as ],{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=49}} and technological novelties such as airplanes and film.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=92}} Writing was vitally important to Kafka; he considered it a "form of prayer".{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=214}} He was ] to noise and preferred absolute quiet when writing.{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=156}} Kafka was also a ] and did not drink alcohol.<ref>{{cite news|last=Grovier|first=Kelly|title=The trials of Franz Kafka|work=]|date=13 June 2004|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/jun/13/biography.highereducation|access-date=16 October 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309165129/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/jun/13/biography.highereducation|archive-date=9 March 2016}}</ref>
Pérez-Álvarez has claimed that Kafka may have possessed a ].{{sfn|Pérez-Álvarez|2003|pp = 181–194}} His style, it is claimed, not only in ''Die Verwandlung'' (''The Metamorphosis''), but in various other writings, appears to show low to medium-level schizoid traits, which Pérez-Álvarez claims to have influenced much of his work.{{sfn|Miller|1984|pp = 242–306}} His anguish can be seen in this diary entry from 21 June 1913:{{sfn|McElroy|1985|pp = 217–232}}


Pérez-Álvarez has claimed that Kafka had symptomatology consistent with ].{{sfn|Pérez-Álvarez|2003|pp=181–194}} His style, it is claimed, not only in {{lang|de|Die Verwandlung}} (''The Metamorphosis'') but in other writings, appears to show low- to medium-level schizoid traits, which Pérez-Álvarez claims to have influenced much of his work.{{sfn|Miller|1984|pp=242–306}} His anguish can be seen in this diary entry from 21 June 1913:{{sfn|McElroy|1985|pp=217–232}}
{{blockquote|Die ungeheure Welt, die ich im Kopfe habe. Aber wie mich befreien und sie befreien, ohne zu zerreißen. Und tausendmal lieber zerreißen, als in mir sie zurückhalten oder begraben. Dazu bin ich ja hier, das ist mir ganz klar.{{sfn|Sokel|2001|pp = 67–68}}}}


{{Text and translation|{{lang|de|Die ungeheure Welt, die ich im Kopfe habe. Aber wie mich befreien und sie befreien, ohne zu zerreißen. Und tausendmal lieber zerreißen, als in mir sie zurückhalten oder begraben. Dazu bin ich ja hier, das ist mir ganz klar.}}{{sfn|Sokel|2001|pp=67–68}}
{{blockquote|The tremendous world I have inside my head, but how to free myself and free it without being torn to pieces. And a thousand times rather be torn to pieces than retain it in me or bury it. That, indeed, is why I am here, that is quite clear to me.{{sfn|Kafka|Brod|1988|p = 222}}}}
|The tremendous world I have inside my head, but how to free myself and free it without being torn to pieces. And a thousand times rather be torn to pieces than retain it in me or bury it. That, indeed, is why I am here, that is quite clear to me.{{sfn|Kafka|Brod|1988|p=222}}}}


and in Zürau Aphorism number 50: and in Zürau Aphorism number 50:


{{Text and translation|{{lang|de|Der Mensch kann nicht leben ohne ein dauerndes Vertrauen zu etwas Unzerstörbarem in sich, wobei sowohl das Unzerstörbare als auch das Vertrauen ihm dauernd verborgen bleiben können.}}
{{blockquote|Man cannot live without a permanent trust in something indestructible within himself, though both that indestructible something and his own trust in it may remain permanently concealed from him.{{sfn|Gray|1973|p = 196}}}}
|Man cannot live without a permanent trust in something indestructible within himself, though both that indestructible something and his own trust in it may remain permanently concealed from him.{{sfn|Gray|1973|p=196}}}}


Alessia Coralli and Antonio Perciaccante of San Giovanni di Dio Hospital have posited that Kafka may have had ] with co-occurring psychophysiological ].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Franz Kafka: An emblematic case of co-occurrence of sleep and psychiatryc disorders|journal = Sleep Science|volume = 9|issue = 1|pages = 5–6|first1=Alessia|last1=Coralli|first2=Antonio|last2=Perciaccante|date=12 April 2016|publisher=Sleep Sci|pmc = 4866976|pmid = 27217905|doi = 10.1016/j.slsci.2016.02.177}}</ref> ] interpreted ''Die Verwandlung'' as "a vivid depiction of the borderline personality" and described the story as "model for Kafka's own abandonment fears, anxiety, depression, and parasitic dependency needs. Kafka illuminated the borderline's general confusion of normal and healthy desires, wishes, and needs with something ugly and disdainful."{{sfn|Lachkar|1992|p = 30}} Italian medical researchers Alessia Coralli and Antonio Perciaccante have posited in a 2016 article that Kafka may have had ] with co-occurring psychophysiological ].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Franz Kafka: An emblematic case of the co-occurrence of sleep and psychiatric disorders|journal = Sleep Science|volume = 9|issue = 1|pages = 5–6|first1=Alessia|last1=Coralli|first2=Antonio|last2=Perciaccante|date=12 April 2016|publisher=Sleep Sci|pmc = 4866976|pmid = 27217905|doi = 10.1016/j.slsci.2016.02.177}}</ref> ] interpreted {{lang|de|Die Verwandlung}} as "a vivid depiction of the borderline personality" and described the story as "model for Kafka's own abandonment fears, anxiety, depression, and parasitic dependency needs. Kafka illuminated the borderline's general confusion of normal and healthy desires, wishes, and needs with something ugly and disdainful".{{sfn|Lachkar|1992|p=30}}


Though Kafka never married, he held marriage and children in high esteem. He had several girlfriends and lovers across his life.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp = 139–140}} He may have suffered from an eating disorder. Doctor Manfred M. Fichter of the Psychiatric Clinic, ], presented "evidence for the hypothesis that the writer Franz Kafka had suffered from an atypical ]",{{sfn|Fichter|1988|pp = 231–238}} and that Kafka was not just lonely and depressed but also "occasionally suicidal".{{sfn|Fichter|1987|pp = 367–377}} In his 1995 book ''Franz Kafka, the Jewish Patient'', ] investigated "why a Jew might have been considered ']' or 'homosexual' and how Kafka incorporates aspects of these ways of understanding the Jewish male into his own self-image and writing".{{sfn|Gilman|1995|pp = 63ff, 160–163 }} Kafka considered suicide at least once, in late 1912.{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 128}} Though Kafka never married, he held marriage and children in high esteem. He had several girlfriends and lovers during his life.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp=139–140}} He may have suffered from an eating disorder. Doctor Manfred M. Fichter of the Psychiatric Clinic, ], presented "evidence for the hypothesis that the writer Franz Kafka had suffered from an atypical ]",{{sfn|Fichter|1988|pp=231–238}} and that Kafka was not just lonely and depressed but also "occasionally suicidal".{{sfn|Fichter|1987|pp=367–377}} In his 1995 book ''Franz Kafka, the Jewish Patient'', ] investigated "why a Jew might have been considered ']' or 'homosexual' and how Kafka incorporates aspects of these ways of understanding the Jewish male into his own self-image and writing".{{sfn|Gilman|1995|pp=63ff, 160–163 }} Kafka considered suicide at least once, in late 1912.{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=128}}


=== Political views === === Political views ===


Before World War&nbsp;I,{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 86}} Kafka attended several meetings of the ''Klub mladých'', a Czech anarchist, ], and ] organization.{{sfn|Lib.com|2008}} ], who attended the same elementary and high schools as Kafka, fell out with Kafka during their last academic year (1900–1901) because " socialism and my ] were much too strident".{{sfn|Bergman|1969|p = 8}}{{sfn|Bruce|2007|p = 17}} Bergmann said: "Franz became a socialist, I became a Zionist in 1898. The synthesis of Zionism and socialism did not yet exist."{{sfn|Bruce|2007|p = 17}} Bergmann claims that Kafka wore a ] to school to show his support for ].{{sfn|Bruce|2007|p = 17}} In one diary entry, Kafka made reference to the influential anarchist philosopher ]: "Don't forget Kropotkin!"{{sfn|Preece|2001|p = 131}}<!-- He later stated, regarding the Czech anarchists: "They all sought thanklessly to realize human happiness. I understood them. But&nbsp;... I was unable to continue marching alongside them for long".{{sfn|Janouch|1998|pp=118–119}}{{failed verification|date=February 2013}} --> Before World War&nbsp;I,{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=86}} Kafka attended several meetings of the ''Klub mladých'', a Czech anarchist, ], and ] organization.{{sfn|Lib.com|2008}} ], who attended the same elementary and high schools as Kafka, fell out with Kafka during their last academic year (1900–1901) because " socialism and my ] were much too strident".{{sfn|Bergman|1969|p=8}}{{sfn|Bruce|2007|p=17}} Bergmann said: "Franz became a socialist, I became a Zionist in 1898. The synthesis of Zionism and socialism did not yet exist."{{sfn|Bruce|2007|p=17}} Bergmann claims that Kafka wore a ] to school to show his support for ].{{sfn|Bruce|2007|p=17}} In one diary entry, Kafka made reference to the influential anarchist philosopher ]: "Don't forget Kropotkin!"{{sfn|Preece|2001|p=131}}<!-- He later stated, regarding the Czech anarchists: "They all sought thanklessly to realize human happiness. I understood them. But&nbsp;... I was unable to continue marching alongside them for long".{{sfn|Janouch|1998|pp=118–119}}{{failed verification|date=February 2013}} -->


During the communist era, the legacy of Kafka's work for ] socialism was hotly debated. Opinions ranged from the notion that he satirised the bureaucratic bungling of a crumbling ], to the belief that he embodied the rise of socialism.{{sfn|Hughes|1986|pp = 248–249}} A further key point was ]. While the orthodox position was that Kafka's depictions of alienation were no longer relevant for a society that had supposedly eliminated alienation, a 1963 conference held in ], Czechoslovakia, on the eightieth anniversary of his birth, reassessed the importance of Kafka's portrayal of bureaucracy.{{sfn|Bathrick|1995|pp = 67–70}} Whether or not Kafka was a political writer is still an issue of debate.{{sfn|Socialist Worker|2007}} During the communist era, the legacy of Kafka's work for ] socialism was hotly debated. Opinions ranged from the notion that he satirised the bureaucratic bungling of a crumbling ], to the belief that he embodied the rise of socialism.{{sfn|Hughes|1986|pp=248–249}} A further key point was ]. While the orthodox position was that Kafka's depictions of alienation were no longer relevant for a society that had supposedly eliminated alienation, a 1963 conference held in ], Czechoslovakia, on the eightieth anniversary of his birth, reassessed the importance of Kafka's portrayal of bureaucracy.{{sfn|Bathrick|1995|pp=67–70}} Whether Kafka was a political writer is still an issue of debate.{{sfn|Socialist Worker|2007}}


=== Judaism and Zionism === === Judaism and Zionism ===
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] ]
]


Kafka grew up in Prague as a German-speaking Jew.{{sfn|History Guide|2006|p=}} He was deeply fascinated by the ], who he thought possessed an intensity of spiritual life that was absent from Jews in the West. His diary contains many references to ].{{sfn|Haaretz|2008|p=}} Yet he was at times alienated from Judaism and Jewish life. On 8 January 1914, he wrote in his diary:{{blockquote|''Was habe ich mit Juden gemeinsam? Ich habe kaum etwas mit mir gemeinsam und sollte mich ganz still, zufrieden damit daß ich atmen kann in einen Winkel stellen.''{{sfn|Alt|2005|p = 430}} Kafka grew up in Prague as a German-speaking Jew.{{sfn|History Guide|2006|p=}} He was deeply fascinated by the ], who he thought possessed an intensity of spiritual life that was absent from Jews in the West. His diary contains many references to ].{{sfn|Haaretz|2008}} Yet he was at times alienated from Judaism and Jewish life. On 8 January 1914, he wrote in his diary:
{{Text and translation|{{lang|de|Was habe ich mit Juden gemeinsam? Ich habe kaum etwas mit mir gemeinsam und sollte mich ganz still, zufrieden damit daß ich atmen kann, in einen Winkel stellen.}}{{sfn|Alt|2005|p=430}}
|What have I in common with Jews? I have hardly anything in common with myself and should stand very quietly in a corner, content that I can breathe.{{sfn|Kafka|Brod|1988|p=252}}{{sfn|Kafka-Franz|2012}}}}


In his adolescent years, Kafka declared himself an ].{{sfn|Gilman|2005|p=31}}
(What have I in common with Jews? I have hardly anything in common with myself and should stand very quietly in a corner, content that I can breathe.){{sfn|Kafka|Brod|1988|p = 252}}{{sfn|Kafka-Franz|2012}} |sign=|source=}}


Hawes suggests that Kafka, though very aware of his own ], did not incorporate it into his work, which, according to Hawes, lacks Jewish characters, scenes or themes.{{sfn|Connolly|2008}}{{sfn|Harper's|2008}}{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp=119–126}} In the opinion of literary critic ], although Kafka was uneasy with his Jewish heritage, he was the quintessential Jewish writer.{{sfn|Bloom|1994|p=428}} Lothar Kahn is likewise unequivocal: "The presence of Jewishness in Kafka's {{lang|fr|oeuvre}} is no longer subject to doubt".{{sfn|Kahn|Hook|1993|p=191}} ], one of Kafka's first translators, interprets {{lang|de|Der Process}} (''The Trial'') as the embodiment of the "triple dimension of Jewish existence in Prague{{nbsp}}... his protagonist Josef K. is (symbolically) arrested by a German (Rabensteiner), a Czech (Kullich), and a Jew (Kaminer). He stands for the 'guiltless guilt' that imbues the Jew in the modern world, although there is no evidence that he himself is a Jew".{{sfn|Rothkirchen|2005|p=23}}
In his adolescent years, Kafka declared himself an ].{{sfn|Gilman|2005|p = 31}}


In his essay ''Sadness in Palestine?!'', ] explores Kafka's connection to Zionism: "It seems that those who claim that there was such a connection and that Zionism played a central role in his life and literary work, and those who deny the connection altogether or dismiss its importance, are both wrong. The truth lies in some very elusive place between these two simplistic poles."{{sfn|Haaretz|2008}} Kafka considered moving to ] with Felice Bauer, and later with Dora Diamant. He studied ] while living in Berlin, hiring a friend of Brod's from Palestine, Pua Bat-Tovim, to tutor him{{sfn|Haaretz|2008}} and attending Rabbi Julius Grünthal<ref>Tal, Josef. Tonspur – Auf Der Suche Nach Dem Klang Des Lebens. Berlin: Henschel, 2005. pp. 43–44</ref> and Rabbi ]'s classes in the Berlin {{lang|de|]|italic=no}} (College for the Study of Judaism),{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=196}} where he also studied ].<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Hunters of Lost Books: New Project Finds and Digitizes Books Looted in WWII |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2024-01-11/ty-article-magazine/.premium/the-hunters-of-lost-books-new-project-finds-and-digitizes-books-looted-in-wwii/0000018c-f81b-d432-a7ae-fffbb9fd0000 |access-date=8 February 2024|newspaper=]}}</ref>
Hawes suggests that Kafka, though very aware of his own ], did not incorporate it into his work, which, according to Hawes, lacks Jewish characters, scenes or themes.{{sfn|Connolly|2008}}{{sfn|Harper's|2008}}{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp = 119–126}} In the opinion of literary critic ], although Kafka was uneasy with his Jewish heritage, he was the quintessential Jewish writer.{{sfn|Bloom|1994|p = 428}} Lothar Kahn is likewise unequivocal: "The presence of Jewishness in Kafka's {{lang|fr|oeuvre}} is no longer subject to doubt".{{sfn|Kahn|Hook|1993|p = 191}} ], one of Kafka's first translators, interprets {{lang|de|Der Process}} (''The Trial'') as the embodiment of the "triple dimension of Jewish existence in Prague{{nbsp}}... his protagonist Josef K. is (symbolically) arrested by a German (Rabensteiner), a Czech (Kullich), and a Jew (Kaminer). He stands for the 'guiltless guilt' that imbues the Jew in the modern world, although there is no evidence that he himself is a Jew".{{sfn|Rothkirchen|2005|p = 23}}


] calls Kafka the "symbolic figure of his era".{{sfn|Rothkirchen|2005|p=23}} His contemporaries included numerous Jewish, Czech, and German writers who were sensitive to Jewish, Czech, and German culture. According to Rothkirchen, "This situation lent their writings a broad cosmopolitan outlook and a quality of exaltation bordering on transcendental metaphysical contemplation. An illustrious example is Franz Kafka".{{sfn|Rothkirchen|2005|p=23}}
In his essay ''Sadness in Palestine?!'', ] explores Kafka's connection to Zionism: "It seems that those who claim that there was such a connection and that Zionism played a central role in his life and literary work, and those who deny the connection altogether or dismiss its importance, are both wrong. The truth lies in some very elusive place between these two simplistic poles."{{sfn|Haaretz|2008}} Kafka considered moving to ] with Felice Bauer, and later with Dora Diamant. He studied ] while living in Berlin, hiring a friend of Brod's from Palestine, Pua Bat-Tovim, to tutor him{{sfn|Haaretz|2008}} and attending Rabbi Julius Grünthal<ref>Tal, Josef. Tonspur – Auf Der Suche Nach Dem Klang Des Lebens. Berlin: Henschel, 2005. pp. 43–44</ref> and Rabbi ]'s classes in the Berlin {{lang|de|]|italic=no}} (College for the Study of Judaism).{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 196}}

] calls Kafka the "symbolic figure of his era".{{sfn|Rothkirchen|2005|p = 23}} His contemporaries included numerous Jewish, Czech, and German writers who were sensitive to Jewish, Czech, and German culture. According to Rothkirchen, "This situation lent their writings a broad cosmopolitan outlook and a quality of exaltation bordering on transcendental metaphysical contemplation. An illustrious example is Franz Kafka".{{sfn|Rothkirchen|2005|p = 23}}


Towards the end of his life Kafka sent a postcard to his friend Hugo Bergmann in Tel Aviv, announcing his intention to emigrate to Palestine. Bergmann refused to host Kafka because he had young children and was afraid that Kafka would infect them with tuberculosis.{{sfn|Bloom|2011}} Towards the end of his life Kafka sent a postcard to his friend Hugo Bergmann in Tel Aviv, announcing his intention to emigrate to Palestine. Bergmann refused to host Kafka because he had young children and was afraid that Kafka would infect them with tuberculosis.{{sfn|Bloom|2011}}
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] ]


Kafka's ] ] worsened and in March 1924 he returned from Berlin to Prague,{{sfn|Stach|2005|p = 1}} where members of his family, principally his sister Ottla and Dora Diamant, took care of him. He went to Hugo Hoffmann's sanatorium in ] just outside ] for treatment on 10 April,{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 389}} and died there on 3 June 1924. The cause of death seemed to be starvation: the condition of Kafka's throat made eating too painful for him, and since ] had not yet been developed, there was no way to feed him.{{sfn|Believer|2006}}{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp = 209–211}} Kafka was editing "A Hunger Artist" on his deathbed, a story whose composition he had begun before his throat closed to the point that he could not take any nourishment.{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 211}} His body was brought back to Prague where he was buried on 11 June 1924, in the ] in ].{{sfn|European Graduate School|2012}} Kafka was virtually unknown during his own lifetime, but he did not consider fame important. He rose to fame rapidly after his death,{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 214}} particularly after World War II. The Kafka tombstone was designed by architect ].<ref>F. Kafka, ''New Jewish Cemetery'', Prague: Marsyas 1991, p. 56</ref> Kafka's ] ] worsened and in March 1924 he returned from Berlin to Prague,{{sfn|Stach|2005|p=1}} where members of his family, principally his sister Ottla and Dora Diamant, took care of him. He went to Hugo Hoffmann's sanatorium in ] just outside ] for treatment on 10 April,{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=389}} and died there on 3 June 1924. The cause of death seemed to be starvation: the condition of Kafka's throat made eating too painful for him, and since ] had not yet been developed, there was no way to feed him.{{sfn|Believer|2006}}{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp=209–211}} Kafka was editing "]" on his deathbed, a story whose composition he had begun before his throat closed to the point that he could not take any nourishment.{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=211}} His body was brought back to Prague where he was buried on 11 June 1924, in the ] in ].{{sfn|European Graduate School|2012}} Kafka was virtually unknown during his own lifetime, but he did not consider fame important. He rose to fame rapidly after his death,{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=214}} particularly after World War II. The Kafka tombstone was designed by architect ].<ref>F. Kafka, ''New Jewish Cemetery'', Prague: Marsyas 1991, p. 56</ref>
{{clear left}} {{clear left}}


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]|alt=an old letter with text written in German]] ]|alt=an old letter with text written in German]]


All of Kafka's published works, except some letters he wrote in Czech to Milena Jesenská, were written in German. What little was published during his lifetime attracted scant public attention. All of Kafka's published works were written in German. What little was published during his lifetime attracted scant public attention.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}


Kafka finished none of his full-length novels and burned around 90 percent of his work,<ref>{{cite news |last=Batuman |first=Elif |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/magazine/26kafka-t.html |url-access=limited |date=22 September 2010 |newspaper=The New York Times |title=Kafka's Last Trial |accessdate=3 August 2012 |ref={{sfnRef|''New York Times''|2010}} |archive-date=5 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705202826/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/magazine/26kafka-t.html |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Stach|2005|p = 2}} much of it during the period he lived in Berlin with Diamant, who helped him burn the drafts.{{sfn|Murray|2004|pp = 367}} In his early years as a writer he was influenced by von Kleist, whose work he described in a letter to Bauer as frightening and whom he considered closer than his own family.{{sfn|Furst|1992|p = 84}} Kafka finished none of his full-length novels and burned around 90 percent of his work,<ref>{{cite news |last=Batuman|first=Elif|author-link=Elif Batuman|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/magazine/26kafka-t.html |url-access=limited |date=22 September 2010 |newspaper=]|title=Kafka's Last Trial |access-date=3 August 2012 |ref={{sfnRef|''New York Times''|2010}} |archive-date=5 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705202826/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/magazine/26kafka-t.html |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Stach|2005|p=2}} much of it during the period he lived in Berlin with Diamant, who helped him burn the drafts.{{sfn|Murray|2004|pp=367}} In his early years as a writer he was influenced by von Kleist, whose work he described in a letter to Bauer as frightening and whom he considered closer than his own family.{{sfn|Furst|1992|p=84}}


Kafka drew and sketched extensively. Until May 2021, only about 40 of his drawings were known.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sawicki |first1=Nicholas |title=Kafka, the Artist |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/kafka-the-artist/ |website=Los Angeles Review of Books |date=29 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Schmid-ETH Zurich |first1=Franziska |title=Trove of Kafka's drawings reveals his 'cheerful side' |url=https://www.futurity.org/franz-kafka-drawings-2671862-2/ |website=Futurity |date=16 December 2021}}</ref> In 2022, Yale University Press published ''Franz Kafka: The Drawings''.<ref>''Franz Kafka: The Drawings'', edited by Andreas Kilcher, in collaboration with Pavel Schmidt ; with essays by Judith Butler and Andreas Kilcher; translations from the German by Kurt Beals. </ref> Kafka drew and sketched extensively. Until May 2021, only about 40 of his drawings were known.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sawicki |first1=Nicholas |title=Kafka, the Artist |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/kafka-the-artist/ |website=Los Angeles Review of Books |date=29 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Schmid|first=Franziska |title=Trove of Kafka's drawings reveals his 'cheerful side' |url=https://www.futurity.org/franz-kafka-drawings-2671862-2/ |website=Futurity |date=16 December 2021}}</ref> In 2022, ] published ''Franz Kafka: The Drawings''.<ref>''Franz Kafka: The Drawings'', edited by Andreas Kilcher, in collaboration with Pavel Schmidt ; with essays by Judith Butler and Andreas Kilcher; translations from the German by Kurt Beals. </ref>


=== Stories === === Stories ===


<!-- Kafka was a prolific writer of short stories. Some of his published texts were named {{lang|de|Erzählung}} (literally: ]), others {{lang|de|Geschichte}} (literally: story). Some stories are relatively long; others are a single paragraph. His oldest surviving story is "Der Unredliche in seinem Herzen" ("The Impure in His Heart"), translated as "]". It was not published but was part of a ] ] in 1902. -->Kafka's earliest published works were eight stories which appeared in 1908 in the first issue of the literary journal '']'' under the title {{lang|de|]}} (''Contemplation''). He wrote the story "{{lang|de|]|italic=no}}" ("Description of a Struggle"){{efn|"{{lang|de|Kampf|italic=no}}" also translates to "fight".}} in 1904; he showed it to Brod in 1905 who advised him to continue writing and convinced him to submit it to ''Hyperion''. Kafka published a fragment in 1908{{sfn|Pawel|1985|pp = 160–163}} and two sections in the spring of 1909, all in Munich.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 388}} <!-- Kafka was a prolific writer of short stories. Some of his published texts were named {{lang|de|Erzählung}} (literally: narrative), others {{lang|de|Geschichte}} (literally: story). Some stories are relatively long; others are a single paragraph. His oldest surviving story is "Der Unredliche in seinem Herzen" ("The Impure in His Heart"), translated as "]". It was not published but was part of a ] ] in 1902. -->Kafka's earliest published works were eight stories that appeared in 1908 in the first issue of the literary journal '']'' under the title {{lang|de|]}} (''Contemplation''). He wrote the story "{{lang|de|]|italic=no}}" ("Description of a Struggle"){{efn|"{{lang|de|Kampf|italic=no}}" also translates to "fight".}} in 1904; in 1905 he showed it to Brod, who advised him to continue writing and convinced him to submit it to ''Hyperion''. Kafka published a fragment in 1908{{sfn|Pawel|1985|pp=160–163}} and two sections in the spring of 1909, all in Munich.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=388}}


In a creative outburst on the night of 22 September 1912, Kafka wrote the story "Das Urteil" ("The Judgment", literally: "The Verdict") and dedicated it to Felice Bauer. Brod noted the similarity in names of the main character and his fictional fiancée, Georg Bendemann and Frieda Brandenfeld, to Franz Kafka and Felice Bauer.{{sfn|Brod|1966|ps = 114f}} The story is often considered Kafka's breakthrough work. It deals with the troubled relationship of a son and his dominant father, facing a new situation after the son's engagement.{{sfn|Ernst|2010}}{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp = 159, 192}} Kafka later described writing it as "a complete opening of body and soul",{{sfn|Stach|2005|p = 113}} a story that "evolved as a true birth, covered with filth and slime".{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 129}} The story was first published in Leipzig in 1912 and dedicated "to Miss Felice Bauer", and in subsequent editions "for F."{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 389}} In a creative outburst on the night of 22 September 1912, Kafka wrote the story "Das Urteil" ("The Judgment", literally: "The Verdict") and dedicated it to Felice Bauer. Brod noted the similarity in names of the main character and his fictional fiancée, Georg Bendemann and Frieda Brandenfeld, to Franz Kafka and Felice Bauer.{{sfn|Brod|1966|ps = 114f}} The story is often considered Kafka's breakthrough work. It deals with the troubled relationship of a son and his dominant father, facing a new situation after the son's engagement.{{sfn|Ernst|2010}}{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp=159, 192}} Kafka later described writing it as "a complete opening of body and soul",{{sfn|Stach|2005|p=113}} a story that "evolved as a true birth, covered with filth and slime".{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=129}} The story was first published in Leipzig in 1912 and dedicated "to Miss Felice Bauer", and in subsequent editions "for F."{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=389}}


In 1912, Kafka wrote ''Die Verwandlung'' ('']'', or ''The Transformation''),{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 113}} published in 1915 in Leipzig. The story begins with a travelling salesman waking to find himself transformed into an {{lang|de|ungeheures Ungeziefer|italic=yes}}, a monstrous ], {{lang|de|Ungeziefer|italic=yes}} being a general term for unwanted and unclean pests, especially insects. Critics regard the work as one of the seminal works of fiction of the 20th century.{{sfn|Sokel|1956|pp = 203–214}}{{sfn|Luke|1951|pp = 232–245}}{{sfn|Dodd|1994|pp = 165–168}} The story "]" ("In the Penal Colony"), dealing with an elaborate ] and execution device, was written in October 1914,{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 389}} revised in 1918, and published in Leipzig during October 1919. The story "]" ("A Hunger Artist"), published in the periodical {{lang|de|]}} in 1924, describes a victimized protagonist who experiences a decline in the appreciation of his strange craft of ].{{sfn|Gray|2005|p = 131}} His last story, "]" ("Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk"), also deals with the relationship between an artist and his audience.{{sfn|Horstkotte|2009}} In 1912, Kafka wrote ''Die Verwandlung'' ('']'', or ''The Transformation''),{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=113}} published in 1915 in Leipzig. The story begins with a travelling salesman waking to find himself transformed into an {{lang|de|ungeheures Ungeziefer|italic=yes}}, a monstrous ], {{lang|de|Ungeziefer|italic=yes}} being a general term for unwanted and unclean pests, especially insects. Critics regard the work as one of the seminal works of fiction of the 20th century.{{sfn|Sokel|1956|pp=203–214}}{{sfn|Luke|1951|pp=232–245}}{{sfn|Dodd|1994|pp=165–168}} The story "]" ("In the Penal Colony"), dealing with an elaborate ] and execution device, was written in October 1914,{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=389}} revised in 1918, and published in Leipzig during October 1919. The story "]" ("A Hunger Artist"), published in the periodical {{lang|de|]}} in 1924, describes a victimized protagonist who experiences a decline in the appreciation of his strange craft of ].{{sfn|Gray|2005|p=131}} His last story, "]" ("Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk"), also deals with the relationship between an artist and his audience.{{sfn|Horstkotte|2009}}
] of Israel.]]


=== Novels === === Novels ===


] of Israel.]]
Kafka began his first novel in 1912;{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 113}} its first chapter is the story "]" ("The Stoker"). He called the work, which remained unfinished, {{lang|de|Der Verschollene}} (''The Man Who Disappeared'' or ''The Missing Man''), but when Brod published it after Kafka's death he named it '']''.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp = 128, 135, 218}} The inspiration for the novel was the time Kafka spent in the audience of Yiddish theatre the previous year, bringing him to a new awareness of his heritage, which led to the thought that an innate appreciation for one's heritage lives deep within each person.{{sfn|Koelb|2010|p = 34}} More explicitly humorous and slightly more realistic than most of Kafka's works, the novel shares the ] of an oppressive and intangible system putting the protagonist repeatedly in bizarre situations.{{sfn|Sussman|1979|pp = 72–94}} It uses many details of experiences from his relatives who had emigrated to America{{sfn|Stach|2005|p = 79}} and is the only work for which Kafka considered an optimistic ending.{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 137}}

Kafka began his first novel in 1912;{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=113}} its first chapter is the story "]" ("The Stoker"). He called the work, which remained unfinished, {{lang|de|Der Verschollene}} (''The Man Who Disappeared'' or ''The Missing Person''), but when Brod published it after Kafka's death he named it '']''.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp=128, 135, 218}} The inspiration for the novel was the time Kafka spent in the audience of Yiddish theatre the previous year, bringing him to a new awareness of his heritage, which led to the thought that an innate appreciation for one's heritage lives deep within each person.{{sfn|Koelb|2010|p=34}} More explicitly humorous and slightly more realistic than most of Kafka's works, the novel shares the ] of an oppressive and intangible system putting the protagonist repeatedly in bizarre situations.{{sfn|Sussman|1979|pp=72–94}} It uses many details of experiences from his relatives who had emigrated to America{{sfn|Stach|2005|p=79}} and is the only work for which Kafka considered an optimistic ending.{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=137}}


In 1914 Kafka began the novel {{lang|de|]}} (''The Trial''),{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 388}} the story of a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, with the nature of his crime revealed neither to him nor to the reader. He did not complete the novel, although he finished the final chapter. According to ] and Kafka scholar ], Felice is central to the plot of ''Der Process'' and Kafka said it was "her story".{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp = 108–115, 147, 139, 232}}{{sfn|Kakutani|1988}} Canetti titled his book on Kafka's letters to Felice ''Kafka's Other Trial'', in recognition of the relationship between the letters and the novel.{{sfn|Kakutani|1988}} Michiko Kakutani notes in a review for '']'' that Kafka's letters have the "earmarks of his fiction: the same nervous attention to minute particulars; the same paranoid awareness of shifting balances of power; the same atmosphere of emotional suffocation—combined, surprisingly enough, with moments of boyish ardour and delight."{{sfn|Kakutani|1988}} In 1914 Kafka began the novel {{lang|de|]}} (''The Trial''),{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=388}} the story of a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, with the nature of his crime revealed neither to him nor to the reader. He did not complete the novel, although he finished the final chapter. According to ] author ], Felice is central to the plot of ''Der Process'' and Kafka said it was "her story".{{sfn|Stach|2005|pp=108–115, 147, 139, 232}}{{sfn|Kakutani|1988}} Canetti titled his book on Kafka's letters to Felice ''Kafka's Other Trial'', in recognition of the relationship between the letters and the novel.{{sfn|Kakutani|1988}} ] notes in a review for '']'' that Kafka's letters have the "earmarks of his fiction: the same nervous attention to minute particulars; the same paranoid awareness of shifting balances of power; the same atmosphere of emotional suffocation—combined, surprisingly enough, with moments of boyish ardour and delight."{{sfn|Kakutani|1988}}


According to his diary, Kafka was already planning his novel {{lang|de|]}} (''The Castle''), by 11 June 1914; however, he did not begin writing it until 27 January 1922.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 388}} The protagonist is the {{lang|de|Landvermesser|italic=no}} (land surveyor) named K., who struggles for unknown reasons to gain access to the mysterious authorities of a castle who govern the village. Kafka's intent was that the castle's authorities notify K. on his deathbed that his "legal claim to live in the village was not valid, yet, taking certain auxiliary circumstances into account, he was to be permitted to live and work there".{{sfn|Boyd|2004|p = 139}} Dark and at times ], the novel is focused on ], ], the seemingly endless frustrations of man's attempts to stand against the system, and the futile and hopeless pursuit of an unattainable goal. Hartmut M. Rastalsky noted in his thesis: "Like dreams, his texts combine precise 'realistic' detail with absurdity, careful observation and reasoning on the part of the protagonists with inexplicable obliviousness and carelessness."{{sfn|Rastalsky|1997|p = 1}} According to his diary, Kafka was already planning his novel {{lang|de|]}} (''The Castle''), by 11 June 1914; however, he did not begin writing it until 27 January 1922.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=388}} The protagonist is the {{lang|de|Landvermesser|italic=no}} (land surveyor) named K., who struggles for unknown reasons to gain access to the mysterious authorities of a castle who govern the village. Kafka's intent was that the castle's authorities notify K. on his deathbed that his "legal claim to live in the village was not valid, yet, taking certain auxiliary circumstances into account, he was to be permitted to live and work there".{{sfn|Boyd|2004|p= 139}} Dark and at times ], the novel is focused on ], ], the seemingly endless frustrations of man's attempts to stand against the system, and the futile and hopeless pursuit of an unattainable goal. Hartmut M. Rastalsky noted in his thesis: "Like dreams, his texts combine precise 'realistic' detail with absurdity, careful observation and reasoning on the part of the protagonists with inexplicable obliviousness and carelessness."{{sfn|Rastalsky|1997|p= 1}}


=== Publishing history === === Publishing history ===
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]}}, 1912|alt=A simple book cover displays the name of the book and the author]] ]}}, 1912|alt=A simple book cover displays the name of the book and the author]]


Kafka's stories were initially published in literary periodicals. His first eight were printed in 1908 in the first issue of the bi-monthly ''Hyperion''.{{sfn|Itk|2008}} ] published two dialogues in 1909 which became part of "Beschreibung eines Kampfes" ("Description of a Struggle").{{sfn|Itk|2008}} A fragment of the story "]" ("The Aeroplanes at Brescia"), written on a trip to Italy with Brod, appeared in the daily '']'' on 28 September 1909.{{sfn|Itk|2008}}{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 94}} On 27 March 1910, several stories that later became part of the book {{lang|de|]}} were published in the Easter edition of ''Bohemia''.{{sfn|Itk|2008}}{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 61}} In Leipzig during 1913, Brod and publisher ] included "{{lang|de|Das Urteil. Eine Geschichte von Franz Kafka.|italic=no}}" ("The Judgment. A Story by Franz Kafka.") in their literary yearbook for the art poetry ''Arkadia''. In the same year, Wolff published "]" ("The Stoker") in the Jüngste Tag series, where it enjoyed three printings.{{sfn|Stach|2005|p = 343}} The story "{{lang|de|]|italic=no}}" ("Before the Law") was published in the 1915 New Year's edition of the independent Jewish weekly {{lang|de|Selbstwehr}}; it was reprinted in 1919 as part of the story collection {{lang|de|]}} (''A Country Doctor'') and became part of the novel {{lang|de|Der Process}}. Other stories were published in various publications, including ]'s '']'', the paper {{lang|cs|]}}, and the periodicals {{lang|de|]}}, '']'', and '']''.{{sfn|Itk|2008}} Kafka's stories were initially published in literary periodicals. His first eight were printed in 1908 in the first issue of the bi-monthly ''Hyperion''.{{sfn|Itk|2008}} ] published two dialogues in 1909 which became part of "Beschreibung eines Kampfes" ("Description of a Struggle").{{sfn|Itk|2008}} A fragment of the story "]" ("The Aeroplanes at Brescia"), written on a trip to Italy with Brod, appeared in the daily '']'' on 28 September 1909.{{sfn|Itk|2008}}{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=94}} On 27 March 1910, several stories that later became part of the book {{lang|de|]}} were published in the Easter edition of ''Bohemia''.{{sfn|Itk|2008}}{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=61}} In Leipzig during 1913, Brod and publisher ] included "{{lang|de|Das Urteil. Eine Geschichte von Franz Kafka.|italic=no}}" ("The Judgment. A Story by Franz Kafka.") in their literary yearbook for the art poetry ''Arkadia''. In the same year, Wolff published "]" ("The Stoker") in the Jüngste Tag series, where it enjoyed three printings.{{sfn|Stach|2005|p=343}} The story "{{lang|de|]|italic=no}}" ("Before the Law") was published in the 1915 New Year's edition of the independent Jewish weekly {{lang|de|Selbstwehr}}; it was reprinted in 1919 as part of the story collection {{lang|de|]}} (''A Country Doctor'') and became part of the novel {{lang|de|Der Process}}. Other stories were published in various publications, including ]'s '']'', the paper {{lang|cs|]}}, and the periodicals {{lang|de|]}}, ''Genius'', and '']''.{{sfn|Itk|2008}}


Kafka's first published book, {{lang|de|Betrachtung}} (''Contemplation'', or ''Meditation''), was a collection of 18{{nbsp}}stories written between 1904 and 1912. On a summer trip to ], Brod initiated a meeting between Kafka and Kurt Wolff;{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 110}} Wolff published {{lang|de|Betrachtung}} in the {{lang|de|]}} at the end of 1912 (with the year given as 1913).{{sfn|European Graduate School, Articles|2012}} Kafka dedicated it to Brod, "{{lang|de|Für M.B.|italic=no}}", and added in the personal copy given to his friend "{{lang|de|So wie es hier schon gedruckt ist, für meinen liebsten Max{{nsmdns}}Franz K.|italic=no}}" ("As it is already printed here, for my dearest Max").{{sfn|Brod|1966|p = 115}} Kafka's first published book, {{lang|de|Betrachtung}} (''Contemplation'', or ''Meditation''), was a collection of 18{{nbsp}}stories written between 1904 and 1912. On a summer trip to ], Brod initiated a meeting between Kafka and Kurt Wolff;{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=110}} Wolff published {{lang|de|Betrachtung}} in the {{lang|de|]}} at the end of 1912 (with the year given as 1913).{{sfn|European Graduate School, Articles|2012}} Kafka dedicated it to Brod, "{{lang|de|Für M.B.|italic=no}}", and added in the personal copy given to his friend "{{lang|de|So wie es hier schon gedruckt ist, für meinen liebsten Max{{nsmdns}}Franz K.|italic=no}}" ("As it is already printed here, for my dearest Max").{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=115}}


Kafka's novella ''Die Verwandlung'' (''The Metamorphosis'') was first printed in the October 1915 issue of {{lang|de|]}}, a monthly edition of ] literature, edited by ].{{sfn|European Graduate School, Articles|2012}} Another story collection, {{lang|de|Ein Landarzt}} (''A Country Doctor''), was published by Kurt Wolff in 1919,{{sfn|European Graduate School, Articles|2012}} dedicated to Kafka's father.{{sfn|Leiter|1958|pp = 337–347}} Kafka prepared a final collection of four stories for print, {{lang|de|Ein Hungerkünstler}} ''(A Hunger Artist)'', which appeared in 1924 after his death, in {{lang|de|]}}. On 20 April 1924, the {{lang|de|]}} published Kafka's essay on ].{{sfn|Krolop|1994|p = 103}} Kafka's novella ''Die Verwandlung'' (''The Metamorphosis'') was first printed in the October 1915 issue of {{lang|de|]}}, a monthly edition of ] literature, edited by ].{{sfn|European Graduate School, Articles|2012}} Another story collection, {{lang|de|Ein Landarzt}} (''A Country Doctor''), was published by Kurt Wolff in 1919,{{sfn|European Graduate School, Articles|2012}} dedicated to Kafka's father.{{sfn|Leiter|1958|pp=337–347}} Kafka prepared a final collection of four stories for print, {{lang|de|Ein Hungerkünstler}} ''(A Hunger Artist)'', which appeared in 1924 after his death, in {{lang|de|]}}. On 20 April 1924, the {{lang|de|]}} published Kafka's essay on ].{{sfn|Krolop|1994|p=103}}


==== Max Brod ==== ==== Max Brod ====
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Kafka left his work, both published and unpublished, to his friend and ] ] with explicit instructions that it should be destroyed on Kafka's death; Kafka wrote: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me{{nbsp}}... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, to be burned unread."{{sfn|Kafka|1988|loc = publisher's notes}}{{sfn|McCarthy|2009}} Brod ignored this request and published the novels and collected works between 1925 and 1935. Brod defended his action by claiming that he had told Kafka, "I shall not carry out your wishes", and that "Franz should have appointed another executor if he had been absolutely determined that his instructions should stand".<ref>Diamant, Kathi, ''Kafka's Last Love: The Mystery of Dora Diamant'', p. 132.</ref> Kafka left his work, both published and unpublished, to his friend and ] ] with explicit instructions that it should be destroyed on Kafka's death; Kafka wrote: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me{{nbsp}}... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, to be burned unread."{{sfn|Kafka|1988|loc = publisher's notes}}{{sfn|McCarthy|2009}} Brod ignored this request and published the novels and collected works between 1925 and 1935. Brod defended his action by claiming that he had told Kafka, "I shall not carry out your wishes", and that "Franz should have appointed another executor if he had been absolutely determined that his instructions should stand".<ref>Diamant, Kathi, ''Kafka's Last Love: The Mystery of Dora Diamant'', p. 132.</ref>


Brod took many of Kafka's papers, which remain unpublished, with him in suitcases to Palestine when he fled there in 1939.{{sfn|Butler|2011|pp = 3–8}} Kafka's last lover, ] (later, Dymant-Lask), also ignored his wishes, secretly keeping 20{{nbsp}}notebooks and 35{{nbsp}}letters. These were confiscated by the ] in 1933, but scholars continue to search for them.{{sfn|Kafka Project SDSU|2012}} Brod took many of Kafka's papers, which remain unpublished, with him in suitcases to Palestine when he fled there in 1939.{{sfn|Butler|2011|pp=3–8}} Kafka's last lover, ] (later, Dymant-Lask), also ignored his wishes, secretly keeping 20{{nbsp}}notebooks and 35{{nbsp}}letters. These were confiscated by the ] in 1933, but scholars continue to search for them.{{sfn|Kafka Project SDSU|2012}}


As Brod published the bulk of the writings in his possession,{{sfn|Contijoch|2000}} Kafka's work began to attract wider attention and critical acclaim. Brod found it difficult to arrange Kafka's notebooks in chronological order. One problem was that Kafka often began writing in different parts of the book; sometimes in the middle, sometimes working backwards from the end.{{sfn|Kafka|2009|p = xxvii}}{{sfn|Diamant|2003|p = 144}} Brod finished many of Kafka's incomplete works for publication. For example, Kafka left {{lang|de|Der Process}} with unnumbered and incomplete chapters and {{lang|de|Das Schloss}} with incomplete sentences and ambiguous content;{{sfn|Diamant|2003|p = 144}} Brod rearranged chapters, copy-edited the text, and changed the punctuation. {{lang|de|Der Process}} appeared in 1925 in {{lang|de|Verlag Die Schmiede}}. Kurt Wolff published two other novels, {{lang|de|Das Schloss}} in 1926 and ''Amerika'' in 1927. In 1931, Brod edited a collection of prose and unpublished stories as {{lang|de|]}} ''(The Great Wall of China)'', including the ]. The book appeared in the {{lang|de|]}}. Brod's sets are usually called the "Definitive Editions".{{sfn|Classe|2000|p = 749}} As Brod published the bulk of the writings in his possession,{{sfn|Contijoch|2000}} Kafka's work began to attract wider attention and critical acclaim. Brod found it difficult to arrange Kafka's notebooks in chronological order. One problem was that Kafka often began writing in different parts of the book; sometimes in the middle, sometimes working backwards from the end.{{sfn|Kafka|2009|p= xxvii}}{{sfn|Diamant|2003|p=144}} Brod finished many of Kafka's incomplete works for publication. For example, Kafka left {{lang|de|Der Process}} with unnumbered and incomplete chapters and {{lang|de|Das Schloss}} with incomplete sentences and ambiguous content;{{sfn|Diamant|2003|p=144}} Brod rearranged chapters, copy-edited the text, and changed the punctuation. {{lang|de|Der Process}} appeared in 1925 in {{lang|de|Verlag Die Schmiede}}. Kurt Wolff published two other novels, {{lang|de|Das Schloss}} in 1926 and ''Amerika'' in 1927. In 1931, Brod edited a collection of prose and unpublished stories as '']'', including the titular short story ]. The book appeared in the ]. Brod's sets are usually called the "Definitive Editions".{{sfn|Classe|2000|p=749}}


==== Modern editions ==== ==== Modern editions ====
In 1961 ] acquired for the ] ] most of Kafka's original handwritten works.{{sfn|Jewish Heritage|2012}}{{sfn|Kafka|1998|loc = publisher's notes}} The text for {{lang|de|Der Process}} was later purchased through auction and is stored at the German Literary Archives in ], Germany.{{sfn|Kafka|1998|loc = publisher's notes}}{{sfn|O'Neill|2004|p = 681}} Subsequently, Pasley headed a team (including Gerhard Neumann, Jost Schillemeit and Jürgen Born) which reconstructed the German novels; {{lang|de|]|italic=no}} republished them.{{sfn|Adler|1995}} Pasley was the editor for {{lang|de|Das Schloss}}, published in 1982, and {{lang|de|Der Process}} (''The Trial''), published in 1990. Jost Schillemeit was the editor of {{lang|de|Der Verschollene}} ({{lang|de|Amerika}}) published in 1983. These are called the "Critical Editions" or the "Fischer Editions".{{sfn|Oxford Kafka Research Centre|2012}} In 1961 ] acquired for the ] ] most of Kafka's original handwritten works.{{sfn|Jewish Heritage|2012}}{{sfn|Kafka|1998|loc = publisher's notes}} The text for {{lang|de|Der Process}} was later purchased through auction and is stored at the German Literary Archives in ], Germany.{{sfn|Kafka|1998|loc = publisher's notes}}{{sfn|O'Neill|2004|p=681}} Subsequently, Pasley headed a team (including Gerhard Neumann, Jost Schillemeit and Jürgen Born) which reconstructed the German novels; {{lang|de|]|italic=no}} republished them.{{sfn|Adler|1995}} Pasley was the editor for {{lang|de|Das Schloss}}, published in 1982, and {{lang|de|Der Process}} (''The Trial''), published in 1990. Jost Schillemeit was the editor of {{lang|de|Der Verschollene}} ({{lang|de|Amerika}}) published in 1983. These are called the "Critical Editions" or the "Fischer Editions".{{sfn|Oxford Kafka Research Centre|2012}}


In 2023, the first unexpurgated edition of ] was published in English,<ref>Kafka, Franz, ''The Diaries'', translated by ], New York: ], 2023.</ref> "more than three decades after this complete text appeared in German. The sole previous English edition, with Brod’s edits, was issued in the late 1940s".<ref> Review by ] of ''The Diaries'', ''The New York Times'', 11 January 2023.</ref> In 2023, the first unexpurgated edition of ] was published in English,<ref>Kafka, Franz, ''The Diaries'', translated by ], New York: ], 2023.</ref> "more than three decades after this complete text appeared in German. The sole previous English edition, with Brod's edits, was issued in the late 1940s".<ref> (Review by ] of ]'s translation of Kafka's Diaries), '']'', 11 January 2023.</ref> The new edition revealed that Brod had expunged homoerotic references, and negative comments about Eastern European Jews.{{sfn|Benjamin|2024}}


==== Unpublished papers ==== ==== Unpublished papers ====
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==Critical response== ==Critical response==
=== Critical interpretations === === Critical interpretations ===
The poet ] called Kafka "the ] of the twentieth century";{{sfn|Bloom|2002|p = 206}} the novelist ] placed him among the greatest writers of the 20th century.{{sfn|Durantaye|2007|pp = 315–317}} ] noted the reading of Kafka's ''The Metamorphosis'' showed him "that it was possible to write in a different way".{{sfn|Kafka-Franz|2012}}{{sfn|Paris Review|2012}} A prominent theme of Kafka's work, first established in the short story "Das Urteil",{{sfn|Gale Research|1979|pp = 288–311}} is father–son conflict: the guilt induced in the son is resolved through suffering and atonement.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp = 15–16}}{{sfn|Gale Research|1979|pp = 288–311}} Other prominent themes and archetypes include alienation, physical and psychological brutality, characters on a terrifying quest, and mystical transformation.{{sfn|Bossy|2001|p = 100}} The poet ] called Kafka "the ] of the twentieth century";{{sfn|Bloom|2002|p=206}} the novelist ] placed him among the greatest writers of the 20th century.{{sfn|Durantaye|2007|pp=315–317}} ] noted the reading of Kafka's ''The Metamorphosis'' showed him "that it was possible to write in a different way".{{sfn|Kafka-Franz|2012}}{{sfn|Paris Review|2012}} A prominent theme of Kafka's work, first established in the short story "Das Urteil",{{sfn|Gale Research|1979|pp=288–311}} is father–son conflict: the guilt induced in the son is resolved through suffering and atonement.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp=15–16}}{{sfn|Gale Research|1979|pp=288–311}} Other prominent themes and archetypes include alienation, physical and psychological brutality, characters on a terrifying quest, and mystical transformation.{{sfn|Bossy|2001|p=100}}


Kafka's style has been compared to that of Kleist as early as 1916, in a review of "Die Verwandlung" and "Der Heizer" by Oscar Walzel in ''Berliner Beiträge''.{{sfn|Furst|1992|p = 83}} The nature of Kafka's prose allows for varied interpretations and critics have placed his writing into a variety of literary schools.{{sfn|Socialist Worker|2007}} ], for example, have sharply disagreed over how to interpret Kafka's works.{{sfn|Lib.com|2008}}{{sfn|Socialist Worker|2007}} Some accused him of distorting reality whereas others claimed he was critiquing capitalism.{{sfn|Socialist Worker|2007}} The hopelessness and absurdity common to his works are seen as emblematic of ].{{sfn|Sokel|2001|pp = 102–109}} Some of Kafka's books are influenced by the ] movement, though the majority of his literary output was associated with the experimental ] genre. Kafka also touches on the theme of human conflict with bureaucracy. William Burrows claims that such work is centred on the concepts of struggle, pain, solitude, and the need for relationships.{{sfn|Burrows|2011}} Others, such as ], see Kafka's work as allegorical: a quest, metaphysical in nature, for God.{{sfn|Panichas|2004|pp = 83–107}}{{sfn|Gray|1973|p = 3}}<!-- -{{sfn|Mann|Heller|1981|p={{page needed | date = August 2012 }}}} uncomment when page ref found- --> Kafka's style has been compared to that of Kleist as early as 1916, in a review of "Die Verwandlung" and "Der Heizer" by Oscar Walzel in ''Berliner Beiträge''.{{sfn|Furst|1992|p=83}} The nature of Kafka's prose allows for varied interpretations and critics have placed his writing into a variety of literary schools.{{sfn|Socialist Worker|2007}} ], for example, have sharply disagreed over how to interpret Kafka's works.{{sfn|Lib.com|2008}}{{sfn|Socialist Worker|2007}} Some accused him of distorting reality whereas others claimed he was critiquing capitalism.{{sfn|Socialist Worker|2007}} The hopelessness and absurdity common to his works are seen as emblematic of ].{{sfn|Sokel|2001|pp=102–109}} Some of Kafka's books are influenced by the ] movement, though the majority of his literary output was associated with the experimental ] genre. Kafka also touches on the theme of human conflict with bureaucracy. William Burrows claims that such work is centred on the concepts of struggle, pain, solitude, and the need for relationships.{{sfn|Burrows|2011}} Others, such as ], see Kafka's work as allegorical: a quest, metaphysical in nature, for God.{{sfn|Panichas|2004|pp=83–107}}{{sfn|Gray|1973|p=3}}<!-- -{{sfn|Mann|Heller|1981|p={{page needed | date = August 2012 }}}} uncomment when page ref found- -->


According to ] and ], the themes of alienation and persecution, although present in Kafka's work, have been overemphasised by critics. They argue Kafka's work is more deliberate and subversive—and more joyful—than may first appear. They point out that reading the Kafka work while focusing on the futility of his characters' struggles reveals Kafka's play of humour; he is not necessarily commenting on his own problems, but rather pointing out how people tend to invent problems. In his work, Kafka often created malevolent, absurd worlds.{{sfn|Kavanagh|1972|pp = 242–253}}{{sfn|Rahn|2011}} Kafka read drafts of his works to his friends, typically concentrating on his humorous prose. The writer ] suggests that Kafka's ] may have been an inversion of Dostoyevsky's presentation of characters who are punished for a crime. In Kafka's work, a character is punished although a crime has not been committed. Kundera believes that Kafka's inspirations for his characteristic situations came both from growing up in a patriarchal family and living in a totalitarian state.{{sfn|Kundera|1988|pp = 82–99}} According to ] and ], the themes of alienation and persecution, although present in Kafka's work, have been overemphasised by critics. They argue that Kafka's work is more deliberate and subversive—and more joyful—than may first appear. They point out that reading Kafka while focusing on the futility of his characters' struggles reveals Kafka's humour; he is not necessarily commenting on his own problems, but rather pointing out how people tend to invent problems. In his work, Kafka often creates malevolent, absurd worlds.{{sfn|Kavanagh|1972|pp=242–253}}{{sfn|Rahn|2011}} Kafka read drafts of his works to his friends, typically concentrating on his humorous prose. The writer ] suggests that Kafka's ] may have been an inversion of Dostoevsky's presentation of characters who are punished for a crime. In Kafka's work, a character is punished although a crime has not been committed. Kundera believes that Kafka's inspirations for his characteristic situations came both from growing up in a patriarchal family and from living in a totalitarian state.{{sfn|Kundera|1988|pp=82–99}}


Attempts have been made to identify the influence of Kafka's legal background and the role of law in his fiction.{{sfn|Glen|2007}}{{sfn|Banakar|2010}} Most interpretations identify aspects of law and legality as important in his work,{{sfn|Glen|2011|pp = 47–94}} in which the legal system is often oppressive.{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp = 216–218}} The law in Kafka's works, rather than being representative of any particular legal or political entity, is usually interpreted to represent a collection of anonymous, incomprehensible forces. These are hidden from the individual but control the lives of the people, who are innocent victims of systems beyond their control.{{sfn|Glen|2011|pp = 47–94}} Critics who support this ] interpretation cite instances where Kafka describes himself in conflict with an absurd universe, such as the following entry from his diary: Attempts have been made to identify the influence of Kafka's legal background and the role of law in his fiction.{{sfn|Glen|2007}}{{sfn|Banakar|2010}} Most interpretations identify aspects of law and legality as important in his work,{{sfn|Glen|2011|pp=47–94}} in which the legal system is often oppressive.{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp=216–218}} The law in Kafka's works, rather than being representative of any particular legal or political entity, is usually interpreted to represent a collection of anonymous, incomprehensible forces. These are hidden from the individual but control the lives of the people, who are innocent victims of systems beyond their control.{{sfn|Glen|2011|pp=47–94}} Critics who support this ] interpretation cite instances where Kafka describes himself in conflict with an absurd universe, such as the following entry from his diary:


{{blockquote|Enclosed in my own four walls, I found myself as an immigrant imprisoned in a foreign country;... I saw my family as strange aliens whose foreign customs, rites, and very language defied comprehension;... though I did not want it, they forced me to participate in their bizarre rituals;... I could not resist.{{sfn|Preece|2001|pp = 15–31}}}} {{blockquote|Enclosed in my own four walls, I found myself as an immigrant imprisoned in a foreign country;... I saw my family as strange aliens whose foreign customs, rites, and very language defied comprehension;... though I did not want it, they forced me to participate in their bizarre rituals;... I could not resist.{{sfn|Preece|2001|pp=15–31}}}}


However, James Hawes argues many of Kafka's descriptions of the legal proceedings in {{lang|de|Der Process}}—metaphysical, absurd, bewildering and nightmarish as they might appear—are based on accurate and informed descriptions of German and Austrian criminal proceedings of the time, which were ] rather than ].{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp = 212–214}} Although he worked in insurance, as a trained lawyer Kafka was "keenly aware of the legal debates of his day".{{sfn|Banakar|2010}}{{sfn|Ziolkowski|2003|p = 224}} In an early 21st-century publication that uses Kafka's office writings as its point of departure,{{sfn|Corngold et al.|2009|pp = xi, 169, 188, 388}} Pothik Ghosh states that with Kafka, law "has no meaning outside its fact of being a pure force of domination and determination".{{sfn|Ghosh|2009}} However, James Hawes argues many of Kafka's descriptions of the legal proceedings in {{lang|de|Der Process}}—metaphysical, absurd, bewildering and nightmarish as they might appear—are based on accurate and informed descriptions of German and Austrian criminal proceedings of the time, which were ] rather than ].{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp=212–214}} Although he worked in insurance, as a trained lawyer Kafka was "keenly aware of the legal debates of his day".{{sfn|Banakar|2010}}{{sfn|Ziolkowski|2003|p= 224}} In an early 21st-century publication that uses Kafka's office writings as its point of departure,{{sfn|Corngold et al.|2009|pp=xi, 169, 188, 388}} Pothik Ghosh states that with Kafka, law "has no meaning outside its fact of being a pure force of domination and determination".{{sfn|Ghosh|2009}}


=== Translations === === Translations ===


The first instance of Kafka being translated into English was in 1925, when William A. Drake published "A Report for an Academy" in'' The New York Herald Tribune''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Drake|first=William A.|date=1 November 1925|title=A Report for an Academy|page=SM7|work=New York Herald Tribune}}</ref> Eugene Jolas translated Kafka's "The Judgment" for the modernist journal ''transition'' in 1928.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Franz Kafka {{!}} Modernist Archives Publishing Project|url=http://www.modernistarchives.com/person/franz-kafka|access-date=8 April 2021|website=www.modernistarchives.com|archive-date=25 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425225943/http://www.modernistarchives.com/person/franz-kafka|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1930, ] and ] translated the first German edition of {{lang|de|Das Schloss}}. This was published as ''The Castle'' by ] in England and ] in the United States.{{sfn|''Guardian''|1930}} A 1941 edition, including a homage by Thomas Mann, spurred a surge in Kafka's popularity in the United States during the late 1940s.{{sfn|Koelb|2010|p = 69}} The Muirs translated all shorter works that Kafka had seen fit to print; they were published by ] in 1948 as '']'',{{sfn|Kafka|1948|pp = 3–4}} including additionally ''The First Long Train Journey'', written by Kafka and Brod, Kafka's "A Novel about Youth", a review of Felix Sternheim's ''Die Geschichte des jungen Oswald'', his essay on Kleist's "Anecdotes", his review of the literary magazine '']'', and an epilogue by Brod. The first instance of Kafka being translated into English was in 1925, when William A. Drake published "A Report for an Academy" in the '']''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Drake|first=William A.|date=1 November 1925|title=A Report for an Academy|page=SM7|work=]}}</ref> Eugene Jolas translated Kafka's "The Judgment" for the modernist journal '']'' in 1928.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Franz Kafka {{!}} Modernist Archives Publishing Project|url=http://www.modernistarchives.com/person/franz-kafka|access-date=8 April 2021|website=www.modernistarchives.com|archive-date=25 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425225943/http://www.modernistarchives.com/person/franz-kafka|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1930, ] and ] translated the first German edition of {{lang|de|Das Schloss}}. This was published as ''The Castle'' by ] in England and ] in the United States.{{sfn|''Guardian''|1930}} A 1941 edition, including a homage by Thomas Mann, spurred a surge in Kafka's popularity in the United States during the late 1940s.{{sfn|Koelb|2010|p=69}} The Muirs translated all shorter works that Kafka had seen fit to print; they were published by ] in 1948 as '']'',{{sfn|Kafka|1948|pp=3–4}} including additionally ''The First Long Train Journey'', written by Kafka and Brod, Kafka's "A Novel about Youth", a review of Felix Sternheim's ''Die Geschichte des jungen Oswald'', his essay on Kleist's "Anecdotes", his review of the literary magazine '']'', and an epilogue by Brod.


Later editions, notably those of 1954 ('']''), included text, translated by Eithne Wilkins and ],{{sfn|Kafka|1954|loc = publisher's notes}} that had been deleted by earlier publishers.{{sfn|Adler|1995}} Known as "Definitive Editions", they include translations of ''The Trial, Definitive'', '']'', and other writings. These translations are generally accepted to have a number of biases and are considered to be dated in interpretation.{{sfn|Sokel|2001|p = 63}} Published in 1961 by Schocken Books, '']'' presented in a bilingual edition by ] selected writings,{{sfn|Preece|2001|p = 167}} drawn from notebooks, diaries, letters, short fictional works and the novel ''Der Process''. Later editions, notably those of 1954 ('']''), included text, translated by ] and ],{{sfn|Kafka|1954|loc = publisher's notes}} that had been deleted by earlier publishers.{{sfn|Adler|1995}} Known as "Definitive Editions", they include translations of ''The Trial, Definitive'', '']'', and other writings. These translations are generally accepted to have a number of biases and are considered to be dated in interpretation.{{sfn|Sokel|2001|p=63}} Published in 1961 by Schocken Books, '']'' presented in a bilingual edition by ] selected writings,{{sfn|Preece|2001|p=167}} drawn from notebooks, diaries, letters, short fictional works and the novel ''Der Process''.


New translations were completed and published based on the recompiled German text of Pasley and Schillemeit{{nsmdns}}'']'' by ] (], 1998),{{sfn|Kafka|1998|loc = publisher's notes}} ''The Trial, Critical'' by ] (Schocken Books, 1998),{{sfn|Preece|2001|pp = xv, 225}} and ''Amerika: The Man Who Disappeared'' by ] (], 2004).{{sfn|Kirsch|2009}} New translations were completed and published based on the recompiled German text of Pasley and Schillemeit{{nsmdns}}'']'' by ] (], 1998),{{sfn|Kafka|1998|loc = publisher's notes}} ''The Trial, Critical'' by ] (Schocken Books, 1998),{{sfn|Preece|2001|pp=xv, 225}} and ''The Man Who Disappeared (Amerika)'' by ] (], 1996){{sfn|Kirsch|2009}} and ''Amerika: The Missing Person'' by Mark Harman (Schocken Books, 2008).


==== Translation problems to English ==== ==== Translation problems to English ====
{{further|Franz Kafka bibliography#English translations}} {{further|Franz Kafka bibliography#English translations}} {{further|The Metamorphosis#Translations of the opening sentence}}


Kafka often made extensive use of a characteristic particular to German, which permits long sentences that sometimes can span an entire page. Kafka's sentences then deliver an unexpected impact just before the full stop—this being the finalizing meaning and focus. This is due to the construction of ], which require that the verb be at the end of the sentence. Such constructions are difficult to duplicate in English, so it is up to the translator to provide the reader with the same (or at least equivalent) effect as the original text.{{sfn|Kafka|1996|p = xi}} German's more flexible word order and ] differences provide for multiple ways in which the same German writing can be translated into English.{{sfn|Newmark|1991|pp = 63–64}} An example is the first sentence of Kafka's ], which is crucial to the setting and understanding of the entire story:{{sfn|Bloom|2003|pp = 23–26}} Kafka often made extensive use of a characteristic particular to German, which permits long sentences that sometimes can span an entire page. Kafka's sentences then deliver an unexpected impact just before the full stop—this being the finalizing meaning and focus. This is due to the construction of ], which require that the verb be at the end of the sentence. Such constructions are difficult to duplicate in English, so it is up to the translator to provide the reader with the same (or at least equivalent) effect as the original text.{{sfn|Kafka|1996|p=xi}} German's more flexible word order and ] differences provide for multiple ways in which the same German writing can be translated into English.{{sfn|Newmark|1991|pp=63–64}} An example is the first sentence of Kafka's ], which is crucial to the setting and understanding of the entire story:{{sfn|Bloom|2003|pp=23–26}}


{{Verse translation|Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt.|As Gregor Samsa one morning from restless dreams awoke, found he himself in his bed into a monstrous vermin transformed.|lang=de|attr1=original|attr2=literal word-for-word translation{{sfn|Prinsky|2002}}}} {{Verse translation|Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt.|As Gregor Samsa one morning from restless dreams awoke, found he himself in his bed into a monstrous vermin transformed.|lang=de|attr1=original|attr2=literal word-for-word translation{{sfn|Prinsky|2002}}}}


The sentence above also exemplifies an instance of another difficult problem facing translators: dealing with the author's intentional use of ambiguous ]s and words that have several meanings, which results in phrasing that is difficult to translate precisely.{{sfn|Lawson|1960|pp = 216–219}}{{sfn|Rhine|1989|pp = 447–458}} English translators often render the word {{lang|de|Ungeziefer|italic=}} as 'insect'; in Middle German, however, {{lang|de|Ungeziefer|italic=}} literally means 'an animal unclean for sacrifice';{{sfn|Corngold|1973|p = 10}} in today's German, it means 'vermin'. <!-- Brod referred to it as Insekt, though.{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=? will add when source is found again}} --> It is sometimes used colloquially to mean 'bug'—a very general term, unlike the scientific 'insect'. Kafka had no intention of labeling Gregor, the protagonist of the story, as any specific thing but instead wanted to convey Gregor's disgust at his transformation.{{sfn|Sokel|1956|pp = 203–214}}{{sfn|Luke|1951|pp = 232–245}} Another example of this can be found in the final sentence of "]" ("The Judgement"), with Kafka's use of the German noun {{lang|de|]|italic=}}. Literally, {{lang|de|Verkehr|italic=}} means 'intercourse' and, as in English, can have either a sexual or a non-sexual meaning. The word is additionally used to mean 'transport' or 'traffic', therefore the sentence can also be translated as: "At that moment an unending stream of traffic crossed over the bridge."{{sfn|Kafka|1996|p = 75}} The double meaning of ''Verkehr'' is given added weight by Kafka's confession to Brod that when he wrote that final line he was thinking of "a violent ejaculation."{{sfn|Brod|1960|p = 129}}{{sfn|Hawes|2008|p = 50}} The sentence above also exemplifies an instance of another difficult problem facing translators: dealing with the author's intentional use of ambiguous ]s and words that have several meanings, which results in phrasing that is difficult to translate precisely.{{sfn|Lawson|1960|pp=216–219}}{{sfn|Rhine|1989|pp=447–458}} English translators often render the word {{lang|de|Ungeziefer|italic=}} as 'insect'; in Middle German, however, {{lang|de|Ungeziefer|italic=}} literally means 'an animal unclean for sacrifice';{{sfn|Corngold|1973|p=10}} in today's German, it means 'vermin'. <!-- Brod referred to it as Insekt, though.{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=? will add when source is found again}} --> It is sometimes used colloquially to mean 'bug'—a very general term, unlike the scientific 'insect'. Kafka had no intention of labeling Gregor, the protagonist of the story, as any specific thing but instead wanted to convey Gregor's disgust at his transformation.{{sfn|Sokel|1956|pp=203–214}}{{sfn|Luke|1951|pp=232–245}} Another example of this can be found in the final sentence of "]" ("The Judgement"), with Kafka's use of the German noun {{lang|de|]|italic=}}. Literally, {{lang|de|Verkehr|italic=}} means 'intercourse' and, as in English, can have either a sexual or a non-sexual meaning. The word is additionally used to mean 'transport' or 'traffic'; therefore the sentence can also be translated as: "At that moment an unending stream of traffic crossed over the bridge."{{sfn|Kafka|1996|p=75}} The double meaning of ''Verkehr'' is given added weight by Kafka's confession to Brod that when he wrote that final line he was thinking of "a violent ejaculation".{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=129}}{{sfn|Hawes|2008|p=50}}


== Legacy == == Legacy ==
=== Literary and cultural influence === === Literary and cultural influence ===
]'s bronze '']'' in Prague|alt=The statue is a man with no head or arms, with another man sitting on his shoulders]] ]'s bronze '']'' in Prague|alt=The statue is a man with no head or arms, with another man sitting on his shoulders]]
Unlike many famous writers, Kafka is rarely quoted by others. Instead, he is noted more for his visions and perspective.{{sfn|Hawes|2008|p = 4}} Shimon Sandbank, a professor, literary critic, and writer, identifies Kafka as having influenced ], ], ], ] and ].{{sfn|Sandbank|1992|pp = 441–443}} Kafka had a strong influence on ]<ref>Hannelore Hahn ''The Influence of Franz Kafka on Three Novels by Gabriel García Márquez'', P.Lang 1993</ref> and the novel '']'' by ].<ref>Peter Morgan ''Ismail Kadare: The Writer and the Dictatorship 1957-1990'' Routledge 2017, p.229</ref> A ''Financial Times'' literary critic credits Kafka with influencing ],{{sfn|''Financial Times''|2009}} and Al Silverman, a writer and editor, states that ] loved to read Kafka's works.{{sfn|Silverman|1986|pp = 129–130}} Unlike many famous writers, Kafka is rarely quoted by others. Instead, he is noted more for his visions and perspective.{{sfn|Hawes|2008|p=4}} Kafka had a strong influence on ],<ref>Hannelore Hahn ''The Influence of Franz Kafka on Three Novels by Gabriel García Márquez'', P.Lang 1993</ref> ]<ref></ref> and the novel '']'' by ].<ref>Peter Morgan ''Ismail Kadare: The Writer and the Dictatorship 1957–1990'' Routledge 2017, p. 229</ref> Shimon Sandbank, a professor, literary critic, and writer, also identifies Kafka as having influenced ], ], ], ] and ].{{sfn|Sandbank|1992|pp=441–443}} A '']'' literary critic credits Kafka with influencing ],{{sfn|''Financial Times''|2009}} and Al Silverman, a writer and editor, states that ] loved to read Kafka's works.{{sfn|Silverman|1986|pp=129–130}} The Romanian writer ] said "Kafka is the author I love the most and who means, for me, the gate to literature"; he also described Kafka as "the saint of literature".{{sfn|Mareş|2014}}

The Romanian writer ] said "Kafka is the author I love the most and who means, for me, the gate to literature"; he also described Kafka as "the saint of literature".{{sfn|Mareş|2014}}
Kafka has been cited as an influence on the Japanese writer ], who paid homage to Kafka in his novel '']'' with the namesake protagonist.<ref>Masaki Mori Kafka has been cited as an influence on the Swedish writer ],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://litteraturbanken.se/f%C3%B6rfattare/DagermanS |title=Stig Dagerman (1923–1954) |author=Lotta Lotass |publisher=litteraturbanken.se |language=sv}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dn.se/kultur/aris-fioretos-som-en-hund-slet-stig-dagerman-kottet-fran-knotorna/ |title=Som en hund slet Stig Dagerman köttet från knotorna |author=Aris Fioretos |publisher=Dagens Nyheter |date=14 July 2023 |language=Swedish }}</ref> and the Japanese writer ], who paid homage to Kafka in his novel '']'' with the namesake protagonist.<ref>Masaki Mori
''Haruki Murakami and His Early Work: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Running Artist'', Rowman & Littlefield 2021</ref> ''Haruki Murakami and His Early Work: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Running Artist'', Rowman & Littlefield 2021</ref>


]'s '']'' sculpture in Prague]]
In 1999 a committee of 99 authors, scholars, and literary critics ranked {{lang|de|Der Process}} and {{lang|de|Das Schloss}} the second and ninth ].{{sfn|LiteraturHaus|1999}} ] said "when he is most himself, Kafka gives us a continuous inventiveness and originality that rivals ] and truly challenges ] and ] as that of the dominant Western author of our century".<ref>Harold Bloom ''Franz Kafka'', Infobase Publishing 2010, p.8</ref> Sandbank argues that despite Kafka's pervasiveness, his enigmatic style has yet to be emulated.{{sfn|Sandbank|1992|pp = 441–443}} Neil Christian Pages, a professor of German Studies and Comparative Literature at ] who specialises in Kafka's works, says Kafka's influence transcends literature and literary scholarship; it impacts visual arts, music, and popular culture.{{sfn|Coker|2012}} Harry Steinhauer, a professor of German and Jewish literature, says that Kafka "has made a more powerful impact on literate society than any other writer of the twentieth century".{{sfn|Steinhauer|1983|pp = 390–408}} Brod said that the 20th century will one day be known as the "century of Kafka".{{sfn|Steinhauer|1983|pp = 390–408}}
In 1999 a committee of 99 authors, scholars, and literary critics ranked {{lang|de|Der Process}} and {{lang|de|Das Schloss}} the second and ninth ].{{sfn|LiteraturHaus|1999}} ] said "when he is most himself, Kafka gives us a continuous inventiveness and originality that rivals ] and truly challenges ] and ] as that of the dominant Western author of our century".{{sfn|Bloom|2010|page=}} Sandbank argues that despite Kafka's pervasiveness, his enigmatic style has yet to be emulated.{{sfn|Sandbank|1992|pp=441–443}} Neil Christian Pages, a professor of German Studies and Comparative Literature at ] who specialises in Kafka's works, says Kafka's influence transcends literature and literary scholarship; it impacts visual arts, music, and popular culture.{{sfn|Coker|2012}} Harry Steinhauer, a professor of German and Jewish literature, says that Kafka "has made a more powerful impact on literate society than any other writer of the twentieth century".{{sfn|Steinhauer|1983|pp=390–408}} Brod said that the 20th century will one day be known as the "century of Kafka".{{sfn|Steinhauer|1983|pp=390–408}}


Michel-André Bossy writes that Kafka created a rigidly inflexible and sterile bureaucratic universe. Kafka wrote in an aloof manner full of legal and scientific terms. Yet his serious universe also had insightful humour, all highlighting the "irrationality at the roots of a supposedly rational world".{{sfn|Bossy|2001|p = 100}} His characters are trapped, confused, full of guilt, frustrated, and lacking understanding of their surreal world. Much of the post-Kafka fiction, especially science fiction, follow the themes and precepts of Kafka's universe. This can be seen in the works of authors such as ] and ].{{sfn|Bossy|2001|p = 100}} Michel-André Bossy writes that Kafka created a rigidly inflexible and sterile bureaucratic universe. Kafka wrote in an aloof manner full of legal and scientific terms. Yet his serious universe also had insightful humour, all highlighting the "irrationality at the roots of a supposedly rational world".{{sfn|Bossy|2001|p=100}} His characters are trapped, confused, full of guilt, frustrated, and lacking understanding of their surreal world. Much post-Kafka fiction, especially science fiction, follows the themes and precepts of Kafka's universe. This can be seen in the works of authors such as ] and ].{{sfn|Bossy|2001|p= 100}}


The following are examples of works across a range of dramatic, literary, and musical genres which demonstrate the extent of Kafka's cultural influence: The following are examples of works across a range of dramatic, literary, and musical genres that demonstrate the extent of Kafka's cultural influence:


{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align: center; margin-right: 0;" {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align: center; margin-right: 0;"
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| short story | short story
| style="text-align: left;" | by Nobel Prize winner ], about a Yiddish actor called Jacques Kohn who said he knew Franz Kafka; in this story, according to Jacques Kohn, Kafka believed in the ], a legendary creature from ] | style="text-align: left;" | by Nobel Prize winner ], about a Yiddish actor called Jacques Kohn who said he knew Franz Kafka; in this story, according to Jacques Kohn, Kafka believed in the ], a legendary creature from ]
| {{sfn|Singer|1970|p = 311}} | {{sfn|Singer|1970|p=311}}
|- |-
| '']'' | '']''
| 1962 | 1962
| film | film
| style="text-align: left;" | the film's director, ], said, "Say what you like, but The Trial is my greatest work, even greater than ]" | style="text-align: left;" | the film's director, ], said, "Say what you like, but ''The Trial'' is my greatest work, even greater than '']''"
| {{sfn|Adams|2002|pp = 140–157}}{{sfn|Welles Net|1962}} | {{sfn|Adams|2002|pp=140–157}}{{sfn|Welles Net|1962}}
<!-- -|- <!-- -|-
| ''The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny'' | ''The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny''
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| film | film
| style="text-align: left;" | partly inspired by '']'', where a white bigot wakes up as a black man | style="text-align: left;" | partly inspired by '']'', where a white bigot wakes up as a black man
| {{sfn|Elsaesser|2004|p = 117}} | {{sfn|Elsaesser|2004|p=117}}
|-
|Colony
|1980
|music
|style="text-align: left;"| by English rock band ], inspired by the Kafka story '']''
|<ref>{{Cite web |last=Conrad |first=Anna |date=14 July 2020 |title=How Joy Division made Closer: 'We were really tight as a band; there was a lot of telepathy going on' |url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/joy-division-closer-album |access-date=22 August 2024 |website=British GQ |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=3 May 2021 |title=How Franz Kafka inspired one of Joy Division's underrated gems - Far Out Magazine |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/joy-division-ian-curtis-inspired-by-franz-kafka-for-colony/ |access-date=22 August 2024 |website=faroutmagazine.co.uk |language=en-US}}</ref>
|- |-
| ''Kafka-Fragmente, Op.&nbsp;24'' | ''Kafka-Fragmente, Op.&nbsp;24''
Line 301: Line 314:
| 1992 | 1992
| music | music
| style="text-align: left;" | by English rock band ], was heavily influenced by ] by Kafka | style="text-align: left;" | by English rock band ], was heavily influenced by '']'' by Kafka
| <ref>{{Cite web|date=31 March 2021|title=Robert Smith's Reading List|url=https://radicalreads.com/robert-smith-favorite-books/|access-date=30 June 2021|website=Radical Reads|language=en-US|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709181709/https://radicalreads.com/robert-smith-favorite-books/|url-status=live}}</ref> | <ref>{{Cite web|date=31 March 2021|title=Robert Smith's Reading List|url=https://radicalreads.com/robert-smith-favorite-books/|access-date=30 June 2021|website=Radical Reads|language=en-US|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709181709/https://radicalreads.com/robert-smith-favorite-books/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- |-
Line 319: Line 332:
| 1991 | 1991
| film | film
| style="text-align: left;" | stars ] as the ]ous author; written by ] and directed by ], the movie mixes his life and fiction providing a semi-biographical presentation of Kafka's life and works; Kafka investigates the disappearance of one of his colleagues, taking Kafka through many of the writer's own works, most notably '']'' and '']'' | style="text-align: left;" | stars ] as the ]ous author; written by ] and directed by ], the movie mixes his life and fiction providing a semi-biographical presentation of Kafka's life and works; Kafka investigates the disappearance of one of his colleagues, taking Kafka through many of the writer's own works, most notably '']'' and '']''
| {{sfn|Writer's Institute|1992}} | {{sfn|Writer's Institute|1992}}
|- |-
Line 338: Line 351:
| computer game | computer game
| style="text-align: left;" | loosely based on ''The Metamorphosis'', with characters named Franz and Roger Samms, alluding to ] | style="text-align: left;" | loosely based on ''The Metamorphosis'', with characters named Franz and Roger Samms, alluding to ]
| {{sfn|Dembo|1996|p = 106}} | {{sfn|Dembo|1996|p=106}}
|- |-
| '']'' | '']''
Line 362: Line 375:
| sculpture | sculpture
| style="text-align: left;" | an outdoor sculpture on Vězeňská street in the Jewish Quarter of Prague, by artist ] | style="text-align: left;" | an outdoor sculpture on Vězeňská street in the Jewish Quarter of Prague, by artist ]
| <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Alfred |title=Kafka's Statue : Memory and Forgetting in Postsocialist Prague |journal=Revue des Études Slaves |date=2015 |volume=86 |issue=1/2 |pages=157–169 |jstor=43493528 |doi=10.4000/res.677 |doi-access=free }}</ref> | <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Alfred |title=Kafka's Statue : Memory and Forgetting in Postsocialist Prague |journal=]|date=2015 |volume=86 |issue=1/2 |pages=157–169 |jstor=43493528 |doi=10.4000/res.677 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
|- |-
| ''Kafka's Trial'' | ''Kafka's Trial''
Line 379: Line 392:
| 2011 | 2011
| radio play | radio play
| style="text-align: left;" | by ] produced as part of their ''Play of the Week'' programme. Franz Kafka was played by ] | style="text-align: left;" | by ] produced as part of their ''Play of the Week'' programme. Franz Kafka was played by ]
| {{sfn|BBC|2012}} | {{sfn|BBC|2012}}
|- |-
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| {{sfn|HAZE|2012}} | {{sfn|HAZE|2012}}
|- |-
| ] | ]
| 2013 | 2013
| internet culture | internet culture
| style="text-align: left;" | Google had a ] of a roach in a hat opening a door, honoring Kafka's 130th birthday | style="text-align: left;" | Google had a sepia-toned doodle of a roach in a hat opening a door, honoring Kafka's 130th birthday
| {{sfn|Bury|2013}} | {{sfn|Bury|2013}}
|- |-
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| style="text-align: left;" | a virtual reality experience of the first part of '']'', directed by ] | style="text-align: left;" | a virtual reality experience of the first part of '']'', directed by ]
| <ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2018/03/08/is-literature-next-in-line-for-virtual-reality-treatment |title=Is literature next in line for virtual-reality treatment? |newspaper=The Economist |date=8 March 2018 |access-date=24 June 2020 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308031515/https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2018/03/08/is-literature-next-in-line-for-virtual-reality-treatment |url-status=live }}</ref> | <ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2018/03/08/is-literature-next-in-line-for-virtual-reality-treatment |title=Is literature next in line for virtual-reality treatment? |newspaper=The Economist |date=8 March 2018 |access-date=24 June 2020 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308031515/https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2018/03/08/is-literature-next-in-line-for-virtual-reality-treatment |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| '']''
| TBA
| film
| style="text-align: left;" | Upcoming biographical film directed by ]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kudláč |first1=Martin |title=Agnieszka Holland braces to shoot Kafka biopic Franz |url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/421418/ |website=Cineuropa |date=20 December 2023 |access-date=3 June 2024}}</ref>
|} |}


=== "Kafkaesque" === === "Kafkaesque" ===
{{Redirect|Kafkaesque|the Breaking Bad episode|Kafkaesque (Breaking Bad)}} {{Redirect|Kafkaesque|the Breaking Bad episode|Kafkaesque (Breaking Bad)}}
The term "'''Kafkaesque'''" is used to describe concepts and situations reminiscent of Kafka's work, particularly {{lang|de|Der Process}} ('']'') and ''Die Verwandlung'' ('']'').<ref>“].” ''Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary''. Retrieved 1 March 2021.</ref> Examples include instances in which bureaucracies overpower people, often in a ], nightmarish milieu that evokes feelings of senselessness, disorientation, and helplessness. Characters in a Kafkaesque setting often lack a clear course of action to escape a ] situation. Kafkaesque elements often appear in ], but the term has transcended the literary realm to apply to real-life occurrences and situations that are incomprehensibly complex, bizarre, or illogical.{{sfn|Steinhauer|1983|pp = 390–408}}{{sfn|Adams|2002|pp = 140–157}}{{sfn|Aizenberg|1986|pp = 11–19}}{{sfn|Strelka|1984|pp = 434–444}} The term "'''Kafkaesque'''" is used to describe concepts and situations reminiscent of Kafka's work, particularly {{lang|de|Der Prozess}} ('']'') and ''Die Verwandlung'' ('']'').<ref>“].” ''Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary''. Retrieved 1 March 2021.</ref> Examples include instances in which bureaucracies overpower people, often in a ], nightmarish milieu that evokes feelings of senselessness, disorientation, and helplessness. Characters in a Kafkaesque setting often lack a clear course of action to escape a ] situation. Kafkaesque elements often appear in ], but the term has transcended the literary realm to apply to real-life occurrences and situations that are incomprehensibly complex, bizarre, or illogical.{{sfn|Steinhauer|1983|pp=390–408}}{{sfn|Adams|2002|pp=140–157}}{{sfn|Aizenberg|1986|pp=11–19}}{{sfn|Strelka|1984|pp=434–444}}


Numerous films and television works have been described as Kafkaesque, and the style is particularly prominent in dystopian science fiction. Works in this genre that have been thus described include ]'s film '']'' (1982), Terry Gilliam's film '']'' (1985), and ]' science fiction ], '']'' (1998). Films from other genres which have been similarly described include ]'s '']'' (1976) and the ]' '']'' (1991).{{sfn|Palmer|2004|pp = 159–192}} The television series '']'' and '']'' are also frequently described as Kafkaesque.{{sfn|O'Connor|1987}}{{sfn|''Los Angeles Times''|2009}} Numerous films and television works have been described as Kafkaesque, and the style is particularly prominent in dystopian science fiction. Works in this genre that have been thus described include ]'s film '']'' (1982), Terry Gilliam's film '']'' (1985), and ]' science fiction ], '']'' (1998). Films from other genres which have been similarly described include ]'s '']'' (1976), ]’s '']'' (1976)<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/09/the-hour-of-reckoning-descends-in-mr-klein|access-date=2 July 2024|title=The Hour of Reckoning Descends in ''Mr. Klein''|author=]|magazine=]|date=30 August 2019}}</ref> and the ]' '']'' (1991).{{sfn|Palmer|2004|pp=159–192}} The television series '']'' and '']'' are also frequently described as Kafkaesque.{{sfn|O'Connor|1987}}{{sfn|''Los Angeles Times''|2009}}


However, with common usage, the term has become so ubiquitous that Kafka scholars note it is often misused.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/29/nyregion/the-essence-of-kafkaesque.html|title=The Essence of 'Kafkaesque'|date=29 December 1991|work=The New York Times|access-date=8 February 2017|archive-date=18 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418032108/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/29/nyregion/the-essence-of-kafkaesque.html|url-status=live}}</ref> More accurately then, according to author ], paraphrased in "What it Means to be Kafkaesque" by Joe Fassler in ''The Atlantic'', "Kafka's quintessential qualities are affecting use of language, a setting that straddles fantasy and reality, and a sense of striving even in the face of bleakness—hopelessly and full of hope."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/01/what-it-really-means-to-be-kafkaesque/283096/|title=What It Really Means to Be 'Kafkaesque'|first=Joe|last=Fassler|date=January 2014|work=The Atlantic|access-date=7 March 2017|archive-date=29 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129194710/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/01/what-it-really-means-to-be-kafkaesque/283096/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, with common usage, the term has become so ubiquitous that Kafka scholars note it is often misused.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/29/nyregion/the-essence-of-kafkaesque.html|title=The Essence of 'Kafkaesque'|author=Ivana Edwards|date=29 December 1991|newspaper=]|access-date=26 June 2024|archive-date=18 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418032108/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/29/nyregion/the-essence-of-kafkaesque.html|url-status=live}}</ref> More accurately then, according to author ], paraphrased in "What it Means to be Kafkaesque" by Joe Fassler in ''The Atlantic'', "Kafka's quintessential qualities are affecting use of language, a setting that straddles fantasy and reality, and a sense of striving even in the face of bleakness—hopelessly and full of hope."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/01/what-it-really-means-to-be-kafkaesque/283096/|title=What It Really Means to Be 'Kafkaesque'|first=Joe|last=Fassler|date=January 2014|work=The Atlantic|access-date=7 March 2017|archive-date=29 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129194710/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/01/what-it-really-means-to-be-kafkaesque/283096/|url-status=live}}</ref>


=== Commemorations === === Commemorations ===
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] is an ] from the inner regions of the ], approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 January 1983 by American astronomers ] and ] at ] in California, United States,<ref>{{cite news|author=Schmadel, Lutz D. |date=2003 |title=(3412) Kafka |work=Dictionary of Minor Planet Names |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |page=284 |isbn=978-3-540-00238-3 |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_3412}}</ref> and named after Kafka by them.<ref>{{cite web|title=3412 Kafka|date=1983|website=Minor Planet Center|access-date=5 December 2016|url=http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=3412|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001328/http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=3412|url-status=live}}</ref> ] is an ] from the inner regions of the ], approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 January 1983 by American astronomers ] and ] at ] in California, United States,<ref>{{cite news|author=Schmadel, Lutz D. |date=2003 |title=(3412) Kafka |work=Dictionary of Minor Planet Names |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |page=284 |isbn=978-3-540-00238-3 |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_3412}}</ref> and named after Kafka by them.<ref>{{cite web|title=3412 Kafka|date=1983|website=Minor Planet Center|access-date=5 December 2016|url=http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=3412|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001328/http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=3412|url-status=live}}</ref>


The ] in Prague is dedicated to Kafka and his work. A major component of the museum is an exhibit, ''The City of K. Franz Kafka and Prague'', which was first shown in Barcelona in 1999, moved to the ] in New York City, and finally established in Prague in ] (Lesser Town), along the ], in 2005. The museum aims with this exhibit to immerse the visitor into the world in which Kafka lived and about which he wrote.{{sfn|Kafka Museum|2005}}
], an ] ] platform originally released in January 2011, is named after Kafka.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is the relation between Kafka, the writer, and Apache Kafka, the distributed messaging system?|website=] | url=https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-relation-between-Kafka-the-writer-and-Apache-Kafka-the-distributed-messaging-system|access-date=12 June 2017}}</ref>

The ] in ] is dedicated to Kafka and his work. A major component of the museum is an exhibit, ''The City of K. Franz Kafka and Prague'', which was first shown in ] in 1999, moved to the ] in ], and finally established in Prague in ] (Lesser Town), along the ], in 2005. The Franz Kafka Museum calls its display of original photos and documents ''Město K. Franz Kafka a Praha'' ("City K. Kafka and Prague") and aims to immerse the visitor into the world in which Kafka lived and about which he wrote.{{sfn|Kafka Museum|2005}}


The ], established in 2001, is an annual literary award of the ] and the City of Prague. It recognizes the merits of literature as "humanistic character and contribution to cultural, national, language and religious tolerance, its existential, timeless character, its generally human validity, and its ability to hand over a testimony about our times".{{sfn|Kafka Society|2011}} The selection committee and recipients come from all over the world, but are limited to living authors who have had at least one work published in Czech.{{sfn|Kafka Society|2011}} The recipient receives $10,000, a diploma, and a bronze statuette at a presentation in ], on the Czech State Holiday in late October.{{sfn|Kafka Society|2011}} The ], established in 2001, is an annual literary award of the ] and the City of Prague. It recognizes the merits of literature as "humanistic character and contribution to cultural, national, language and religious tolerance, its existential, timeless character, its generally human validity, and its ability to hand over a testimony about our times".{{sfn|Kafka Society|2011}} The selection committee and recipients come from all over the world, but are limited to living authors who have had at least one work published in Czech.{{sfn|Kafka Society|2011}} The recipient receives $10,000, a diploma, and a bronze statuette at a presentation in ], on the Czech State Holiday in late October.{{sfn|Kafka Society|2011}}


] operates the ], which began in 1998 as the official international search for Kafka's last writings.{{sfn|Kafka Project SDSU|2012}} ] operates the ], which began in 1998 as the official international search for Kafka's last writings.{{sfn|Kafka Project SDSU|2012}}

Kafka Dome is an off-axis ] in the central Atlantic named after Kafka.<ref name="ShinevarMark2019">{{cite journal|last1=Shinevar|first1=William J.|last2=Mark|first2=Hannah F.|last3=Clerc|first3=Fiona|last4=Codillo|first4=Emmanuel A.|last5=Gong|first5=Jianhua|last6=Olive|first6=Jean‐Arthur|last7=Brown|first7=Stephanie M.|last8=Smalls|first8=Paris T.|last9=Liao|first9=Yang|last10=Le Roux|first10=Véronique|last11=Behn|first11=Mark D.|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02395011/document|format=PDF|title=Causes of oceanic crustal thickness oscillations along a 74‐Myr Mid‐Atlantic Ridge flow line|journal=Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems|year=2019|volume=20|issue=12|pages=6123–6139|issn=1525-2027|doi=10.1029/2019GC008711|bibcode=2019GGG....20.6123S|hdl=1912/25465|s2cid=212819022|hdl-access=free|access-date=9 February 2020|archive-date=10 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510053139/https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02395011/document|url-status=live}}</ref>


== Notes == == Notes ==
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=== Sources === === Sources ===
{{div col|colwidth=45em}}
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book * {{cite book
| last = Alt | last = Alt
| first = Peter-André | first = Peter-André
| author-link = Peter-André Alt
| year = 2005 | year = 2005
| language = de | language = de
| title = Franz Kafka: Der ewige Sohn. Eine Biographie | title = Franz Kafka: Der ewige Sohn. Eine Biographie
| publisher = Verlag C.H. Beck | publisher = C. H. Beck
| location = München | location = Munich
| isbn = 978-3-406-53441-6 | isbn = 978-3-406-53441-6
}} }}
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| url = http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/michael-lowy-franz-kafka-and-libertarian-socialism.a4.pdf | url = http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/michael-lowy-franz-kafka-and-libertarian-socialism.a4.pdf
| access-date = 19 August 2012 | access-date = 19 August 2012
| archive-date = 16 March 2019 | archive-date = 16 March 2019
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190316150401/https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/michael-lowy-franz-kafka-and-libertarian-socialism.a4.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190316150401/https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/michael-lowy-franz-kafka-and-libertarian-socialism.a4.pdf
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| first = Harold | first = Harold
| author-link = Harold Bloom | author-link = Harold Bloom
| title = The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages
| title = Franz Kafka
| year = 1994
| work = Bloom's Major Short Story Writers
| publisher = Riverhead Books, Penguin Group
| year = 2003
| publisher = Chelsea House Publishers
| location = New York | location = New York
| isbn = 978-0-7910-6822-9 | isbn = 978-1-57322-514-4
| url = https://archive.org/details/westerncanonbook00bloo
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/franzkafkacompre0000unse
}} }}
* {{cite journal
| last = Bloom
| first = Harold
| title = Franz Kafka's Zionism
| date =Spring 2011
| journal = Midstream
| volume = 57
| issue = 2
}}-left
* {{cite book * {{cite book
| last = Bloom | last = Bloom
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| last = Bloom | last = Bloom
| first = Harold | first = Harold
| title = Franz Kafka
| title = The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages
| series = Bloom's Major Short Story Writers
| year = 1994
| year = 2003
| publisher = Riverhead Books, Penguin Group
| publisher = Chelsea House Publishers
| location = New York | location = New York
| isbn = 978-1-57322-514-4 | isbn = 978-0-7910-6822-9<!--
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/westerncanonbook00bloo
| url = https://archive.org/details/franzkafkacompre0000unse Removed from IA -->
}} }}
* {{cite book|last=Bloom|first=Harold|editor=Harold Bloom|title=Franz Kafka|publisher=Infobase Publishing|series=Bloom's Modern Critical Views|year=2010|page=}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Bloom
| first = Harold
| title = Franz Kafka's Zionism
| date =Spring 2011
| journal = ]
| volume = 57
| issue = 2
}}-left
* {{cite book * {{cite book
| last = Bossy | last = Bossy
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| last = Corngold | last = Corngold
| first = Stanley | first = Stanley
| author-link = Stanley Corngold
| title = Introduction to The Metamorphosis | title = Introduction to The Metamorphosis
| year = 1972 | year = 1972
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| last = Corngold | last = Corngold
| first = Stanley | first = Stanley
| title = Franz Kafka: The Office Writings | title = ]
| year = 2009 | year = 2009
| publisher = Princeton University Press | publisher = Princeton University Press
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| isbn = 978-0-691-12680-7 | isbn = 978-0-691-12680-7
| ref = {{sfnRef|Corngold et al.|2009}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Corngold et al.|2009}}
}}
}}
* {{cite book * {{cite book
| last = Diamant | last = Diamant
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| location = New York | location = New York
| isbn = 978-0-465-01551-1 | isbn = 978-0-465-01551-1
}}
* {{cite book
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| year = 2002
| edition = 2007
| publisher = Elsevier
| location = Oxford
| isbn = 978-0-7506-8505-4
}} }}
* {{cite book * {{cite book
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| isbn = 978-0-7914-0808-7 | isbn = 978-0-7914-0808-7
| access-date = 16 November 2015 | access-date = 16 November 2015
| archive-date = 4 December 2020 | archive-date = 4 December 2020
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201204150730/https://books.google.com/books?id=0HmgYaAEHHYC&pg=PA83 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201204150730/https://books.google.com/books?id=0HmgYaAEHHYC&pg=PA83
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| last = Murray | last = Murray
| first = Nicholas | first = Nicholas
| author-link = Nicholas Murray (historian) | author-link = Nicholas Murray (biographer)
| title = Kafka | title = Kafka
| year = 2004 | year = 2004
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| last = Pawel | last = Pawel
| first = Ernst | first = Ernst
| author-link=Ernst Pawel
| title = The Nightmare of Reason: A Life of Franz Kafka | title = The Nightmare of Reason: A Life of Franz Kafka
| url = https://archive.org/details/nightmareofreaso00pawe | url = https://archive.org/details/nightmareofreaso00pawe
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| first = Reiner | first = Reiner
| author-link = Reiner Stach | author-link = Reiner Stach
| translator = ]
| title = Kafka: The Decisive Years | title = Kafka: The Decisive Years
| publisher = Harcourt | publisher = Harcourt
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| location = New York | location = New York
| isbn = 978-0-15-100752-3 | isbn = 978-0-15-100752-3
| url = https://archive.org/details/kafkadecisiveyea00stac | url = https://archive.org/details/kafkadecisiveyea00stac|url-access=registration|via=]
}} }}
* {{cite book * {{cite book
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| isbn = 978-0-930956-02-8 | isbn = 978-0-930956-02-8
}} }}
* {{cite book|last=Wagenbach|first=Klaus|author-link=Klaus Wagenbach|date=2019|orig-date=2003|title=Kafka's Prague|translator1=] with Peter Lewis|location=London|publisher=]|series=Armchair Traveller|type=paperback|isbn=9781909961654}} .
* {{cite book * {{cite book
| last = Ziolkowski | last = Ziolkowski
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| location = West Chester, Pennsylvania | location = West Chester, Pennsylvania
| access-date = 13 November 2021 | access-date = 13 November 2021
| archive-date = 6 August 2020 | archive-date = 6 August 2020
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200806200802/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Orson+Welles%27s+%27The+Trial%27%3a+Film+Noir+and+the+Kafkaesque.-a092049123 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200806200802/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Orson+Welles%27s+%27The+Trial%27%3a+Film+Noir+and+the+Kafkaesque.-a092049123
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200209174449/https://sporastudios.org/mark/courses/articles/adams_the_trial.pdf |date=9 February 2020 }} }} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200209174449/https://sporastudios.org/mark/courses/articles/adams_the_trial.pdf |date=9 February 2020 }}
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| issue = 28 | issue = 28
| pages = 11–19 | pages = 11–19
| journal = Latin American Literary Review | journal = ]
| location = Chicago | location = Chicago
}} }}
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| volume = 22 | volume = 22
| issue = 2 | issue = 2
| journal = Law and Literature | journal = ]
| location = Berkeley, California | location = Berkeley, California
| doi = 10.2139/ssrn.1574870 | doi = 10.2139/ssrn.1574870
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| url = https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v33/n05/judith-butler/who-owns-kafka | url = https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v33/n05/judith-butler/who-owns-kafka
| date = 3 March 2011 | date = 3 March 2011
| volume = 33 | volume = 33
| issue = 5 | issue = 5
| location = London | location = London
| journal = London Review of Books | journal = ]
| access-date = 1 August 2012 | access-date = 1 August 2012
| archive-date = 3 December 2019 | archive-date = 3 December 2019
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| last = Corngold | last = Corngold
| first = Stanley | first = Stanley
| author-link = Stanley Corngold
| title = Kafkas Spätstil/Kafka's Late Style: Introduction | title = Kafkas Spätstil/Kafka's Late Style: Introduction
| location = Madison, Wisconsin | location = Madison, Wisconsin
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| magazine = Computer Gaming World | magazine = Computer Gaming World
| access-date = 9 February 2020 | access-date = 9 February 2020
| archive-date = 2 October 2014 | archive-date = 2 October 2014
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141002223215/http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_143.pdf#page=110 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141002223215/http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_143.pdf#page=110
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| year = 1994 | year = 1994
| jstor = 40246931 | jstor = 40246931
| journal = Comparative Literature Studies | journal = ]
| location = State College, Pennsylvania | location = State College, Pennsylvania
| volume = 31 | volume = 31
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| issue = 3 | issue = 3
| location = Washington, D.C. | location = Washington, D.C.
| journal = International Journal of Eating Disorders | journal = ]
| doi = 10.1002/1098-108X(198705)6:3<367::AID-EAT2260060306>3.0.CO;2-W | doi = 10.1002/1098-108X(198705)6:3<367::AID-EAT2260060306>3.0.CO;2-W
| page = 367 | page = 367
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| journal = Fortschritte der Neurologie · Psychiatrie | journal = Fortschritte der Neurologie · Psychiatrie
| pages = 231–238 | pages = 231–238
| s2cid = 144116337
}}
}}
* {{cite journal * {{cite journal
| last = Fort | last = Fort
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| title = The Man Who Could Not Disappear | title = The Man Who Could Not Disappear
| date = March 2006 | date = March 2006
| journal = The Believer | journal = ]
| access-date = 7 August 2012 | access-date = 7 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Believer|2006}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Believer|2006}}
| archive-date = 7 April 2020 | archive-date = 7 April 2020
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200407115000/https://believermag.com/the-man-who-could-not-disappear/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200407115000/https://believermag.com/the-man-who-could-not-disappear/
| url-status = live | url-status = dead
}} }}
<!-- * {{cite journal <!-- * {{cite journal
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| location = Durham | location = Durham
| publisher = Duke | publisher = Duke
| journal = New German Critique | journal = ]
| access-date = 7 August 2014 | access-date = 7 August 2014
| doi=10.1215/0094033x-2005-009 | doi=10.1215/0094033x-2005-009
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| journal = Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal | journal = Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal
| access-date = 3 August 2012 | access-date = 3 August 2012
| archive-url = https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120916114919/http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~idjlaw/PDF/17-1/17-1%20Glen.pdf | archive-url = https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120916114919/http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~idjlaw/PDF/17-1/17-1%20Glen.pdf
| archive-date = 16 September 2012 | archive-date = 16 September 2012
| url-status = dead | url-status = dead
}} }}
* {{cite journal * {{cite journal
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| journal = Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal | journal = Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal
| access-date = 21 September 2012 | access-date = 21 September 2012
| archive-date = 12 November 2019 | archive-date = 12 November 2019
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191112201538/https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/967/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191112201538/https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/967/
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
* {{cite journal * {{cite magazine
| last = Horton | last = Horton
| first = Scott | first = Scott
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| title = In Pursuit of Kafka's Porn Cache: Six Questions for James Hawes | title = In Pursuit of Kafka's Porn Cache: Six Questions for James Hawes
| date = 19 August 2008 | date = 19 August 2008
| journal = Harper's Magazine | magazine = Harper's Magazine
| access-date = 3 August 2012 | access-date = 3 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Harper's|2008}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Harper's|2008}}
| archive-date = 19 October 2012 | archive-date = 19 October 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121019170227/http://harpers.org/archive/2008/08/hbc-90003426 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121019170227/http://harpers.org/archive/2008/08/hbc-90003426
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| title = Kafka's ''The Trial'': The Semiotics of the Absurd | title = Kafka's ''The Trial'': The Semiotics of the Absurd
| location = Durham, North Carolina | location = Durham, North Carolina
| journal = Novel: A Forum on Fiction | journal = ]
| date =Spring 1972 | date = Spring 1972
| volume = 5 | volume = 5
| issue = 3 | issue = 3
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| first = Franz R. | first = Franz R.
| title = Franz Kafkas Sprachen: '...&nbsp;in einem Stockwerk des innern babylonischen Turmes. ..' | title = Franz Kafkas Sprachen: '...&nbsp;in einem Stockwerk des innern babylonischen Turmes. ..'
| journal = Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies | journal = ]
| date =Summer 2005 | date =Summer 2005
| volume = 23 | volume = 23
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| title = The 'Prague Circle' and the Challenge of Nationalism | title = The 'Prague Circle' and the Challenge of Nationalism
| location = Oxford | location = Oxford
| journal = History of European Ideas | journal = ]
| year = 1993 | year = 1993
| doi = 10.1016/S0191-6599(05)80096-8 | doi = 10.1016/S0191-6599(05)80096-8
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| last = Kundera | last = Kundera
| first = Milan | first = Milan
| author-link=Milan Kundera
| title = Kafka's World | title = Kafka's World
| location = Washington, D.C. | location = Washington, D.C.
| journal = The Wilson Quarterly | journal = ]
| date =Winter 1988 | date =Winter 1988
| jstor = 40257735 | jstor = 40257735
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| title = Ungeheueres Ungeziefer in Kafka's "Die Verwandlung" | title = Ungeheueres Ungeziefer in Kafka's "Die Verwandlung"
| location = Cherry Hill, New Jersey | location = Cherry Hill, New Jersey
| journal = The German Quarterly | journal = ]
| date = May 1960 | date = May 1960
| jstor= 402242 | jstor= 402242
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| title = A Problem in Analysis: Franz Kafka's 'A Country Doctor' | title = A Problem in Analysis: Franz Kafka's 'A Country Doctor'
| location = Philadelphia | location = Philadelphia
| journal = The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism | journal = ]
| year = 1958 | year = 1958
| doi = 10.2307/427381 | doi = 10.2307/427381
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| date = April 1951 | date = April 1951
| jstor = 3718565 | jstor = 3718565
| journal = The Modern Language Review | journal = ]
| location = Cambridge | location = Cambridge
| volume = 46 | volume = 46
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| date =Summer 1985 | date =Summer 1985
| doi = 10.1353/mfs.0.0042 | doi = 10.1353/mfs.0.0042
| journal = Modern Fiction Studies | journal = ]
| location = Cambridge | location = Cambridge
| volume = 31 | volume = 31
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| url = http://www.nhinet.org/panichas17-1&2.pdf | url = http://www.nhinet.org/panichas17-1&2.pdf
| date = 2004 | date = 2004
| journal = Humanitas | journal = ]
| location = Bowie, Maryland | location = Bowie, Maryland
| volume = 17 | volume = 17
| issue = 1–2 | issue = 1–2
| access-date = 13 November 2021 | pages = 83–107
| doi = 10.5840/humanitas2004171/26
| archive-date = 16 February 2021
| s2cid = 160098208
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210216162803/http://www.nhinet.org/panichas17-1%262.pdf
| access-date = 13 November 2021
| archive-date = 16 February 2021
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210216162803/http://www.nhinet.org/panichas17-1%262.pdf
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| issue = 2 | issue = 2
| access-date = 9 February 2020 | access-date = 9 February 2020
| archive-date = 23 September 2020 | archive-date = 23 September 2020
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200923150400/https://www.ijpsy.com/volumen3/num2/63/the-schizoid-personality-of-our-time-la-EN.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200923150400/https://www.ijpsy.com/volumen3/num2/63/the-schizoid-personality-of-our-time-la-EN.pdf
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| url = https://wslide.com/the-language-of-nationality-and-the-nationality-of-language-prague-1780-1920 | url = https://wslide.com/the-language-of-nationality-and-the-nationality-of-language-prague-1780-1920
| year = 1996 | year = 1996
| journal = Past and Present | journal = ]
| location = Oxford | location = Oxford
| doi = 10.1093/past/153.1.164 | doi = 10.1093/past/153.1.164
| oclc = 394557 | oclc = 394557
| volume = 153 | issue = 153
| issue = 1
| page = 164 | page = 164
| access-date = 9 February 2020 | access-date = 9 February 2020
| archive-date = 7 April 2020 | archive-date = 7 April 2020
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200407115003/https://wslide.com/the-language-of-nationality-and-the-nationality-of-language-prague-1780-1920 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200407115003/https://wslide.com/the-language-of-nationality-and-the-nationality-of-language-prague-1780-1920
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| year = 1992 | year = 1992
| jstor = 40246852 | jstor = 40246852
| journal = Comparative Literature Studies | journal = ]
| location = Oxford | location = Oxford
| volume = 29 | volume = 29
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| date =Autumn 1983 | date =Autumn 1983
| jstor = 4611280 | jstor = 4611280
| journal = The Antioch Review | journal = ]
| location = Yellow Springs, Ohio | location = Yellow Springs, Ohio
| volume = 41 | volume = 41
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| date =Winter 1984 | date =Winter 1984
| jstor = 40246504 | jstor = 40246504
| journal = Comparative Literature Studies | journal = ]
| publisher = Pennsylvania State College | publisher = Pennsylvania State College
| volume = 21 | volume = 21
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| pages = 434–444 | pages = 434–444
}} }}
* {{cite journal * {{cite magazine
| last = Updike | last = Updike
| first = John | first = John
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| url = https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/01/24/subconscious-tunnels | url = https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/01/24/subconscious-tunnels
| title = Subconscious Tunnels: Haruki Murakami's Dreamlike New Novel | title = Subconscious Tunnels: Haruki Murakami's Dreamlike New Novel
| newspaper = The New Yorker | magazine = ]
| date = 24 January 2005 | date = 24 January 2005
| access-date = 22 September 2012 | access-date = 22 September 2012
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|first=Ionuţ |first=Ionuţ
|date=23 August 2014 |date=23 August 2014
|title=Mircea Cărtărescu: Franz Kafka este sfântul literaturii |title=Mircea Cărtărescu: Franz Kafka este sfântul literaturii
|trans-title=Mircea Cărtărescu: Franz Kafka is a saint of literature |trans-title=Mircea Cărtărescu: Franz Kafka is a saint of literature
|url=https://www.ziarulmetropolis.ro/mircea-cartarescu-franz-kafka-este-sfantul-literaturii/ |url=https://www.ziarulmetropolis.ro/mircea-cartarescu-franz-kafka-este-sfantul-literaturii/
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| url-access = subscription | url-access = subscription
| date = 13 October 1995 | date = 13 October 1995
| work = ] Literary Supplement | work = ] Literary Supplement
| title = Stepping into Kafka's Head | title = Stepping into Kafka's Head
| access-date = 4 August 2012 | access-date = 4 August 2012
| archive-date = 21 February 2009 | archive-date = 21 February 2009
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090221080410/http://www.textkritik.de/rezensionen/kafka/einl_04.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090221080410/http://www.textkritik.de/rezensionen/kafka/einl_04.htm
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| first = JoAnne | first = JoAnne
| author-link = JoAnne Akalaitis | author-link = JoAnne Akalaitis
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/10/arts/theater-adapting-the-horrors-of-a-kafka-story-to-suit-glass-s-music.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/10/arts/theater-adapting-the-horrors-of-a-kafka-story-to-suit-glass-s-music.html
| url-access = limited | url-access = limited
| title = Adapting the Horrors of a Kafka Story To Suit Glass's Music | title = Theatre; Adapting the Horrors of a Kafka Story to Suit Glass's Music
| date = 10 June 2001 | date = 10 June 2001
| newspaper = The New York Times | newspaper = ]
| access-date = 17 June 2013 | access-date = 26 June 2024
| archive-date = 23 August 2019 | archive-date = 23 August 2019
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190823200102/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/10/arts/theater-adapting-the-horrors-of-a-kafka-story-to-suit-glass-s-music.html?pagewanted=print | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190823200102/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/10/arts/theater-adapting-the-horrors-of-a-kafka-story-to-suit-glass-s-music.html?pagewanted=print
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| language = de | language = de
| title = Der Weg in die Ewigkeit führt abwärts / Roland Reuß kramt in Kafkas Zürauer Zetteln | title = Der Weg in die Ewigkeit führt abwärts / Roland Reuß kramt in Kafkas Zürauer Zetteln
| newspaper = Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung | newspaper = ]
}} }}
* {{cite news * {{cite news
| last = Banville | last = Banville
| first = John | first = John
| author-link = John Banville
| url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jan/15/john-banville-kafka-trial-rereading | url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jan/15/john-banville-kafka-trial-rereading
| title = Franz Kafka's Other Trial / An Allegory of the Fallen Man's Predicament, or an Expression of Guilt at a Tormented Love Affair? | title = Franz Kafka's Other Trial / An Allegory of the Fallen Man's Predicament, or an Expression of Guilt at a Tormented Love Affair?
| date = 14 January 2011 | date = 14 January 2011
| newspaper = The Guardian | newspaper = ]
| access-date = 1 August 2012 | access-date = 1 August 2012
| location = London | location = London
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| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110615064737/http://www.praguepost.com/news/7768-battle-for-kafka-legacy-drags-on.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110615064737/http://www.praguepost.com/news/7768-battle-for-kafka-legacy-drags-on.html
| archive-date = 15 June 2011 | archive-date = 15 June 2011
| title = Battle for Kafka Legacy Drags On | title = Battle for Kafka Legacy Drags On
| date = 9 March 2011 | date = 9 March 2011
| newspaper = The Prague Post | newspaper = The Prague Post
| access-date = 29 August 2012 | access-date = 29 August 2012
}} }}
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| title = Winter Read: The Castle by Franz Kafka | title = Winter Read: The Castle by Franz Kafka
| date = 22 December 2011 | date = 22 December 2011
| newspaper = The Guardian | newspaper = ]
| access-date = 27 August 2012 | access-date = 27 August 2012
| location = London | location = London
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| title = Porn Claims Outrage German Kafka Scholars | title = Porn Claims Outrage German Kafka Scholars
| date = 14 August 2008 | date = 14 August 2008
| newspaper = The Guardian | newspaper = ]
| access-date = 3 August 2012 | access-date = 3 August 2012
| location = London | location = London
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| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
* {{cite news|last=Glazer|first=Hilo|date=18 February 2017|title=A Final Note From Kafka, a Trove of Manuscripts, and a Trial That Left an Israeli Heiress 'Destitute'|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-a-note-from-kafka-a-trial-and-a-destitute-heiress-1.5436733|work=Haaretz|access-date=10 October 2021|archive-date=10 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211010082849/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-a-note-from-kafka-a-trial-and-a-destitute-heiress-1.5436733|url-status=live}} * {{cite news|last=Glazer|first=Hilo|date=18 February 2017|title=A Final Note From Kafka, a Trove of Manuscripts, and a Trial That Left an Israeli Heiress 'Destitute'|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-a-note-from-kafka-a-trial-and-a-destitute-heiress-1.5436733|newspaper=]|access-date=10 October 2021|archive-date=10 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211010082849/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-a-note-from-kafka-a-trial-and-a-destitute-heiress-1.5436733|url-status=live}}
* {{cite news * {{cite news
| last = Herbort | last = Herbort
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| newspaper = ] | newspaper = ]
| date = 11 September 1992 | date = 11 September 1992
| page = 23 | page = 23
| language = de | language = de
| access-date = 4 August 2017 | access-date = 4 August 2017
| archive-date = 30 July 2019 | archive-date = 30 July 2019
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190730121544/https://www.zeit.de/1992/38/rundtanz-um-den-tabernakel-der-buerokratie/komplettansicht | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190730121544/https://www.zeit.de/1992/38/rundtanz-um-den-tabernakel-der-buerokratie/komplettansicht
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| title = The Commission/Café Kafka, Royal Opera/Opera North/Aldeburgh Music&nbsp;– Review | title = The Commission/Café Kafka, Royal Opera/Opera North/Aldeburgh Music&nbsp;– Review
| date = 18 March 2014 | date = 18 March 2014
| newspaper = The Guardian | newspaper = ]
| access-date = 20 April 2015 | access-date = 20 April 2015
| location = London | location = London
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| last = Kakutani | last = Kakutani
| first = Michiko | first = Michiko
| author-link = Michiko Kakutani
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/02/books/books-of-the-times-kafka-s-kafkaesque-love-letters.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/02/books/books-of-the-times-kafka-s-kafkaesque-love-letters.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
| title = Books of the Times; Kafka's Kafkaesque Love Letters | title = Books of the Times; Kafka's Kafkaesque Love Letters
| date = 2 April 1988 | date = 2 April 1988
| newspaper = The New York Times | newspaper = ]
| access-date = 8 August 2012 | access-date = 8 August 2012
| archive-date = 23 August 2019 | archive-date = 23 August 2019
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| url-status = dead | url-status = dead
| department = Movies & TV Dept. | department = Movies & TV Dept.
| work = ] | newspaper = ]
| ref = {{sfnRef|''New York Times''|1993}} | ref = {{sfnRef|''New York Times''|1993}}
}} }}
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| last = Kirsch | last = Kirsch
| first = Adam | first = Adam
| author-link = Adam Kirsch
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/books/review/Kirsch-t.html?pagewanted=all&_moc.semityn.www | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/books/review/Kirsch-t.html?pagewanted=all&_moc.semityn.www
| url-access = limited | url-access = limited
| date = 2 January 2009 | date = 2 January 2009
| newspaper = The New York Times | newspaper = ]
| title = America, 'Amerika' | title = America, 'Amerika'
| access-date = 25 September 2012 | access-date = 25 September 2012
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| last = Lerman | last = Lerman
| first = Antony | first = Antony
| author-link = Antony Lerman
| url = https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jul/22/kafka-legacy-israel | url = https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jul/22/kafka-legacy-israel
| date = 22 July 2010 | date = 22 July 2010
| newspaper = The Guardian | newspaper = ]
| title = The Kafka legacy: Who Owns Jewish Heritage? | title = The Kafka legacy: Who Owns Jewish Heritage?
| access-date = 29 August 2012 | access-date = 29 August 2012
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| title = Israel's National Library Adds a Final Twist to Franz Kafka's Trial | title = Israel's National Library Adds a Final Twist to Franz Kafka's Trial
| date = 24 October 2009 | date = 24 October 2009
| newspaper = The Guardian | newspaper = ]
| access-date = 3 August 2012 | access-date = 3 August 2012
| location = London | location = London
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| title = Patrick McGoohan Dies at 80; TV's 'Secret Agent' and 'Prisoner' | title = Patrick McGoohan Dies at 80; TV's 'Secret Agent' and 'Prisoner'
| date = 15 January 2009 | date = 15 January 2009
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times | newspaper = Los Angeles Times
| access-date = 17 June 2013 | access-date = 17 June 2013
| ref = {{sfnRef|''Los Angeles Times''|2009}} | ref = {{sfnRef|''Los Angeles Times''|2009}}
| archive-date = 18 December 2013 | archive-date = 18 December 2013
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131218024734/http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-patrick-mcgoohan15-2009jan15,0,3951859.story | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131218024734/http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-patrick-mcgoohan15-2009jan15,0,3951859.story
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| last = Metcalfe | last = Metcalfe
| first = Anna | first = Anna
| author-link = Anna Metcalfe
| url = http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/bfaf51ba-e05a-11de-8494-00144feab49a.html#axzz1L3wH1OFW | url = http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/bfaf51ba-e05a-11de-8494-00144feab49a.html#axzz1L3wH1OFW
| url-access = subscription | url-access = subscription
| date = 5 December 2009 | date = 5 December 2009
| newspaper = Financial Times | newspaper = ]
| title = Small Talk: José Saramago | title = Small Talk: José Saramago
| access-date = 1 August 2012 | access-date = 1 August 2012
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| last = O'Connor | last = O'Connor
| first = John J. | first = John J.
| author-link = John J. O'Connor (journalist)
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/arts/mcgoohan-a-spy-on-31.html | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/04/arts/mcgoohan-a-spy-on-31.html
| date = 4 June 1987 | date = 4 June 1987
| newspaper = The New York Times | newspaper = ]
| title = McGoohan a Spy on 31 | title = McGoohan a Spy on 31
| access-date = 16 June 2013 | access-date = 16 June 2013
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| url = http://bachtrack.com/review-nyc-joyce-theater-royal-ballet-metamorphosis | url = http://bachtrack.com/review-nyc-joyce-theater-royal-ballet-metamorphosis
| date = 23 September 2013 | date = 23 September 2013
| newspaper = bachtrack | newspaper = bachtrack
| title = The Royal Ballet's Production of ''The Metamorphosis'' with Edward Watson in New York | title = The Royal Ballet's Production of ''The Metamorphosis'' with Edward Watson in New York
| access-date = 23 January 2014 | access-date = 23 January 2014
| archive-date = 24 April 2015 | archive-date = 24 April 2015
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150424180318/http://bachtrack.com/review-nyc-joyce-theater-royal-ballet-metamorphosis | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150424180318/http://bachtrack.com/review-nyc-joyce-theater-royal-ballet-metamorphosis
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| last1 = Rudoren | last1 = Rudoren
| first1 = Jodi | first1 = Jodi
| author1-link = Jodi Rudoren
| last2 = Noveck | last2 = Noveck
| first2 = Myra | first2 = Myra
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| url-access = limited | url-access = limited
| date = 14 October 2012 | date = 14 October 2012
| newspaper = The New York Times | newspaper = ]
| title = Woman Must Relinquish Kafka Papers, Judge Says | title = Woman Must Relinquish Kafka Papers, Judge Says
| access-date = 15 October 2012 | access-date = 15 October 2012
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| url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jul/19/lawyers-open-unpublished-kafka-manuscripts | url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jul/19/lawyers-open-unpublished-kafka-manuscripts
| date = 19 July 2010 | date = 19 July 2010
| newspaper = The Guardian | newspaper = ]
| title = Lawyers Open Cache of Unpublished Kafka Manuscripts | title = Lawyers open cache of unpublished Kafka manuscripts
| access-date = 28 September 2012 | access-date = 26 June 2024
| ref = {{sfnRef|''Guardian''|2010}} | ref = {{sfnRef|''Guardian''|2010}}
| location = London | location = London
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;Online sources ;Online sources
* {{cite web
| last = Banville
| first = John
| author-link = John Banville
| title = Kafka's Repressed Homosexuality
| url = https://www.connellguides.com/blogs/news/84687044-kafka-s-repressed-homosexuality
| website = Connell Guides
| date = 2013
| access-date = 3 May 2024
| language = en
}}
* {{ cite web
| last = Benjamin
| first = Ross
| author-link = Ross Benjamin
| title = Sex, insomnia and swimming trunks: an exclusive extract from Kafka's uncensored diaries
| url = https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/sex-insomnia-swimming-trunks-exclusive-140000461.html
| website = Y! Entertainment
| date = 27 April 2024
| access-date = 3 May 2024
| language = en
}}
* {{cite news * {{cite news
| last = Bury | last = Bury
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| url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/03/franz-kafka-metamorphosis-google-doodle | url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/03/franz-kafka-metamorphosis-google-doodle
| date = 3 July 2013 | date = 3 July 2013
| work = The Guardian | work = ]
| title = Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis Becomes Google Doodle | title = Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis Becomes Google Doodle
| access-date = 4 July 2013 | access-date = 4 July 2013
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| url = http://www.binghamton.edu/inside/index.php/inside/story/kafka-expert-links-teaching-research | url = http://www.binghamton.edu/inside/index.php/inside/story/kafka-expert-links-teaching-research
| date = 4 January 2012 | date = 4 January 2012
| publisher = State University of New York | publisher = State University of New York
| location = Binghamton | location = Binghamton
| title = Kafka Expert Links Teaching, Research | title = Kafka Expert Links Teaching, Research
| access-date = 30 August 2012 | access-date = 30 August 2012
| archive-date = 4 July 2019 | archive-date = 4 July 2019
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190704184427/https://www.binghamton.edu/inside/index.php/inside/story/kafka-expert-links-teaching-research | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190704184427/https://www.binghamton.edu/inside/index.php/inside/story/kafka-expert-links-teaching-research
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| year = 2010 | year = 2010
| publisher = Yale University | publisher = Yale University
| work = The Modernismm Lab | work = The Modernism Lab
| title = The Judgement | title = The Judgement
| access-date = 9 October 2012 | access-date = 9 October 2012
| url-status = dead | url-status = dead
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130521162011/http://modernism.research.yale.edu/index.php/The_Judgment | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130521162011/http://modernism.research.yale.edu/index.php/The_Judgment
| archive-date = 21 May 2013 | archive-date = 21 May 2013
}} }}
* {{cite web
| last = Frenkel
| first = Sheera
| url = https://www.npr.org/2012/05/30/153985994/kafkas-final-absurdist-tale-plays-out-in-tel-aviv
| date = 30 May 2012
| publisher = NPR
| title = Kafka's Final Absurdist Tale Plays Out in Tel Aviv
| access-date = 28 September 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|NPR|2012}}
| archive-date = 18 April 2018
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180418031700/https://www.npr.org/2012/05/30/153985994/kafkas-final-absurdist-tale-plays-out-in-tel-aviv
| url-status = live
}}
* {{cite web * {{cite web
| last = Ghosh | last = Ghosh
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| publisher = Hindu College&nbsp;– Delhi University | publisher = Hindu College&nbsp;– Delhi University
| date = 13 March 2009 | date = 13 March 2009
| url = http://radicalnotes.com/content/view/92/39 | url = http://radicalnotes.com/content/view/92/39
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101024091748/http://radicalnotes.com/content/view/92/39 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101024091748/http://radicalnotes.com/content/view/92/39
| archive-date = 24 October 2010 | archive-date = 24 October 2010
| access-date = 6 August 2012 | access-date = 6 August 2012
| via = Radical Notes | via = Radical Notes
}} }}
* {{cite web * {{cite web
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| url = http://dokumente-online.com/kunst-und-kuenstlerverstaendnis-in-kafkas.html | url = http://dokumente-online.com/kunst-und-kuenstlerverstaendnis-in-kafkas.html
| access-date = 31 August 2012 | access-date = 31 August 2012
| archive-date = 22 November 2017 | archive-date = 22 November 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171122105538/https://dokumente-online.com/kunst-und-kuenstlerverstaendnis-in-kafkas.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171122105538/https://dokumente-online.com/kunst-und-kuenstlerverstaendnis-in-kafkas.html
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110713133359/http://www.kafka-franz.com/KAFKA-letter.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110713133359/http://www.kafka-franz.com/KAFKA-letter.htm
| archive-date = 13 July 2011 | archive-date = 13 July 2011
| year = 2012 | year = 2012
| publisher = Kafka-Franz | publisher = Kafka-Franz
| title = Franz Kafka Letter to his Father | title = Franz Kafka Letter to his Father
| access-date = 3 August 2012 | access-date = 3 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Kafka-Franz, Father|2012}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Kafka-Franz, Father|2012}}
}} }}
* {{cite web * {{cite web
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| title = Kafka's Dick | title = Kafka's Dick
| access-date = 4 August 2012 | access-date = 4 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Times Literary Supplement|2005}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Times Literary Supplement|2005}}
| url-status = dead | url-status = dead
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120219091140/http://www.onlinereviewlondon.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=215%3Akafkas-dick&catid=161%3Akafkas-dick&Itemid=243 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120219091140/http://www.onlinereviewlondon.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=215%3Akafkas-dick&catid=161%3Akafkas-dick&Itemid=243
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| title = Franz Kafka und Felice Bauer | title = Franz Kafka und Felice Bauer
| access-date = 6 August 2012 | access-date = 6 August 2012
| archive-date = 3 March 2016 | archive-date = 3 March 2016
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213956/http://www.protemion.de/zettel/kafkafelice.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213956/http://www.protemion.de/zettel/kafkafelice.htm
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| url = http://www.historyguide.org/europe/kafka.html | url = http://www.historyguide.org/europe/kafka.html
| date = 28 February 2006 | date = 28 February 2006
| work = History Guide | work = History Guide
| title = Franz Kafka, 1883–1924 | title = Franz Kafka, 1883–1924
| access-date = 5 August 2012 | access-date = 5 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|History Guide|2006}} | ref = {{sfnRef|History Guide|2006}}
| archive-date = 25 September 2017 | archive-date = 25 September 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170925115802/http://www.historyguide.org/europe/kafka.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170925115802/http://www.historyguide.org/europe/kafka.html
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/3321254/If-Kafka-made-the-dinner....html | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/3321254/If-Kafka-made-the-dinner....html
| date = 27 August 2005 | date = 27 August 2005
| newspaper = The Telegraph | newspaper = The Telegraph
| title = If Kafka Made the Dinner... | title = If Kafka Made the Dinner...
| access-date = 25 August 2012 | access-date = 25 August 2012
| archive-date = 5 November 2014 | archive-date = 5 November 2014
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141105221124/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/3321254/If-Kafka-made-the-dinner....html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141105221124/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/3321254/If-Kafka-made-the-dinner....html
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
* {{cite web * {{cite news
| last = Miron | last = Miron
| first = Dan | first = Dan
| url = http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1040561.html | url = http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1040561.html
| date = 24 November 2008 | date = 24 November 2008
| work = Haaretz | newspaper = ]
| title = Sadness in Palestine | title = Sadness in Palestine
| access-date = 1 August 2012 | access-date = 1 August 2012
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| url = http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/11/gyorgy_kurtag_-.php | url = http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/11/gyorgy_kurtag_-.php
| date = 18 November 2010 | date = 18 November 2010
| work = Opera Today | work = Opera Today
| title = György Kurtág&nbsp;– Kafka Fragments, London | title = György Kurtág&nbsp;– Kafka Fragments, London
| access-date = 4 August 2012 | access-date = 4 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Opera Today|2010}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Opera Today|2010}}
| archive-date = 24 June 2017 | archive-date = 24 June 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170624132822/http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/11/gyorgy_kurtag_-.php | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170624132822/http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/11/gyorgy_kurtag_-.php
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| title = Humn. 2002: World Humanities II. Notes and Questions on Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" / "The Transformation" | title = Humn. 2002: World Humanities II. Notes and Questions on Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" / "The Transformation"
| access-date = 2 September 2012 | access-date = 2 September 2012
| url-status = dead | url-status = dead
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121011030606/http://www.aug.edu/~nprinsky/Humn2002/KafkaMetamorphNQ.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121011030606/http://www.aug.edu/~nprinsky/Humn2002/KafkaMetamorphNQ.htm
| archive-date = 11 October 2012 | archive-date = 11 October 2012
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| title = Existentialism | title = Existentialism
| access-date = 5 August 2012 | access-date = 5 August 2012
| archive-date = 29 September 2017 | archive-date = 29 September 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170929022351/http://www.online-literature.com/periods/existentialism.php | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170929022351/http://www.online-literature.com/periods/existentialism.php
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| year = 1997 | year = 1997
| access-date = 22 August 2012 | access-date = 22 August 2012
| archive-date = 22 June 2012 | archive-date = 22 June 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120622022057/http://www.lsa.umich.edu/german/hmr/dissertation/10kafka.doc | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120622022057/http://www.lsa.umich.edu/german/hmr/dissertation/10kafka.doc
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| title = A Kafka for the 21st Century | title = A Kafka for the 21st Century
| access-date = 2 August 2012 | access-date = 2 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Jewish Heritage|2012}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Jewish Heritage|2012}}
| url-status = dead | url-status = dead
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120505021933/http://jhom.com/bookshelf/kafka/intro.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120505021933/http://jhom.com/bookshelf/kafka/intro.html
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| quote = Knochiges leeres Gesicht, das seine Leere offen trug. Freier Hals. Überworfene Bluse&nbsp;... Fast zerbrochene Nase. Blondes, etwas steifes, reizloses Haar, starkes Kinn. | quote = Knochiges leeres Gesicht, das seine Leere offen trug. Freier Hals. Überworfene Bluse&nbsp;... Fast zerbrochene Nase. Blondes, etwas steifes, reizloses Haar, starkes Kinn.
| access-date = 2 August 2012 | access-date = 2 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Seubert|2012}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Seubert|2012}}
| archive-date = 15 July 2014 | archive-date = 15 July 2014
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140715070817/http://kulturportal-west-ost.eu/biographies/bauer-felice-2 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140715070817/http://kulturportal-west-ost.eu/biographies/bauer-felice-2
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
* {{cite journal * {{cite magazine
| last = Stone | last = Stone
| first = Peter H. | first = Peter H.
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| title = Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Art of Fiction No. 69 | title = Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Art of Fiction No. 69
| issue = 82 | issue = 82
| journal = The Paris Review | magazine = ]
| volume = Winter 1981 | volume = Winter 1981
| access-date = 4 August 2012 | access-date = 4 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Paris Review|2012}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Paris Review|2012}}
| year = 1981 | year = 1981
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140510185120/http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/3196/the-art-of-fiction-no-69-gabriel-garcia-marquez | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140510185120/http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/3196/the-art-of-fiction-no-69-gabriel-garcia-marquez
| archive-date = 10 May 2014 | archive-date = 10 May 2014
| url-status = dead | url-status = dead
}} }}
* {{cite news * {{cite news
| url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/1930/apr/04/classics.culture | url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/1930/apr/04/classics.culture
| work = The Guardian | newspaper = ]
| title = Allegory | title = Allegory
| type = review of ''The Castle'' translated Willa and Edwin Muir
| author = B.S.
| access-date = 22 August 2012 | access-date = 22 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|''Guardian''|1930}} | ref = {{sfnRef|''Guardian''|1930}}
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| title = Disappearing Act | title = Disappearing Act
| access-date = 3 August 2012 | access-date = 3 August 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080501080645/http://www.amrep.org/articles/3_3c/disappearing.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080501080645/http://www.amrep.org/articles/3_3c/disappearing.html
| archive-date = 1 May 2008 | archive-date = 1 May 2008
| ref = {{sfnRef|Repertory|2005}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Repertory|2005}}
}} }}
* {{cite web * {{cite web
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| title = Drama on BBC Radio 3, ''Kafka the Musical'' | title = Drama on BBC Radio 3, ''Kafka the Musical''
| access-date = 1 August 2012 | access-date = 1 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|BBC|2012}} | ref = {{sfnRef|BBC|2012}}
| archive-date = 14 April 2016 | archive-date = 14 April 2016
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160414062511/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010glpd | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160414062511/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010glpd
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| title = Franz Kafka | title = Franz Kafka
| access-date = 3 October 2012 | access-date = 3 October 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Kohoutikriz|2011}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Kohoutikriz|2011}}
| archive-date = 19 September 2017 | archive-date = 19 September 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170919195519/http://www.kohoutikriz.org/priloha/kafka.php | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170919195519/http://www.kohoutikriz.org/priloha/kafka.php
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121027210534/http://www.egs.edu/library/franz-kafka/articles/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121027210534/http://www.egs.edu/library/franz-kafka/articles/
| archive-date = 27 October 2012 | archive-date = 27 October 2012
| year = 2012 | year = 2012
| publisher = European Graduate School | publisher = European Graduate School
| title = Franz Kafka&nbsp;– Articles | title = Franz Kafka&nbsp;– Articles
| access-date = 22 August 2012 | access-date = 22 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|European Graduate School, Articles|2012}} | ref = {{sfnRef|European Graduate School, Articles|2012}}
}} }}
* {{cite web * {{cite web
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| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120915131636/http://www.egs.edu/library/franz-kafka/biography/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120915131636/http://www.egs.edu/library/franz-kafka/biography/
| archive-date = 15 September 2012 | archive-date = 15 September 2012
| year = 2012 | year = 2012
| publisher = European Graduate School | publisher = European Graduate School
| title = Franz Kafka&nbsp;– Biography | title = Franz Kafka&nbsp;– Biography
| access-date = 7 August 2012 | access-date = 7 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|European Graduate School|2012}} | ref = {{sfnRef|European Graduate School|2012}}
}} }}
* {{cite web * {{cite web
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| language = de | language = de
| access-date = 6 February 2019 | access-date = 6 February 2019
| ref = {{sfnRef|Henze|1951}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Henze|1951}}
| archive-date = 7 February 2019 | archive-date = 7 February 2019
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190207014849/http://www.hans-werner-henze-stiftung.de/hans-werner-henze/werkverzeichnis/detail/news/detail/News/ein-landarzt/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190207014849/http://www.hans-werner-henze-stiftung.de/hans-werner-henze/werkverzeichnis/detail/news/detail/News/ein-landarzt/
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| url = http://libcom.org/library/franz-kafka-libertarian-socialism | url = http://libcom.org/library/franz-kafka-libertarian-socialism
| date = 14 December 2008 | date = 14 December 2008
| publisher = Libertarian-Socialism | publisher = Libertarian-Socialism
| title = Franz Kafka and Libertarian Socialism | title = Franz Kafka and Libertarian Socialism
| access-date = 3 August 2012 | access-date = 3 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Lib.com|2008}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Lib.com|2008}}
| archive-date = 12 October 2017 | archive-date = 12 October 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171012090102/http://libcom.org/library/franz-kafka-libertarian-socialism | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171012090102/http://libcom.org/library/franz-kafka-libertarian-socialism
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| title = Franz Kafka Museum | title = Franz Kafka Museum
| access-date = 7 August 2012 | access-date = 7 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Kafka Museum|2005}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Kafka Museum|2005}}
| archive-date = 19 November 2018 | archive-date = 19 November 2018
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181119133014/https://kafkamuseum.cz/en/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181119133014/https://kafkamuseum.cz/en/
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| title = The Franz Kafka Prize | title = The Franz Kafka Prize
| access-date = 1 August 2012 | access-date = 1 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Kafka Society|2011}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Kafka Society|2011}}
| archive-date = 13 January 2017 | archive-date = 13 January 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170113073540/http://www.franzkafka-soc.cz/cena-franze-kafky | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170113073540/http://www.franzkafka-soc.cz/cena-franze-kafky
| url-status = live
}}
* {{cite web
| url = http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/162/5
| publisher = Project Gutenberg&nbsp;– Spiegel Online
| title = Franz Kafka: Tagebücher 1910–1923&nbsp;– Kapitel 5
| work = Der Spiegel
| date = 21 June 1913
| language = de
| access-date = 29 August 2012
| quote = Die ungeheure Welt, die ich im Kopfe habe. Aber wie mich befreien und sie befreien, ohne zu zerreißen. Und tausendmal lieber zerreißen, als in mir sie zurückhalten oder begraben. Dazu bin ich ja hier, das ist mir ganz klar.
| ref = {{sfnRef|Project Gutenberg|2012}}
| archive-date = 6 January 2014
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140106034453/http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/162/5
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101220032453/http://kafka-franz.com/franz-kafka-writing.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101220032453/http://kafka-franz.com/franz-kafka-writing.htm
| archive-date = 20 December 2010 | archive-date = 20 December 2010
| year = 2011 | year = 2011
| publisher = Kafka-Franz | publisher = Kafka-Franz
| title = Franz Kafka Writing | title = Franz Kafka Writing
| access-date = 1 August 2012 | access-date = 1 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Kafka-Franz|2012}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Kafka-Franz|2012}}
}} }}
* {{cite news * {{cite news
| url = http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=10923 | url = http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=10923
| date = 17 March 2007 | date = 17 March 2007
| publisher = Socialist Worker Online | publisher = Socialist Worker Online
| title = Franz Kafka: Writing of the System's Despair and Alienation | title = Franz Kafka: Writing of the System's Despair and Alienation
| newspaper = Socialist Worker (Britain) | newspaper = Socialist Worker (Britain)
| access-date = 6 August 2012 | access-date = 6 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Socialist Worker|2007}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Socialist Worker|2007}}
| archive-date = 3 October 2015 | archive-date = 3 October 2015
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151003174917/http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=10923 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151003174917/http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=10923
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| language = de | language = de
| access-date = 28 August 2012 | access-date = 28 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Itk|2008}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Itk|2008}}
| archive-date = 24 September 2017 | archive-date = 24 September 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170924060014/http://www.textkritik.de/kafkazs/kafkadrucke.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170924060014/http://www.textkritik.de/kafkazs/kafkadrucke.htm
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| language = de | language = de
| access-date = 24 August 2012 | access-date = 24 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|S. Fischer|2012}} | ref = {{sfnRef|S. Fischer|2012}}
| archive-date = 20 September 2020 | archive-date = 20 September 2020
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200920234134/https://www.franzkafka.de/leben/frauen/grete-bloch | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200920234134/https://www.franzkafka.de/leben/frauen/grete-bloch
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| title = Kafka | title = Kafka
| access-date = 4 August 2012 | access-date = 4 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Writer's Institute|1992}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Writer's Institute|1992}}
| archive-date = 23 January 2020 | archive-date = 23 January 2020
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200123063220/https://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/filmnotes/fnf01n6.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200123063220/https://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/filmnotes/fnf01n6.html
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| title = Lothar Hempel | title = Lothar Hempel
| access-date = 2 August 2012 | access-date = 2 August 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050924095502/http://www.atlegerhardsen.com/pages/lothar_hempel/presse_eng_0802.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050924095502/http://www.atlegerhardsen.com/pages/lothar_hempel/presse_eng_0802.htm
| archive-date = 24 September 2005 | archive-date = 24 September 2005
| ref = {{sfnRef|Hempel|2002}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Hempel|2002}}
}} }}
* {{cite web * {{cite web
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| title = Musils 'Mann ohne Eigenschaften' ist 'wichtigster Roman des Jahrhunderts' | title = Musils 'Mann ohne Eigenschaften' ist 'wichtigster Roman des Jahrhunderts'
| access-date = 22 August 2012 | access-date = 22 August 2012
| archive-date = 7 June 2001 | archive-date = 7 June 2001
| ref = {{sfnRef|LiteraturHaus|1999}} | ref = {{sfnRef|LiteraturHaus|1999}}
}} }}
* {{cite web * {{cite web
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| title = Orson Welles on ''The Trial'' (BBC interview) | title = Orson Welles on ''The Trial'' (BBC interview)
| access-date = 22 September 2012 | access-date = 22 September 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Welles Net|1962}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Welles Net|1962}}
| archive-date = 17 November 2017 | archive-date = 17 November 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171117061211/http://www.wellesnet.com/trial%20bbc%20interview.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171117061211/http://www.wellesnet.com/trial%20bbc%20interview.htm
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| title = Oxford Kafka Research Centre | title = Oxford Kafka Research Centre
| access-date = 8 October 2012 | access-date = 8 October 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Oxford Kafka Research Centre|2012}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Oxford Kafka Research Centre|2012}}
| archive-date = 18 October 2017 | archive-date = 18 October 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171018182027/http://www.kafka-research.ox.ac.uk/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171018182027/http://www.kafka-research.ox.ac.uk/
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120204163258/http://www.poulruders.net/biography.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120204163258/http://www.poulruders.net/biography.htm
| archive-date = 4 February 2012 | archive-date = 4 February 2012
| date = June 2005 | date = June 2005
| publisher = Poul Ruders | publisher = Poul Ruders
| title = Poul Ruders Biography&nbsp;– 06/2005 | title = Poul Ruders Biography&nbsp;– 06/2005
| access-date = 4 August 2012 | access-date = 4 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Ruders|2005}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Ruders|2005}}
}} }}
* {{cite web * {{cite web
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| title = Solving a Literary Mystery | title = Solving a Literary Mystery
| access-date = 25 August 2012 | access-date = 25 August 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|Kafka Project SDSU|2012}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Kafka Project SDSU|2012}}
| archive-date = 19 March 2018 | archive-date = 19 March 2018
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180319021509/http://kafkaproject.com/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180319021509/http://kafkaproject.com/
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| title = Sound Interpretations&nbsp;– Dedication To Franz Kafka | title = Sound Interpretations&nbsp;– Dedication To Franz Kafka
| access-date = 4 October 2012 | access-date = 4 October 2012
| ref = {{sfnRef|HAZE|2012}} | ref = {{sfnRef|HAZE|2012}}
| url-status = dead | url-status = dead
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121009233821/http://h-a-z-e.org/archives/1059 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121009233821/http://h-a-z-e.org/archives/1059
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| url = http://www.mzv.cz/telaviv/en/visa_and_consular_services/citizenship/who_is_citizen_guide_to_czech.html | url = http://www.mzv.cz/telaviv/en/visa_and_consular_services/citizenship/who_is_citizen_guide_to_czech.html
| date = 25 October 2012 | date = 25 October 2012
| publisher = Embassy of the Czech Republic in Tel Aviv | publisher = Embassy of the Czech Republic in Tel Aviv
| title = Who Is Citizen? Guide to Czech Citizenship in 1918–1949 | title = Who Is Citizen? Guide to Czech Citizenship in 1918–1949
| access-date = 17 June 2013 | access-date = 17 June 2013
| ref = {{sfnRef|Czech Embassy|2012}} | ref = {{sfnRef|Czech Embassy|2012}}
| archive-date = 25 August 2017 | archive-date = 25 August 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170825105125/http://www.mzv.cz/telaviv/en/visa_and_consular_services/citizenship/who_is_citizen_guide_to_czech.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170825105125/http://www.mzv.cz/telaviv/en/visa_and_consular_services/citizenship/who_is_citizen_guide_to_czech.html
| url-status = live | url-status = live
}} }}
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| url = https://is.cuni.cz/webapps/archiv/public/book/bo/1971898055542710/46/?lang=en | url = https://is.cuni.cz/webapps/archiv/public/book/bo/1971898055542710/46/?lang=en
| publisher = Charles University Prague | publisher = Charles University Prague
| title = Doctor of Law 18 June 1906 - Registry books of the German University in Prague, inventory No. 3, Registry book of doctors of the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague/German University in Prague (1904–1924), page 42 | title = Doctor of Law 18 June 1906 Registry books of the German University in Prague, inventory No. 3, Registry book of doctors of the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague/German University in Prague (1904–1924), page 42
| access-date = 28 May 2022 | access-date = 28 May 2022
| ref = {{sfnRef|German University Prague - Doctor of Law|1906}} | ref = {{sfnRef|German University Prague Doctor of Law|1906}}
}} }}
* {{cite web * {{cite web
| url = https://is.cuni.cz/webapps/archiv/public/book/bo/1363411740766242/274/?lang=en | url = https://is.cuni.cz/webapps/archiv/public/book/bo/1363411740766242/274/?lang=en
| publisher = Charles University Prague | publisher = Charles University Prague
| title = Exam 22 March 1906 - Faculty of Law of the German University in Prague, Books of examination protocols of State Examination Commissions, inventory No. 75, State Scientific State Examination Commission at the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague (1905-1906), page 8595 | title = Exam 22 March 1906 Faculty of Law of the German University in Prague, Books of examination protocols of State Examination Commissions, inventory No. 75, State Scientific State Examination Commission at the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague (1905-1906), page 8595
| access-date = 28 May 2022 | access-date = 28 May 2022
| ref = {{sfnRef|German University Prague - Exam|1906}} | ref = {{sfnRef|German University Prague Exam|1906}}
}} }}
* {{cite web * {{cite web
| url = https://is.cuni.cz/webapps/archiv/public/book/bo/1979029190676775/158/?lang=en | url = https://is.cuni.cz/webapps/archiv/public/book/bo/1979029190676775/158/?lang=en
| publisher = Charles University Prague | publisher = Charles University Prague
| title = Exam 23 (Nov?) 1905 - Faculty of Law of the German University in Prague, Books of examination protocols of State Examination Commissions, inventory No. 44, Judicial State Examination Commission at the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague (1905-1907), page 10639 | title = Exam 23 (Nov?) 1905 Faculty of Law of the German University in Prague, Books of examination protocols of State Examination Commissions, inventory No. 44, Judicial State Examination Commission at the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague (1905-1907), page 10639
| access-date = 28 May 2022 | access-date = 28 May 2022
| ref = {{sfnRef|German University Prague - Exam|1905}} | ref = {{sfnRef|German University Prague Exam|1905}}
}} }}
* {{cite web * {{cite web
| url = https://is.cuni.cz/webapps/archiv/public/book/bo/1299922811952459/657/?lang=en | url = https://is.cuni.cz/webapps/archiv/public/book/bo/1299922811952459/657/?lang=en
| publisher = Charles University Prague | publisher = Charles University Prague
| title = Exam 18 July 1903 - Faculty of Law of the German University in Prague, Books of examination protocols of State Examination Commissions, inventory No. 10, Juridical Historical State Examination Commission at the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague (1902-1903), page 12789 | title = Exam 18 July 1903 Faculty of Law of the German University in Prague, Books of examination protocols of State Examination Commissions, inventory No. 10, Juridical Historical State Examination Commission at the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague (1902-1903), page 12789
| access-date = 28 May 2022 | access-date = 28 May 2022
| ref = {{sfnRef|German University Prague - Exam|1903}} | ref = {{sfnRef|German University Prague Exam|1903}}
}} }}
{{refend}} {{div col end}}


== Further reading == == Further reading ==
{{div col|colwidth=45em}}
{{refbegin}}
* Anderson, Mark, ed. (1989). ''Reading Kafka: Prague, Politics, and the'' Fin de Siècle. New York: ].
* {{cite book
| last = Baruffi
| first = Alessandro
| title = The Tales of Franz Kafka: English Translation with Original Text in German
| year = 2016
| publisher = LiteraryJoint Press
| location = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| isbn = 978-1-329-82109-5|ref=none
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Begley
| first = Louis
| author-link = Louis Begley
| title = The Tremendous World I Have Inside My Head, Franz Kafka: A Biographical Essay
| year = 2008
| publisher = Atlas & Co.
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-1-934633-06-9
| url = https://archive.org/details/tremendousworldi0000begl|ref=none
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Calasso
| first = Roberto
| author-link = Roberto Calasso
| translator = Geoffrey Brock
| title = K.
| year = 2005
| publisher = Alfred A. Knopf
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-1-4000-4189-3
| url = https://archive.org/details/k00cala|ref=none
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Citati
| first = Pietro
| author-link = Pietro Citati
| title = Kafka
| year = 1987
| publisher = Alfred A. Knopf
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-0-394-56840-9
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/kafka00cita|ref=none
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Coots
| first = Steve
| title = Franz Kafka (Beginner's Guide)
| year = 2002
| publisher = Hodder & Stoughton
| location = London
| isbn = 978-0-340-84648-3|ref=none
}}
* {{cite book
| last1 = Corngold
| first1 = Stanley
| author1-link = Stanley Corngold
| last2 = Wagner
| first2 = Benno
| title = Franz Kafka: The Ghosts in the Machine
| location = Evanston, Illinois
| publisher = Northwestern University Press
| year = 2011
| isbn = 978-0-8101-2769-2|ref=none
}}
* {{cite book
| last1 = Corngold
| first1 = Stanley
| author1-link = Stanley Corngold
| last2 = Gross
| first2 = Ruth V.
| title = Kafka for the Twenty-First Century
| year = 2011
| publisher = Camden House
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-1-57113-482-0|ref=none
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Czech
| first = Danuta
| author-link = Danuta Czech
| title = Kalendarz wydarzeń w KL Auschwitz
| language = pl
| year = 1992
| publisher = Wydawn
| location = Oświęcim|ref=none
}}
* {{cite book
| last1 = Deleuze
| first1 = Gilles
| author-link1 = Gilles Deleuze
| last2 = Guattari
| first2 = Félix
| author-link2 = Félix Guattari
| title = ]
| series = Theory and History of Literature
| volume = 30
| year = 1986
| publisher = University of Minnesota Press
| location = Minneapolis
| isbn = 978-0-8166-1515-5|ref=none
}}
* ] (2007). ''Kafka and Photography''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-921945-2}}. * ] (2007). ''Kafka and Photography''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-921945-2}}.
* Duttlinger, Carolin (2013). ''The Cambridge Introduction to Franz Kafka''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-521-75771-3}}. * Duttlinger, Carolin (2013). ''The Cambridge Introduction to Franz Kafka''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-521-75771-3}}.
* {{cite web|last=Frenkel|first=Sheera|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/05/30/153985994/kafkas-final-absurdist-tale-plays-out-in-tel-aviv|date=30 May 2012|publisher=]|title=Kafka's Final Absurdist Tale Plays Out in Tel Aviv|access-date=28 September 2012|archive-date=18 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418031700/https://www.npr.org/2012/05/30/153985994/kafkas-final-absurdist-tale-plays-out-in-tel-aviv|url-status=live|ref=none}}
* {{cite book * {{cite book
| last = Gray | last = Gray
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| publisher = Prentice-Hall | publisher = Prentice-Hall
| location = Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey | location = Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
| isbn = 978-1-199-77830-7 | isbn = 978-1-199-77830-7|ref=none
}} }}
* ] (1995). ''Franz Kafka: The Jewish Patient''. New York: Routledge. {{ISBN|041591177X}}.
* ] (2005). ''Franz Kafka''. London: Reaktion Books Ltd. {{ISBN|1 86189 254 3}}.
* {{cite book * {{cite book
| last = Greenberg | last = Greenberg
Line 2,357: Line 2,482:
| publisher = Basic Books | publisher = Basic Books
| location = New York | location = New York
| isbn = 978-0-465-08415-9 | isbn = 978-0-465-08415-9|ref=none
}}
* {{cite book
| last1 = Deleuze
| first1 = Gilles
| author-link1 = Gilles Deleuze
| last2 = Guattari
| first2 = Félix
| author-link2 = Félix Guattari
| title = ]
| series = Theory and History of Literature
| volume = 30
| year = 1986
| publisher = University of Minnesota Press
| location = Minneapolis
| isbn = 978-0-8166-1515-5
}} }}
* {{cite book * {{cite book
Line 2,383: Line 2,493:
| location = New York | location = New York
| isbn = 978-0-8052-4001-6 | isbn = 978-0-8052-4001-6
| url = https://archive.org/details/lovesoffranzkafk00glat | url = https://archive.org/details/lovesoffranzkafk00glat|ref=none
}} }}
* {{cite book * {{cite book
Line 2,393: Line 2,503:
| year = 1986 | year = 1986
| publisher = Círculo de Lectores | publisher = Círculo de Lectores
| location = Barcelona | location = Barcelona|ref=none
}} }}
* {{cite book * {{cite book
Line 2,402: Line 2,512:
| year = 1986 | year = 1986
| publisher = Círculo de Lectores | publisher = Círculo de Lectores
| location = Barcelona | location = Barcelona|ref=none
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Citati
| first = Pietro
| author-link = Pietro Citati
| title = Kafka
| year = 1987
| publisher = Alfred A. Knopf
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-0-394-56840-9
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/kafka00cita
}} }}
* {{cite book * {{cite book
Line 2,427: Line 2,525:
| year = 1988 | year = 1988
| publisher = Círculo de Lectores | publisher = Círculo de Lectores
| location = Barcelona | location = Barcelona|ref=none
}} }}
* {{cite book * {{cite book
Line 2,438: Line 2,536:
| publisher = Stauffenburg | publisher = Stauffenburg
| location = Tübingen | location = Tübingen
| isbn = 978-3-923721-40-5 | isbn = 978-3-923721-40-5|ref=none
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Czech
| first = Danuta
| author-link = Danuta Czech
| title = Kalendarz wydarzeń w KL Auschwitz
| language = pl
| year = 1992
| publisher = Wydawn
| location = Oświęcim
}} }}
* {{cite journal * {{cite journal
Line 2,459: Line 2,547:
| year = 1995 | year = 1995
| volume = 2 | volume = 2
| issue = 2 | issue = 2|ref=none
}} }}
* {{cite book * {{cite book
Line 2,469: Line 2,557:
| publisher = Phoenix Press | publisher = Phoenix Press
| location = London | location = London
| isbn = 978-1-84212-415-4 | isbn = 978-1-84212-415-4|ref=none
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Coots
| first = Steve
| title = Franz Kafka (Beginner's Guide)
| year = 2002
| publisher = Hodder & Stoughton
| location = London
| isbn = 978-0-340-84648-3
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Calasso
| first = Roberto
| author-link = Roberto Calasso
| translator = Geoffrey Brock
| title = K.
| year = 2005
| publisher = Alfred A. Knopf
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-1-4000-4189-3
| url = https://archive.org/details/k00cala
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Begley
| first = Louis
| author-link = Louis Begley
| title = The Tremendous World I Have Inside My Head, Franz Kafka: A Biographical Essay
| year = 2008
| publisher = Atlas & Co.
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-1-934633-06-9
| url = https://archive.org/details/tremendousworldi0000begl
}}
* {{cite book
| last1 = Corngold
| first1 = Stanley
| last2 = Wagner
| first2 = Benno
| title = Franz Kafka: The Ghosts in the Machine
| location = Evanston, Illinois
| publisher = Northwestern University Press
| year = 2011
| isbn = 978-0-8101-2769-2
}}
* {{cite book
| last1 = Corngold
| first1 = Stanley
| last2 = Gross
| first2 = Ruth V.
| title = Kafka for the Twenty-First Century
| year = 2011
| publisher = Camden House
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-1-57113-482-0
}} }}
* {{cite book * {{cite book
Line 2,531: Line 2,565:
| year = 2011 | year = 2011
| publisher = Authorhouse | publisher = Authorhouse
| isbn = 978-1-4389-9021-7 | isbn = 978-1-4389-9021-7|ref=none
}} }}
* ], and ] (1993). ''Kafka for Beginners''. Cheltenham, England: Icon Publishing Ltd; also published as '']'' (1994). Northampton, Massachusetts: Kitchen Sink Press.
* {{cite book * {{cite book
| last = Major | last = Major
Line 2,540: Line 2,575:
| publisher = Harcourt Publishing | publisher = Harcourt Publishing
| location = San Diego, California | location = San Diego, California
| isbn = 978-0-9567982-1-3 | isbn = 978-0-9567982-1-3|ref=none
}} }}
* {{cite book * {{cite book
Line 2,549: Line 2,584:
| publisher = University of Pennsylvania Press | publisher = University of Pennsylvania Press
| location = Philadelphia | location = Philadelphia
| isbn = 978-0-8122-4371-0 | isbn = 978-0-8122-4371-0|ref=none
}} }}
* {{cite book * {{cite book
Line 2,560: Line 2,595:
| publisher = Twayne Publishers | publisher = Twayne Publishers
| location = Boston | location = Boston
| isbn = 0805783237 | isbn = 0805783237|ref=none
}} }}
* {{cite book * {{cite book
Line 2,568: Line 2,603:
| year = 2018 | year = 2018
| publisher = University of South Carolina Press | publisher = University of South Carolina Press
| location = Columbia, SC | location = Columbia, South Carolins
| isbn = 9781611178289 | isbn = 9781611178289|ref=none
}} }}
* ] (2004). ''Kafka: A Very Short Introduction''. Oxford: Oxford University Press; illustrated edition titled ''Kafka: A Brief Insight'' (New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 2010).
* {{cite book
* Robertson, Ritchie, ed. (2024). ''Kafka: Making of an Icon''. Oxford, UK: Bodleian Library Publishing.
| last = Baruffi
* ] (1984). ''Franz Kafka: Pictures of a Life''. New York: Pantheon Books.
| first = Alessandro

| title = The Tales of Franz Kafka: English Translation with Original Text in German
'''Books on Kafka and Prague'''
| year = 2016
* ] (1950). ''Franz Kafka and Prague''. New York: Golden Griffin Books.
| publisher = LiteraryJoint Press
* Frynta, Emanuel (1960). ''Kafka and Prague''. London: Batchworth Press Limited.
| location = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Hatefutsoth, Beth (1980). ''Kafka–Prague''. Tel Aviv: ].
| isbn = 978-1-329-82109-5
* Kállay, Karol (2005). ''Franz Kafka and Prague''. Bratislava: Slovart Publishing Ltd. (Chicago, Illinois: Independent Publishers Group).
}}
* Salfellner, Harald (1998). ''Franz Kafka and Prague: Third greatly revised and enlarged edition''. Prague: Vitalis.
* ], ''Kafka: A Very Short Introduction'' (Oxford: OUP, 2004); illustrated edition titled ''Kafka: A Brief Insight'' (New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 2010)
* Salfellner, Harald (2011). ''Franz Kafka and Prague: A Literary Guide''. Prague: Vitalis.
* {{cite book|last=Wagenbach|first=Klaus|author-link=Klaus Wagenbach|year=1996|title=Kafka's Prague: A Travel Reader|translator=]|location=Woodstock, New York|publisher=]|isbn=9780879516444|url=https://archive.org/details/kafkaspraguetrav00wage/mode/2up|url-access=registration|via=]|ref=none}} See also Wagenbach (2019), listed in "Sources".
* Železná, Marta, ed. (1998). ''Kafka and Prague''. Third revised edition. Prague: Franz Kafka Publishers.


'''Journals''' '''Journals'''
* {{cite journal
| last = Ryan
| first = Michael P.
| s2cid = 59481029
| title = Samsa and Samsara: Suffering, Death and Rebirth in 'The Metamorphosis'
| year = 1999
| journal = German Quarterly
| location = Durham, North Carolina
| volume = 72
| issue = 2
| pages = 133–152
| doi = 10.2307/408369
| jstor = 408369
}}
* {{cite web
|last = Kopić
|first = Mario
|author-link = Mario Kopić
|year = 2004
|url = http://www.odjek.ba/eng/index.php?broj=02&id=06
|publisher = Odjek
|title = Kafka and Nationalism
|access-date = 10 September 2013
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131012015421/http://www.odjek.ba/eng/index.php?broj=02&id=06
|archive-date = 12 October 2013
|url-status = dead
}}
* {{cite journal * {{cite journal
| last = Danta | last = Danta
Line 2,618: Line 2,629:
| issue = 2 | issue = 2
| location = Baltimore, Maryland | location = Baltimore, Maryland
| journal = Modernism/Modernity | journal = ]
| pages = 343–359 | pages = 343–359
| doi = 10.1353/mod.2008.0048 | doi = 10.1353/mod.2008.0048
| s2cid = 170492502 | s2cid = 170492502|ref=none
}} }}
* {{cite journal * {{cite journal
Line 2,637: Line 2,648:
| s2cid = 159892429 | s2cid = 159892429
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200209184455/https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/44708599/Reading_Kafka_Visually_Gothic_Ornament_and_the_Motion_of_Writing_in_Kafka_s_Der_Process.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DReading_Kafka_Visually_Gothic_Ornament_a.pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A%2F20200209%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200209T184401Z&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=e4f053675f5c0365d9dd6f88807e51fd367f0c9578690b45886e993215525654 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200209184455/https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/44708599/Reading_Kafka_Visually_Gothic_Ornament_and_the_Motion_of_Writing_in_Kafka_s_Der_Process.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DReading_Kafka_Visually_Gothic_Ornament_a.pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A%2F20200209%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200209T184401Z&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=e4f053675f5c0365d9dd6f88807e51fd367f0c9578690b45886e993215525654
| archive-date = 9 February 2020 | archive-date = 9 February 2020|ref=none
}}
* {{cite web
|last = Kopić
|first = Mario
|author-link = Mario Kopić
|year = 2004
|url = http://www.odjek.ba/eng/index.php?broj=02&id=06
|publisher = Odjek
|title = Kafka and Nationalism
|access-date = 10 September 2013
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131012015421/http://www.odjek.ba/eng/index.php?broj=02&id=06
|archive-date = 12 October 2013
|url-status = dead|ref=none
}} }}
* {{cite web * {{cite web
Line 2,646: Line 2,670:
| work = Kafka Project | work = Kafka Project
| access-date = 26 April 2013 | access-date = 26 April 2013
| archive-date = 28 June 2010 | archive-date = 28 June 2010
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100628232215/http://www.kafka.org/index.php?id=185,290,0,0,1,0 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100628232215/http://www.kafka.org/index.php?id=185,290,0,0,1,0
| url-status = live | url-status = live|ref=none
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Ryan
| first = Michael P.
| s2cid = 59481029
| title = Samsa and Samsara: Suffering, Death and Rebirth in 'The Metamorphosis'
| year = 1999
| journal = ]
| location = Durham, North Carolina
| volume = 72
| issue = 2
| pages = 133–152
| doi = 10.2307/408369
| jstor = 408369|ref=none
}} }}
{{refend}} {{div col end}}


== External links == == External links ==
<!-- Please do not add links here unless you are absolutely certain they conform to Misplaced Pages guidelines. See: at en.wikipedia.org for more information. --> <!-- Please do not add links here unless you are absolutely certain they conform to Misplaced Pages guidelines. See: at en.wikipedia.org for more information. -->


{{Sister project links|wikt=|mw=no|d=Q905|b=no|v=no|s=Author:Franz Kafka|voy=no|n=no}} {{Sister project links|wikt=|mw=no|d=Q905|b=no|v=no|s=Author:Franz Kafka|voy=no|n=no}}
Line 2,666: Line 2,704:
* &nbsp;– information on ongoing international Kafka research * &nbsp;– information on ongoing international Kafka research
* *
* {{Curlie|Arts/Literature/Authors/K/Kafka%2C_Franz/}}
* , Franz Kafka receives a tribute in this album of "recomposed photographs". * , Franz Kafka receives a tribute in this album of "recomposed photographs".
* Photographs of places where Kafka lived and worked * Photographs of places where Kafka lived and worked
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* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630120310/http://www.franzkafka-soc.cz/index.php?action=view&page=cnakladatelstvi |date=30 June 2017 }} Franz Kafka Society and Publishing House in Prague * {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630120310/http://www.franzkafka-soc.cz/index.php?action=view&page=cnakladatelstvi |date=30 June 2017 }} Franz Kafka Society and Publishing House in Prague
* A Ted talk on Kafka, his works and his legacy, by Noah Tavlin * A Ted talk on Kafka, his works and his legacy, by Noah Tavlin
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* , 1 April 2024, finebooksmagazine.com. "Kafka: Making of an Icon ... After the exhibition’s run at the Weston Library, Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, from May 30 until October 27, it will move to the Morgan Library in New York running November 22 through April 13, 2025". Review: Hutchinson, Ben, , '']'', 13 June 2024. Review: Williams, James,
* , exhibit at the ] in Manhattan from 22 November 2024 through 13 April 2025


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Latest revision as of 13:17, 6 December 2024

Bohemian writer (1883–1924) "Kafka" redirects here. For other uses, see Kafka (disambiguation).

Franz Kafka
Black-and-white photograph of Kafka as a young man with dark hair in a formal suitKafka in 1923
Born(1883-07-03)3 July 1883
Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary
Died3 June 1924(1924-06-03) (aged 40)
Klosterneuburg, Lower Austria, Austria
Resting placeNew Jewish Cemetery, Prague
Citizenship
Alma materGerman Charles-Ferdinand University
Occupations
  • Novelist
  • short story writer
  • insurance officer
WorksList
StyleModernism
Signature

Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was an Austrian-Czech novelist and writer from Prague. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature; he wrote in German. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers. It has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity. His best known works include the novella The Metamorphosis and the novels The Trial and The Castle. The term Kafkaesque has entered English to describe absurd situations like those depicted in his writing.

Kafka was born into a middle-class German- and Yiddish-speaking Czech Jewish family in Prague, the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia, which belonged to the Austrian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (today the capital of the Czech Republic, also known as Czechia). He trained as a lawyer, and after completing his legal education was employed full-time, for a year handling cases for the indigent in the city's Provincial and Criminal Courts by an insurance company, then working for nine months for an Italian insurance company, and finally, starting in 1908, spending 14 years with the Austrian Imperial and Royal Workmen's Accident Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia and its successor under the Czechoslovak Republic, rising to the position of chief legal secretary.

Being employed full-time forced Kafka to relegate writing to his spare time. Over the course of his life, Kafka wrote hundreds of letters to family and close friends, including his father, with whom he had a strained and formal relationship. He became engaged to several women but never married. He died in obscurity in 1924 at the age of 40 from tuberculosis.

Kafka was a prolific writer, spending most of his free time writing, often late into the night. He burned an estimated 90 percent of his total work due to his persistent struggles with self-doubt. Much of the remaining 10 percent is lost or otherwise unpublished. Few of Kafka's works were published during his lifetime; although the story collections Contemplation and A Country Doctor, and individual stories, such as his novella The Metamorphosis, were published in literary magazines, they received little attention.

In his will, Kafka instructed his close friend and literary executor Max Brod to destroy his unfinished works, including his novels The Trial, The Castle, and Amerika, but Brod ignored these instructions and had much of his work published. Kafka's writings became famous in German-speaking countries after World War II, influencing German literature, and its influence spread elsewhere in the world in the 1960s. It has also influenced artists, composers, and philosophers.

Life

Early life

Hermann KafkaJulie KafkaHis parents, Hermann and Julie Kafka

Kafka was born near the Old Town Square in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His family were German-speaking middle-class Ashkenazi Jews. His father, Hermann Kafka (1854–1931), was the fourth child of Jakob Kafka, a shochet or ritual slaughterer in Osek, a Czech village with a large Jewish population located near Strakonice in southern Bohemia. Hermann brought the Kafka family to Prague. After working as a travelling sales representative, he eventually became a fashion retailer who employed up to 15 people and used the image of a jackdaw (kavka in Czech, pronounced and colloquially written as kafka) as his business logo. Kafka's mother, Julie (1856–1934), was the daughter of Jakob Löwy, a prosperous retail merchant in Poděbrady, and was better educated than her husband.

Kafka's parents, from traditional Jewish society, spoke German replete with influences from their native Yiddish; their children, raised in an acculturated environment, spoke Standard German. Hermann and Julie had six children, of whom Franz was the eldest. Franz's two brothers, Georg and Heinrich, died in infancy before Franz was seven; his three sisters were Gabriele ("Elli") (1889–1942), Valerie ("Valli") (1890–1942) and Ottilie ("Ottla") (1892–1943). All three were murdered in the Holocaust of World War II. Valli was deported to the Łódź Ghetto in occupied Poland in 1942, but that is the last documentation of her; it is assumed she did not survive the war. Ottilie was Kafka's favourite sister.

Hermann is described by Kafka scholar and translator Stanley Corngold as a "huge, selfish, overbearing businessman" and by Franz Kafka as "a true Kafka in strength, health, appetite, loudness of voice, eloquence, self-satisfaction, worldly dominance, endurance, presence of mind, knowledge of human nature, a certain way of doing things on a grand scale, of course with all the defects and weaknesses that go with all these advantages and into which your temperament and sometimes your hot temper drive you". On business days, both parents were absent from the home, with Julie Kafka working as many as 12 hours each day helping to manage the family business. Consequently, Kafka's childhood was somewhat lonely, and the children were reared largely by a series of governesses and servants. Kafka's troubled relationship with his father is evident in his Brief an den Vater (Letter to His Father) of more than 100 pages, in which he complains of being profoundly affected by his father's authoritarian and demanding character; his mother, in contrast, was quiet and shy. The dominating figure of Kafka's father had a significant influence on Kafka's writing.

The Kafka family had a servant girl living with them in a cramped apartment. Franz's room was often cold. In November 1913, the family moved into a bigger apartment, although Ellie and Valli had married and moved out of the first apartment. In early August 1914, just after World War I began, the sisters did not know where their husbands were in the military and moved back in with the family in this larger apartment. Both Ellie and Valli also had children. Franz at age 31 moved into Valli's former apartment, quiet by contrast, and lived by himself for the first time.

Education

An ornate four-storey palatial building
Kinský Palace where Kafka attended gymnasium and his father owned a shop

From 1889 to 1893, Kafka attended the German boys' elementary school at the Masný trh/Fleischmarkt (meat market), now known as Masná Street. His Jewish education ended with his bar mitzvah celebration at the age of 13. Kafka never enjoyed attending the synagogue and went with his father only on four high holidays each year.

After leaving elementary school in 1893, Kafka was admitted to the rigorous classics-oriented state gymnasium, Altstädter Deutsches Gymnasium, an academic secondary school at Old Town Square, located within Kinský Palace. German was the language of instruction, but Kafka also spoke and wrote in Czech. He studied the latter at the gymnasium for eight years, achieving good grades. Although Kafka received compliments for his Czech, he never considered himself fluent in the language, though he spoke German with a Czech accent. He completed his Matura exams in 1901.

Kafka was admitted to the Deutsche Karl-Ferdinands-Universität of Prague in 1901. He was originally admitted for philosophy, and he had additionally signed up for chemistry. Kafka began studying chemistry but switched to law after two weeks. Although this field did not excite him, it offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father. In addition, law required a longer course of study, giving Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history. He also joined a student club, Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten (Reading and Lecture Hall of the German students), which organised literary events, readings and other activities. Among Kafka's friends were the journalist Felix Weltsch, who studied philosophy, the actor Yitzchak Lowy who came from an orthodox Hasidic Warsaw family, and the writers Ludwig Winder, Oskar Baum and Franz Werfel.

At the end of his first year of studies, Kafka met Max Brod, a fellow law student who became a close friend for life. Years later, Brod coined the term Der enge Prager Kreis ("The Close Prague Circle") to describe the group of writers, which included Kafka, Felix Weltsch and Brod himself. Brod soon noticed that, although Kafka was shy and seldom spoke, what he said was usually profound. Kafka was an avid reader throughout his life; together he and Brod read Plato's Protagoras in the original Greek, on Brod's initiative, and Flaubert's L'éducation sentimentale and La Tentation de St. Antoine (The Temptation of Saint Anthony) in French, at his own suggestion. Kafka considered Fyodor Dostoevsky, Gustave Flaubert, Nikolai Gogol, Franz Grillparzer, and Heinrich von Kleist to be his "true blood brothers". Besides these, he took an interest in Czech literature and was also very fond of the works of Goethe. Kafka was awarded the degree of Doctor of Law on 18 June 1906 and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as a law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.

Employment

Former home of the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute

On 1 November 1907, Kafka was employed at the Assicurazioni Generali, an insurance company, where he worked for nearly a year. His correspondence during that period indicates that he was unhappy with a work schedule—from 08:00 until 18:00—that made it extremely difficult to concentrate on writing, which was assuming increasing importance to him. On 15 July 1908, he resigned. Two weeks later, he found employment more amenable to writing when he joined the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia (Úrazová pojišťovna dělnická pro Čechy v Praze). The job involved investigating and assessing compensation for personal injury to industrial workers; accidents such as lost fingers or limbs were commonplace, owing to poor work safety policies at the time. It was especially true of factories fitted with machine lathes, drills, planing machines and rotary saws, which were rarely fitted with safety guards.

His father often referred to his son's job as an insurance officer as a Brotberuf, literally "bread job", a job done only to pay the bills; Kafka often claimed to despise it. Kafka was rapidly promoted and his duties included processing and investigating compensation claims, writing reports, and handling appeals from businessmen who thought their firms had been placed in too high a risk category, which cost them more in insurance premiums. He would compile and compose the annual report on the insurance institute for the several years he worked there. The reports were well received by his superiors. Kafka usually got off work at 2 p.m., so that he had time to spend on his literary work, to which he was committed. Kafka's father also expected him to help out at and take over the family fancy goods store. In his later years, Kafka's illness often prevented him from working at the insurance bureau and at his writing.

In late 1911, Elli's husband Karl Hermann and Kafka became partners in the first asbestos factory in Prague, known as Prager Asbestwerke Hermann & Co., having used dowry money from Hermann Kafka. Kafka showed a positive attitude at first, dedicating much of his free time to the business, but he later resented the encroachment of this work on his writing time. During that period, he also found interest and entertainment in the performances of Yiddish theatre. After seeing a Yiddish theatre troupe perform in October 1911, for the next six months Kafka "immersed himself in Yiddish language and in Yiddish literature". This interest also served as a starting point for his growing exploration of Judaism. It was at about this time that Kafka became a vegetarian. Around 1915, Kafka received his draft notice for military service in World War I, but his employers at the insurance institute arranged for a deferment because his work was considered essential government service. He later attempted to join the military but was prevented from doing so by medical problems associated with tuberculosis, with which he was diagnosed in 1917. In 1918, the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute put Kafka on a pension due to his illness, for which there was no cure at the time, and he spent most of the rest of his life in sanatoriums.

Private life

Felice Bauer and Franz Kafka

Kafka never married. According to Brod, Kafka was "tortured" by sexual desire, and Kafka's biographer Reiner Stach states that his life was full of "incessant womanising" and that he was filled with a fear of "sexual failure". Kafka visited brothels for most of his adult life and was interested in pornography. In addition, he had close relationships with several women during his lifetime. On 13 August 1912, Kafka met Felice Bauer, a relative of Brod's, who worked in Berlin as a representative of a dictaphone company. A week after the meeting at Brod's home, Kafka wrote in his diary:

Miss FB. When I arrived at Brod's on 13 August, she was sitting at the table. I was not at all curious about who she was, but rather took her for granted at once. Bony, empty face that wore its emptiness openly. Bare throat. A blouse thrown on. Looked very domestic in her dress although, as it turned out, she by no means was. (I alienate myself from her a little by inspecting her so closely ...) Almost broken nose. Blonde, somewhat straight, unattractive hair, strong chin. As I was taking my seat I looked at her closely for the first time, by the time I was seated I already had an unshakeable opinion.

Shortly after this meeting, Kafka wrote the story "Das Urteil" ("The Judgment") in only one night and in a productive period worked on Der Verschollene (The Man Who Disappeared) and Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis). Kafka and Felice Bauer communicated mostly through letters over the next five years, met occasionally, and were engaged twice. Kafka's extant letters to Bauer were published as Briefe an Felice (Letters to Felice); her letters did not survive. After he had written to Bauer's father asking to marry her, Kafka wrote in his diary:

My job is unbearable to me because it conflicts with my only desire and my only calling, which is literature.... I am nothing but literature and can and want to be nothing else ... Nervous states of the worst sort control me without pause ... A marriage could not change me, just as my job cannot change me.

According to the biographers Stach and James Hawes, Kafka became engaged a third time around 1920, to Julie Wohryzek, a poor and uneducated hotel chambermaid. Kafka's father objected to Julie because of her Zionist beliefs. Although Kafka and Julie rented a flat and set a wedding date, the marriage never took place. During this time, Kafka began a draft of Letter to His Father. Before the date of the intended marriage, he took up with yet another woman. While he needed women and sex in his life, he had low self-confidence, felt sex was dirty, and was cripplingly shy—especially about his body.

Stach and Brod state that during the time that Kafka knew Felice Bauer, he had an affair with a friend of hers, Margarethe "Grete" Bloch, a Jewish woman from Berlin. Brod says that Bloch gave birth to Kafka's son, although Kafka never knew about the child. The boy, whose name is not known, was born in 1914 or 1915 and died in Munich in 1921. However, Kafka's biographer Peter-André Alt says that, while Bloch had a son, Kafka was not the father, as the pair were never intimate. Stach points out that there is a great deal of contradictory evidence around the claim that Kafka was the father.

Kafka was diagnosed with tuberculosis in August 1917 and moved for a few months to the Bohemian village of Zürau (Siřem in Czech), where his sister Ottla worked on the farm of her brother-in-law Karl Hermann. He felt comfortable there and later described this time as perhaps the best period of his life, probably because he had no responsibilities. He kept diaries and made notes in exercise books (Oktavhefte). From those notes, Kafka extracted 109 numbered pieces of text on single pieces of paper (Zettel); these were later published as Die Zürauer Aphorismen oder Betrachtungen über Sünde, Hoffnung, Leid und den wahren Weg (The Zürau Aphorisms or Reflections on Sin, Hope, Suffering, and the True Way).

In 1920, Kafka began an intense relationship with Milena Jesenská, a Czech journalist and writer who was non-Jewish and who was married, but when she met Kafka, her marriage was a "sham". His letters to her were later published as Briefe an Milena. During a vacation in July 1923 to Graal-Müritz on the Baltic Sea, Kafka met Dora Diamant, a 25-year-old kindergarten teacher from an orthodox Jewish family. Kafka, hoping to escape the influence of his family to concentrate on his writing, moved briefly to Berlin (September 1923-March 1924) and lived with Diamant. She became his lover and sparked his interest in the Talmud. He worked on four stories, including Ein Hungerkünstler (A Hunger Artist), which were published shortly after his death.

Siblings

Franz Kafka's sisters as children, from the left Valli, Elli, Ottla

Kafka's parents had six children; Franz was the eldest. His two brothers, Georg and Heinrich, died in infancy; his three sisters, Gabriele ("Elli") (September 22, 1889 – fall of 1942), Valerie ("Valli") (1890–1942) and Ottilie ("Ottla") (1892–1943), are believed to have been murdered in the Holocaust of the Second World War. Ottilie was Kafka's favourite sister.

Gabriele was Kafka's eldest sister. She was known as Elli or Ellie; her married name is variously rendered as Hermann or Hermannová. She attended a German girls' school in Prague's Řeznická Street and later a private girls' secondary school. She married Karl Hermann (1883–1939), a salesman, in 1910. The couple had a son, Felix (1911–1940), and two daughters, Gertrude (Gerti) Kaufmann (1912–1972), and Hanna Seidner (1920–1941). After her marriage to Hermann, she became closer to her brother, whose letters showed an active interest in the upbringing and education of her children. He accompanied her on a 1915 trip to Hungary to visit Hermann, who was stationed there, and spent a summer with her and her children in Müritz the year before he died.

With the outbreak of the Great Depression in 1929, the Hermann family business experienced financial difficulties and eventually went bankrupt. Karl Hermann died February 27, 1939, and Elli was supported financially by her sisters. On October 21, 1941, she was deported together with her daughter Hanna to the Łódź Ghetto, where she lived temporarily with her sister Valli and Valli's husband in the spring of 1942. She was probably killed in the Kulmhof extermination camp in the fall of 1942. Of Elli's three children, only her daughter Gerti survived the Second World War. A memorial plaque commemorates the three sisters at the family grave in the New Jewish Cemetery in Prague.

Personality

Kafka as a Doctor of Law, around 1906

Kafka had a lifelong suspicion that people found him mentally and physically repulsive. However, many of those who met him found him to possess obvious intelligence and a sense of humour; they also found him handsome, although of austere appearance. Kafka was thought to be "very self-analytic". Brod compared Kafka to Heinrich von Kleist, noting that both writers had the ability to describe a situation realistically with precise details. Brod thought Kafka was one of the most entertaining people he had met; Kafka enjoyed sharing his humour with his friends but also helped them in difficult situations with good advice. According to Brod, he was a passionate reciter, able to phrase his speech as though it were music. Brod felt that two of Kafka's most distinguishing traits were "absolute truthfulness" (absolute Wahrhaftigkeit) and "precise conscientiousness" (präzise Gewissenhaftigkeit). He explored inconspicuous details in depth and with such precision and love that unforeseen things surfaced that seemed strange but absolutely true (nichts als wahr).

Kafka's letters and unexpurgated diaries reveal repressed homoerotic desires, including an infatuation with novelist Franz Werfel and fascination with the work of Hans Blüher on male bonding. Saul Friedländer argues that this mental struggle may have informed the themes of alienation and psychological brutality in his writing.

Although Kafka showed little interest in exercise as a child, he later developed a passion for games and physical activity and was an accomplished rider, swimmer, and rower. On weekends, he and his friends embarked on long hikes, often planned by Kafka himself. His other interests included alternative medicine, modern education systems such as Montessori, and technological novelties such as airplanes and film. Writing was vitally important to Kafka; he considered it a "form of prayer". He was highly sensitive to noise and preferred absolute quiet when writing. Kafka was also a vegetarian and did not drink alcohol.

Pérez-Álvarez has claimed that Kafka had symptomatology consistent with schizoid personality disorder. His style, it is claimed, not only in Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis) but in other writings, appears to show low- to medium-level schizoid traits, which Pérez-Álvarez claims to have influenced much of his work. His anguish can be seen in this diary entry from 21 June 1913:

Die ungeheure Welt, die ich im Kopfe habe. Aber wie mich befreien und sie befreien, ohne zu zerreißen. Und tausendmal lieber zerreißen, als in mir sie zurückhalten oder begraben. Dazu bin ich ja hier, das ist mir ganz klar. The tremendous world I have inside my head, but how to free myself and free it without being torn to pieces. And a thousand times rather be torn to pieces than retain it in me or bury it. That, indeed, is why I am here, that is quite clear to me.

and in Zürau Aphorism number 50:

Der Mensch kann nicht leben ohne ein dauerndes Vertrauen zu etwas Unzerstörbarem in sich, wobei sowohl das Unzerstörbare als auch das Vertrauen ihm dauernd verborgen bleiben können. Man cannot live without a permanent trust in something indestructible within himself, though both that indestructible something and his own trust in it may remain permanently concealed from him.

Italian medical researchers Alessia Coralli and Antonio Perciaccante have posited in a 2016 article that Kafka may have had borderline personality disorder with co-occurring psychophysiological insomnia. Joan Lachkar interpreted Die Verwandlung as "a vivid depiction of the borderline personality" and described the story as "model for Kafka's own abandonment fears, anxiety, depression, and parasitic dependency needs. Kafka illuminated the borderline's general confusion of normal and healthy desires, wishes, and needs with something ugly and disdainful".

Though Kafka never married, he held marriage and children in high esteem. He had several girlfriends and lovers during his life. He may have suffered from an eating disorder. Doctor Manfred M. Fichter of the Psychiatric Clinic, University of Munich, presented "evidence for the hypothesis that the writer Franz Kafka had suffered from an atypical anorexia nervosa", and that Kafka was not just lonely and depressed but also "occasionally suicidal". In his 1995 book Franz Kafka, the Jewish Patient, Sander Gilman investigated "why a Jew might have been considered 'hypochondriacal' or 'homosexual' and how Kafka incorporates aspects of these ways of understanding the Jewish male into his own self-image and writing". Kafka considered suicide at least once, in late 1912.

Political views

Before World War I, Kafka attended several meetings of the Klub mladých, a Czech anarchist, anti-militarist, and anti-clerical organization. Hugo Bergmann, who attended the same elementary and high schools as Kafka, fell out with Kafka during their last academic year (1900–1901) because " socialism and my Zionism were much too strident". Bergmann said: "Franz became a socialist, I became a Zionist in 1898. The synthesis of Zionism and socialism did not yet exist." Bergmann claims that Kafka wore a red carnation to school to show his support for socialism. In one diary entry, Kafka made reference to the influential anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin: "Don't forget Kropotkin!"

During the communist era, the legacy of Kafka's work for Eastern Bloc socialism was hotly debated. Opinions ranged from the notion that he satirised the bureaucratic bungling of a crumbling Austro-Hungarian Empire, to the belief that he embodied the rise of socialism. A further key point was Marx's theory of alienation. While the orthodox position was that Kafka's depictions of alienation were no longer relevant for a society that had supposedly eliminated alienation, a 1963 conference held in Liblice, Czechoslovakia, on the eightieth anniversary of his birth, reassessed the importance of Kafka's portrayal of bureaucracy. Whether Kafka was a political writer is still an issue of debate.

Judaism and Zionism

Further information: Franz Kafka and Judaism
Kafka in 1910
Kafka's notebook with his studies of Hebrew

Kafka grew up in Prague as a German-speaking Jew. He was deeply fascinated by the Jews of Eastern Europe, who he thought possessed an intensity of spiritual life that was absent from Jews in the West. His diary contains many references to Yiddish writers. Yet he was at times alienated from Judaism and Jewish life. On 8 January 1914, he wrote in his diary:

Was habe ich mit Juden gemeinsam? Ich habe kaum etwas mit mir gemeinsam und sollte mich ganz still, zufrieden damit daß ich atmen kann, in einen Winkel stellen. What have I in common with Jews? I have hardly anything in common with myself and should stand very quietly in a corner, content that I can breathe.

In his adolescent years, Kafka declared himself an atheist.

Hawes suggests that Kafka, though very aware of his own Jewishness, did not incorporate it into his work, which, according to Hawes, lacks Jewish characters, scenes or themes. In the opinion of literary critic Harold Bloom, although Kafka was uneasy with his Jewish heritage, he was the quintessential Jewish writer. Lothar Kahn is likewise unequivocal: "The presence of Jewishness in Kafka's oeuvre is no longer subject to doubt". Pavel Eisner, one of Kafka's first translators, interprets Der Process (The Trial) as the embodiment of the "triple dimension of Jewish existence in Prague ... his protagonist Josef K. is (symbolically) arrested by a German (Rabensteiner), a Czech (Kullich), and a Jew (Kaminer). He stands for the 'guiltless guilt' that imbues the Jew in the modern world, although there is no evidence that he himself is a Jew".

In his essay Sadness in Palestine?!, Dan Miron explores Kafka's connection to Zionism: "It seems that those who claim that there was such a connection and that Zionism played a central role in his life and literary work, and those who deny the connection altogether or dismiss its importance, are both wrong. The truth lies in some very elusive place between these two simplistic poles." Kafka considered moving to Palestine with Felice Bauer, and later with Dora Diamant. He studied Hebrew while living in Berlin, hiring a friend of Brod's from Palestine, Pua Bat-Tovim, to tutor him and attending Rabbi Julius Grünthal and Rabbi Julius Guttmann's classes in the Berlin Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums (College for the Study of Judaism), where he also studied Talmud.

Livia Rothkirchen calls Kafka the "symbolic figure of his era". His contemporaries included numerous Jewish, Czech, and German writers who were sensitive to Jewish, Czech, and German culture. According to Rothkirchen, "This situation lent their writings a broad cosmopolitan outlook and a quality of exaltation bordering on transcendental metaphysical contemplation. An illustrious example is Franz Kafka".

Towards the end of his life Kafka sent a postcard to his friend Hugo Bergmann in Tel Aviv, announcing his intention to emigrate to Palestine. Bergmann refused to host Kafka because he had young children and was afraid that Kafka would infect them with tuberculosis.

Death

A tapering six-sided stone structure lists the names of three deceased persons: Franz, Hermann, and Julie Kafka. Each name has a passage in Hebrew below it.
Franz Kafka's grave in Prague-Žižkov designed by Leopold Ehrmann

Kafka's laryngeal tuberculosis worsened and in March 1924 he returned from Berlin to Prague, where members of his family, principally his sister Ottla and Dora Diamant, took care of him. He went to Hugo Hoffmann's sanatorium in Kierling just outside Vienna for treatment on 10 April, and died there on 3 June 1924. The cause of death seemed to be starvation: the condition of Kafka's throat made eating too painful for him, and since parenteral nutrition had not yet been developed, there was no way to feed him. Kafka was editing "A Hunger Artist" on his deathbed, a story whose composition he had begun before his throat closed to the point that he could not take any nourishment. His body was brought back to Prague where he was buried on 11 June 1924, in the New Jewish Cemetery in Prague-Žižkov. Kafka was virtually unknown during his own lifetime, but he did not consider fame important. He rose to fame rapidly after his death, particularly after World War II. The Kafka tombstone was designed by architect Leopold Ehrmann.

Works

Further information: Franz Kafka bibliography
an old letter with text written in German
First page of Kafka's Letter to His Father

All of Kafka's published works were written in German. What little was published during his lifetime attracted scant public attention.

Kafka finished none of his full-length novels and burned around 90 percent of his work, much of it during the period he lived in Berlin with Diamant, who helped him burn the drafts. In his early years as a writer he was influenced by von Kleist, whose work he described in a letter to Bauer as frightening and whom he considered closer than his own family.

Kafka drew and sketched extensively. Until May 2021, only about 40 of his drawings were known. In 2022, Yale University Press published Franz Kafka: The Drawings.

Stories

Kafka's earliest published works were eight stories that appeared in 1908 in the first issue of the literary journal Hyperion under the title Betrachtung (Contemplation). He wrote the story "Beschreibung eines Kampfes" ("Description of a Struggle") in 1904; in 1905 he showed it to Brod, who advised him to continue writing and convinced him to submit it to Hyperion. Kafka published a fragment in 1908 and two sections in the spring of 1909, all in Munich.

In a creative outburst on the night of 22 September 1912, Kafka wrote the story "Das Urteil" ("The Judgment", literally: "The Verdict") and dedicated it to Felice Bauer. Brod noted the similarity in names of the main character and his fictional fiancée, Georg Bendemann and Frieda Brandenfeld, to Franz Kafka and Felice Bauer. The story is often considered Kafka's breakthrough work. It deals with the troubled relationship of a son and his dominant father, facing a new situation after the son's engagement. Kafka later described writing it as "a complete opening of body and soul", a story that "evolved as a true birth, covered with filth and slime". The story was first published in Leipzig in 1912 and dedicated "to Miss Felice Bauer", and in subsequent editions "for F."

In 1912, Kafka wrote Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis, or The Transformation), published in 1915 in Leipzig. The story begins with a travelling salesman waking to find himself transformed into an ungeheures Ungeziefer, a monstrous vermin, Ungeziefer being a general term for unwanted and unclean pests, especially insects. Critics regard the work as one of the seminal works of fiction of the 20th century. The story "In der Strafkolonie" ("In the Penal Colony"), dealing with an elaborate torture and execution device, was written in October 1914, revised in 1918, and published in Leipzig during October 1919. The story "Ein Hungerkünstler" ("A Hunger Artist"), published in the periodical Die neue Rundschau in 1924, describes a victimized protagonist who experiences a decline in the appreciation of his strange craft of starving himself for extended periods. His last story, "Josefine, die Sängerin oder Das Volk der Mäuse" ("Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk"), also deals with the relationship between an artist and his audience.

Novels

Franz Kafka Notebook with words in German and Hebrew. from the Collection of the National Library of Israel.
Franz Kafka notebook with words in German and Hebrew. From the Collection of the National Library of Israel.

Kafka began his first novel in 1912; its first chapter is the story "Der Heizer" ("The Stoker"). He called the work, which remained unfinished, Der Verschollene (The Man Who Disappeared or The Missing Person), but when Brod published it after Kafka's death he named it Amerika. The inspiration for the novel was the time Kafka spent in the audience of Yiddish theatre the previous year, bringing him to a new awareness of his heritage, which led to the thought that an innate appreciation for one's heritage lives deep within each person. More explicitly humorous and slightly more realistic than most of Kafka's works, the novel shares the motif of an oppressive and intangible system putting the protagonist repeatedly in bizarre situations. It uses many details of experiences from his relatives who had emigrated to America and is the only work for which Kafka considered an optimistic ending.

In 1914 Kafka began the novel Der Process (The Trial), the story of a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, with the nature of his crime revealed neither to him nor to the reader. He did not complete the novel, although he finished the final chapter. According to Nobel Prize winning author Elias Canetti, Felice is central to the plot of Der Process and Kafka said it was "her story". Canetti titled his book on Kafka's letters to Felice Kafka's Other Trial, in recognition of the relationship between the letters and the novel. Michiko Kakutani notes in a review for The New York Times that Kafka's letters have the "earmarks of his fiction: the same nervous attention to minute particulars; the same paranoid awareness of shifting balances of power; the same atmosphere of emotional suffocation—combined, surprisingly enough, with moments of boyish ardour and delight."

According to his diary, Kafka was already planning his novel Das Schloss (The Castle), by 11 June 1914; however, he did not begin writing it until 27 January 1922. The protagonist is the Landvermesser (land surveyor) named K., who struggles for unknown reasons to gain access to the mysterious authorities of a castle who govern the village. Kafka's intent was that the castle's authorities notify K. on his deathbed that his "legal claim to live in the village was not valid, yet, taking certain auxiliary circumstances into account, he was to be permitted to live and work there". Dark and at times surreal, the novel is focused on alienation, bureaucracy, the seemingly endless frustrations of man's attempts to stand against the system, and the futile and hopeless pursuit of an unattainable goal. Hartmut M. Rastalsky noted in his thesis: "Like dreams, his texts combine precise 'realistic' detail with absurdity, careful observation and reasoning on the part of the protagonists with inexplicable obliviousness and carelessness."

Publishing history

A simple book cover displays the name of the book and the author
First edition of Betrachtung, 1912

Kafka's stories were initially published in literary periodicals. His first eight were printed in 1908 in the first issue of the bi-monthly Hyperion. Franz Blei published two dialogues in 1909 which became part of "Beschreibung eines Kampfes" ("Description of a Struggle"). A fragment of the story "Die Aeroplane in Brescia" ("The Aeroplanes at Brescia"), written on a trip to Italy with Brod, appeared in the daily Bohemia on 28 September 1909. On 27 March 1910, several stories that later became part of the book Betrachtung were published in the Easter edition of Bohemia. In Leipzig during 1913, Brod and publisher Kurt Wolff included "Das Urteil. Eine Geschichte von Franz Kafka." ("The Judgment. A Story by Franz Kafka.") in their literary yearbook for the art poetry Arkadia. In the same year, Wolff published "Der Heizer" ("The Stoker") in the Jüngste Tag series, where it enjoyed three printings. The story "Vor dem Gesetz" ("Before the Law") was published in the 1915 New Year's edition of the independent Jewish weekly Selbstwehr; it was reprinted in 1919 as part of the story collection Ein Landarzt (A Country Doctor) and became part of the novel Der Process. Other stories were published in various publications, including Martin Buber's Der Jude, the paper Prager Tagblatt, and the periodicals Die neue Rundschau, Genius, and Prager Presse.

Kafka's first published book, Betrachtung (Contemplation, or Meditation), was a collection of 18 stories written between 1904 and 1912. On a summer trip to Weimar, Brod initiated a meeting between Kafka and Kurt Wolff; Wolff published Betrachtung in the Rowohlt Verlag at the end of 1912 (with the year given as 1913). Kafka dedicated it to Brod, "Für M.B.", and added in the personal copy given to his friend "So wie es hier schon gedruckt ist, für meinen liebsten Max‍—‌Franz K." ("As it is already printed here, for my dearest Max").

Kafka's novella Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis) was first printed in the October 1915 issue of Die Weißen Blätter, a monthly edition of expressionist literature, edited by René Schickele. Another story collection, Ein Landarzt (A Country Doctor), was published by Kurt Wolff in 1919, dedicated to Kafka's father. Kafka prepared a final collection of four stories for print, Ein Hungerkünstler (A Hunger Artist), which appeared in 1924 after his death, in Verlag Die Schmiede. On 20 April 1924, the Berliner Börsen-Courier published Kafka's essay on Adalbert Stifter.

Max Brod

A simple book cover in green displays the name of the author and the book
First edition of Der Prozess, 1925

Kafka left his work, both published and unpublished, to his friend and literary executor Max Brod with explicit instructions that it should be destroyed on Kafka's death; Kafka wrote: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, to be burned unread." Brod ignored this request and published the novels and collected works between 1925 and 1935. Brod defended his action by claiming that he had told Kafka, "I shall not carry out your wishes", and that "Franz should have appointed another executor if he had been absolutely determined that his instructions should stand".

Brod took many of Kafka's papers, which remain unpublished, with him in suitcases to Palestine when he fled there in 1939. Kafka's last lover, Dora Diamant (later, Dymant-Lask), also ignored his wishes, secretly keeping 20 notebooks and 35 letters. These were confiscated by the Gestapo in 1933, but scholars continue to search for them.

As Brod published the bulk of the writings in his possession, Kafka's work began to attract wider attention and critical acclaim. Brod found it difficult to arrange Kafka's notebooks in chronological order. One problem was that Kafka often began writing in different parts of the book; sometimes in the middle, sometimes working backwards from the end. Brod finished many of Kafka's incomplete works for publication. For example, Kafka left Der Process with unnumbered and incomplete chapters and Das Schloss with incomplete sentences and ambiguous content; Brod rearranged chapters, copy-edited the text, and changed the punctuation. Der Process appeared in 1925 in Verlag Die Schmiede. Kurt Wolff published two other novels, Das Schloss in 1926 and Amerika in 1927. In 1931, Brod edited a collection of prose and unpublished stories as The Great Wall of China, including the titular short story "The Great Wall of China". The book appeared in the Gustav Kiepenheuer Verlag. Brod's sets are usually called the "Definitive Editions".

Modern editions

In 1961 Malcolm Pasley acquired for the Oxford Bodleian Library most of Kafka's original handwritten works. The text for Der Process was later purchased through auction and is stored at the German Literary Archives in Marbach am Neckar, Germany. Subsequently, Pasley headed a team (including Gerhard Neumann, Jost Schillemeit and Jürgen Born) which reconstructed the German novels; S. Fischer Verlag republished them. Pasley was the editor for Das Schloss, published in 1982, and Der Process (The Trial), published in 1990. Jost Schillemeit was the editor of Der Verschollene (Amerika) published in 1983. These are called the "Critical Editions" or the "Fischer Editions".

In 2023, the first unexpurgated edition of Kafka's diaries was published in English, "more than three decades after this complete text appeared in German. The sole previous English edition, with Brod's edits, was issued in the late 1940s". The new edition revealed that Brod had expunged homoerotic references, and negative comments about Eastern European Jews.

Unpublished papers

When Brod died in 1968, he left Kafka's unpublished papers, which are believed to number in the thousands, to his secretary Esther Hoffe. She released or sold some, but left most to her daughters, Eva and Ruth, who also refused to release the papers. A court battle began in 2008 between the sisters and the National Library of Israel, which claimed these works became the property of the nation of Israel when Brod emigrated to British Palestine in 1939. Esther Hoffe sold the original manuscript of Der Process for US$2 million in 1988 to the German Literary Archive Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach am Neckar. A ruling by a Tel Aviv family court in 2010 held that the papers must be released and a few were, including a previously unknown story, but the legal battle continued. The Hoffes claim the papers are their personal property, while the National Library of Israel argues they are "cultural assets belonging to the Jewish people". The National Library also suggests that Brod bequeathed the papers to them in his will. The Tel Aviv Family Court ruled in October 2012, six months after Ruth's death, that the papers were the property of the National Library. The Israeli Supreme Court upheld the decision in December 2016.

Critical response

Critical interpretations

The poet W. H. Auden called Kafka "the Dante of the twentieth century"; the novelist Vladimir Nabokov placed him among the greatest writers of the 20th century. Gabriel García Márquez noted the reading of Kafka's The Metamorphosis showed him "that it was possible to write in a different way". A prominent theme of Kafka's work, first established in the short story "Das Urteil", is father–son conflict: the guilt induced in the son is resolved through suffering and atonement. Other prominent themes and archetypes include alienation, physical and psychological brutality, characters on a terrifying quest, and mystical transformation.

Kafka's style has been compared to that of Kleist as early as 1916, in a review of "Die Verwandlung" and "Der Heizer" by Oscar Walzel in Berliner Beiträge. The nature of Kafka's prose allows for varied interpretations and critics have placed his writing into a variety of literary schools. Marxists, for example, have sharply disagreed over how to interpret Kafka's works. Some accused him of distorting reality whereas others claimed he was critiquing capitalism. The hopelessness and absurdity common to his works are seen as emblematic of existentialism. Some of Kafka's books are influenced by the expressionist movement, though the majority of his literary output was associated with the experimental modernist genre. Kafka also touches on the theme of human conflict with bureaucracy. William Burrows claims that such work is centred on the concepts of struggle, pain, solitude, and the need for relationships. Others, such as Thomas Mann, see Kafka's work as allegorical: a quest, metaphysical in nature, for God.

According to Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, the themes of alienation and persecution, although present in Kafka's work, have been overemphasised by critics. They argue that Kafka's work is more deliberate and subversive—and more joyful—than may first appear. They point out that reading Kafka while focusing on the futility of his characters' struggles reveals Kafka's humour; he is not necessarily commenting on his own problems, but rather pointing out how people tend to invent problems. In his work, Kafka often creates malevolent, absurd worlds. Kafka read drafts of his works to his friends, typically concentrating on his humorous prose. The writer Milan Kundera suggests that Kafka's surrealist humour may have been an inversion of Dostoevsky's presentation of characters who are punished for a crime. In Kafka's work, a character is punished although a crime has not been committed. Kundera believes that Kafka's inspirations for his characteristic situations came both from growing up in a patriarchal family and from living in a totalitarian state.

Attempts have been made to identify the influence of Kafka's legal background and the role of law in his fiction. Most interpretations identify aspects of law and legality as important in his work, in which the legal system is often oppressive. The law in Kafka's works, rather than being representative of any particular legal or political entity, is usually interpreted to represent a collection of anonymous, incomprehensible forces. These are hidden from the individual but control the lives of the people, who are innocent victims of systems beyond their control. Critics who support this absurdist interpretation cite instances where Kafka describes himself in conflict with an absurd universe, such as the following entry from his diary:

Enclosed in my own four walls, I found myself as an immigrant imprisoned in a foreign country;... I saw my family as strange aliens whose foreign customs, rites, and very language defied comprehension;... though I did not want it, they forced me to participate in their bizarre rituals;... I could not resist.

However, James Hawes argues many of Kafka's descriptions of the legal proceedings in Der Process—metaphysical, absurd, bewildering and nightmarish as they might appear—are based on accurate and informed descriptions of German and Austrian criminal proceedings of the time, which were inquisitorial rather than adversarial. Although he worked in insurance, as a trained lawyer Kafka was "keenly aware of the legal debates of his day". In an early 21st-century publication that uses Kafka's office writings as its point of departure, Pothik Ghosh states that with Kafka, law "has no meaning outside its fact of being a pure force of domination and determination".

Translations

The first instance of Kafka being translated into English was in 1925, when William A. Drake published "A Report for an Academy" in the New York Herald Tribune. Eugene Jolas translated Kafka's "The Judgment" for the modernist journal transition in 1928. In 1930, Edwin and Willa Muir translated the first German edition of Das Schloss. This was published as The Castle by Secker & Warburg in England and Alfred A. Knopf in the United States. A 1941 edition, including a homage by Thomas Mann, spurred a surge in Kafka's popularity in the United States during the late 1940s. The Muirs translated all shorter works that Kafka had seen fit to print; they were published by Schocken Books in 1948 as The Penal Colony: Stories and Short Pieces, including additionally The First Long Train Journey, written by Kafka and Brod, Kafka's "A Novel about Youth", a review of Felix Sternheim's Die Geschichte des jungen Oswald, his essay on Kleist's "Anecdotes", his review of the literary magazine Hyperion, and an epilogue by Brod.

Later editions, notably those of 1954 (Dearest Father: Stories and Other Writings), included text, translated by Eithne Wilkins and Ernst Kaiser, that had been deleted by earlier publishers. Known as "Definitive Editions", they include translations of The Trial, Definitive, The Castle, Definitive, and other writings. These translations are generally accepted to have a number of biases and are considered to be dated in interpretation. Published in 1961 by Schocken Books, Parables and Paradoxes presented in a bilingual edition by Nahum N. Glatzer selected writings, drawn from notebooks, diaries, letters, short fictional works and the novel Der Process.

New translations were completed and published based on the recompiled German text of Pasley and Schillemeit‍—‌The Castle, Critical by Mark Harman (Schocken Books, 1998), The Trial, Critical by Breon Mitchell (Schocken Books, 1998), and The Man Who Disappeared (Amerika) by Michael Hofmann (Penguin Books, 1996) and Amerika: The Missing Person by Mark Harman (Schocken Books, 2008).

Translation problems to English

Further information: Franz Kafka bibliography § English translations Further information: The Metamorphosis § Translations of the opening sentence

Kafka often made extensive use of a characteristic particular to German, which permits long sentences that sometimes can span an entire page. Kafka's sentences then deliver an unexpected impact just before the full stop—this being the finalizing meaning and focus. This is due to the construction of subordinate clauses in German, which require that the verb be at the end of the sentence. Such constructions are difficult to duplicate in English, so it is up to the translator to provide the reader with the same (or at least equivalent) effect as the original text. German's more flexible word order and syntactical differences provide for multiple ways in which the same German writing can be translated into English. An example is the first sentence of Kafka's The Metamorphosis, which is crucial to the setting and understanding of the entire story:

Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt.

As Gregor Samsa one morning from restless dreams awoke, found he himself in his bed into a monstrous vermin transformed.

—original —literal word-for-word translation

The sentence above also exemplifies an instance of another difficult problem facing translators: dealing with the author's intentional use of ambiguous idioms and words that have several meanings, which results in phrasing that is difficult to translate precisely. English translators often render the word Ungeziefer as 'insect'; in Middle German, however, Ungeziefer literally means 'an animal unclean for sacrifice'; in today's German, it means 'vermin'. It is sometimes used colloquially to mean 'bug'—a very general term, unlike the scientific 'insect'. Kafka had no intention of labeling Gregor, the protagonist of the story, as any specific thing but instead wanted to convey Gregor's disgust at his transformation. Another example of this can be found in the final sentence of "Das Urteil" ("The Judgement"), with Kafka's use of the German noun Verkehr. Literally, Verkehr means 'intercourse' and, as in English, can have either a sexual or a non-sexual meaning. The word is additionally used to mean 'transport' or 'traffic'; therefore the sentence can also be translated as: "At that moment an unending stream of traffic crossed over the bridge." The double meaning of Verkehr is given added weight by Kafka's confession to Brod that when he wrote that final line he was thinking of "a violent ejaculation".

Legacy

Literary and cultural influence

The statue is a man with no head or arms, with another man sitting on his shoulders
Jaroslav Róna's bronze Statue of Franz Kafka in Prague

Unlike many famous writers, Kafka is rarely quoted by others. Instead, he is noted more for his visions and perspective. Kafka had a strong influence on Gabriel García Márquez, Milan Kundera and the novel The Palace of Dreams by Ismail Kadare. Shimon Sandbank, a professor, literary critic, and writer, also identifies Kafka as having influenced Jorge Luis Borges, Albert Camus, Eugène Ionesco, J. M. Coetzee and Jean-Paul Sartre. A Financial Times literary critic credits Kafka with influencing José Saramago, and Al Silverman, a writer and editor, states that J. D. Salinger loved to read Kafka's works. The Romanian writer Mircea Cărtărescu said "Kafka is the author I love the most and who means, for me, the gate to literature"; he also described Kafka as "the saint of literature".

Kafka has been cited as an influence on the Swedish writer Stig Dagerman, and the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, who paid homage to Kafka in his novel Kafka on the Shore with the namesake protagonist.

David Černý's Head of Franz Kafka sculpture in Prague

In 1999 a committee of 99 authors, scholars, and literary critics ranked Der Process and Das Schloss the second and ninth most significant German-language novels of the 20th century. Harold Bloom said "when he is most himself, Kafka gives us a continuous inventiveness and originality that rivals Dante and truly challenges Proust and Joyce as that of the dominant Western author of our century". Sandbank argues that despite Kafka's pervasiveness, his enigmatic style has yet to be emulated. Neil Christian Pages, a professor of German Studies and Comparative Literature at Binghamton University who specialises in Kafka's works, says Kafka's influence transcends literature and literary scholarship; it impacts visual arts, music, and popular culture. Harry Steinhauer, a professor of German and Jewish literature, says that Kafka "has made a more powerful impact on literate society than any other writer of the twentieth century". Brod said that the 20th century will one day be known as the "century of Kafka".

Michel-André Bossy writes that Kafka created a rigidly inflexible and sterile bureaucratic universe. Kafka wrote in an aloof manner full of legal and scientific terms. Yet his serious universe also had insightful humour, all highlighting the "irrationality at the roots of a supposedly rational world". His characters are trapped, confused, full of guilt, frustrated, and lacking understanding of their surreal world. Much post-Kafka fiction, especially science fiction, follows the themes and precepts of Kafka's universe. This can be seen in the works of authors such as George Orwell and Ray Bradbury.

The following are examples of works across a range of dramatic, literary, and musical genres that demonstrate the extent of Kafka's cultural influence:

Title Year Medium Remarks Ref
Ein Landarzt 1951 opera by Hans Werner Henze, based on Kafka's story
"A Friend of Kafka" 1962 short story by Nobel Prize winner Isaac Bashevis Singer, about a Yiddish actor called Jacques Kohn who said he knew Franz Kafka; in this story, according to Jacques Kohn, Kafka believed in the Golem, a legendary creature from Jewish folklore
The Trial 1962 film the film's director, Orson Welles, said, "Say what you like, but The Trial is my greatest work, even greater than Citizen Kane"
Watermelon Man 1970 film partly inspired by The Metamorphosis, where a white bigot wakes up as a black man
Colony 1980 music by English rock band Joy Division, inspired by the Kafka story In the Penal Colony
Kafka-Fragmente, Op. 24 1985 music by Hungarian composer György Kurtág for soprano and violin, using fragments of Kafka's diary and letters
A Letter to Elise 1992 music by English rock band The Cure, was heavily influenced by Letters to Felice by Kafka
Kafka's Dick 1986 play by Alan Bennett, in which the ghosts of Kafka, his father Hermann and Brod arrive at the home of an English insurance clerk (and Kafka aficionado) and his wife
Better Morphosis 1991 short story parodic short story by Brian W. Aldiss, where a cockroach wakes up one morning to find out that it has turned into Franz Kafka
Kafka 1991 film stars Jeremy Irons as the eponymous author; written by Lem Dobbs and directed by Steven Soderbergh, the movie mixes his life and fiction providing a semi-biographical presentation of Kafka's life and works; Kafka investigates the disappearance of one of his colleagues, taking Kafka through many of the writer's own works, most notably The Castle and The Trial
Das Schloß 1992 opera German-language opera by Aribert Reimann who wrote his own libretto based on Kafka's novel and its dramatization by Max Brod, premiered on 2 September 1992 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, staged by Willy Decker and conducted by Michael Boder.
Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life 1993 film short comedy film made for BBC Scotland, won an Oscar, was written and directed by Peter Capaldi, and starred Richard E. Grant as Kafka
Bad Mojo 1996 computer game loosely based on The Metamorphosis, with characters named Franz and Roger Samms, alluding to Gregor Samsa
In the Penal Colony 2000 opera by Philip Glass, to a libretto by Rudy Wurlitzer
Kafka on the Shore 2002 novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, on The New York Times 10 Best Books of 2005 list, World Fantasy Award recipient
Statue of Franz Kafka 2003 sculpture an outdoor sculpture on Vězeňská street in the Jewish Quarter of Prague, by artist Jaroslav Róna
Kafka's Trial 2005 opera by Danish composer Poul Ruders, based on the novel and parts of Kafka's life; first performed in 2005, released on CD
Kafka's Soup 2005 book by Mark Crick, is a literary pastiche in the form of a cookbook, with recipes written in the style of a famous author
Kafka the Musical 2011 radio play by BBC Radio 3 produced as part of their Play of the Week programme. Franz Kafka was played by David Tennant
Sound Interpretations – Dedication To Franz Kafka 2012 music HAZE Netlabel released musical compilation Sound Interpretations – Dedication To Franz Kafka. In this release musicians rethink the literary heritage of Kafka
Google Doodle 2013 internet culture Google had a sepia-toned doodle of a roach in a hat opening a door, honoring Kafka's 130th birthday
The Metamorphosis 2013 dance Royal Ballet production of The Metamorphosis with Edward Watson
Café Kafka 2014 opera by Spanish composer Francisco Coll on a text by Meredith Oakes, built from texts and fragments by Franz Kafka; Commissioned by Aldeburgh Music, Opera North and Royal Opera Covent Garden
Head of Franz Kafka 2014 sculpture an outdoor sculpture in Prague by David Černý
VRwandlung 2018 virtual reality a virtual reality experience of the first part of The Metamorphosis, directed by Mika Johnson
Franz TBA film Upcoming biographical film directed by Agnieszka Holland

"Kafkaesque"

"Kafkaesque" redirects here. For the Breaking Bad episode, see Kafkaesque (Breaking Bad).

The term "Kafkaesque" is used to describe concepts and situations reminiscent of Kafka's work, particularly Der Prozess (The Trial) and Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis). Examples include instances in which bureaucracies overpower people, often in a surreal, nightmarish milieu that evokes feelings of senselessness, disorientation, and helplessness. Characters in a Kafkaesque setting often lack a clear course of action to escape a labyrinthine situation. Kafkaesque elements often appear in existential works, but the term has transcended the literary realm to apply to real-life occurrences and situations that are incomprehensibly complex, bizarre, or illogical.

Numerous films and television works have been described as Kafkaesque, and the style is particularly prominent in dystopian science fiction. Works in this genre that have been thus described include Patrick Bokanowski's film The Angel (1982), Terry Gilliam's film Brazil (1985), and Alex Proyas' science fiction film noir, Dark City (1998). Films from other genres which have been similarly described include Roman Polanski's The Tenant (1976), Joseph Losey’s Monsieur Klein (1976) and the Coen brothers' Barton Fink (1991). The television series The Prisoner and The Twilight Zone are also frequently described as Kafkaesque.

However, with common usage, the term has become so ubiquitous that Kafka scholars note it is often misused. More accurately then, according to author Ben Marcus, paraphrased in "What it Means to be Kafkaesque" by Joe Fassler in The Atlantic, "Kafka's quintessential qualities are affecting use of language, a setting that straddles fantasy and reality, and a sense of striving even in the face of bleakness—hopelessly and full of hope."

Commemorations

Plaque marking the birthplace of Franz Kafka in Prague, designed by Karel Hladík and Jan Kaplický, 1966

3412 Kafka is an asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 10 January 1983 by American astronomers Randolph Kirk and Donald Rudy at Palomar Observatory in California, United States, and named after Kafka by them.

The Franz Kafka Museum in Prague is dedicated to Kafka and his work. A major component of the museum is an exhibit, The City of K. Franz Kafka and Prague, which was first shown in Barcelona in 1999, moved to the Jewish Museum in New York City, and finally established in Prague in Malá Strana (Lesser Town), along the Moldau, in 2005. The museum aims with this exhibit to immerse the visitor into the world in which Kafka lived and about which he wrote.

The Franz Kafka Prize, established in 2001, is an annual literary award of the Franz Kafka Society and the City of Prague. It recognizes the merits of literature as "humanistic character and contribution to cultural, national, language and religious tolerance, its existential, timeless character, its generally human validity, and its ability to hand over a testimony about our times". The selection committee and recipients come from all over the world, but are limited to living authors who have had at least one work published in Czech. The recipient receives $10,000, a diploma, and a bronze statuette at a presentation in Prague's Old Town Hall, on the Czech State Holiday in late October.

San Diego State University operates the Kafka Project, which began in 1998 as the official international search for Kafka's last writings.

Notes

  1. Based on Austro-Hungarian nationality law of 1867
  2. UK: /ˈkæfkə/, US: /ˈkɑːf-/; German: [ˌfʁant͡s ˈkafka] ; Czech: [ˈkafka]; in Czech, he was sometimes called František Kafka.
  3. Records of the university list June as Kafka's graduation month, as well was some secondary sources (Murray), while Brod lists July, possibly confusing the date with that of an exam three years earlier, on 18 July 1903.
  4. "Kampf" also translates to "fight".

References

Citations

  1. ^ Koelb 2010, p. 12.
  2. Czech Embassy 2012.
  3. "Kafka". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014.
  4. Herz, Julius M. (1978). "Franz Kafka and Austria: National Background and Ethnic Identity". Modern Austrian Literature. 11 (3/4): 301–318. JSTOR 24645937. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  5. Spindler, William (1993). "Magical Realism: A Typology". Forum for Modern Language Studies. XXIX (1): 90–93. doi:10.1093/fmls/XXIX.1.75. ISSN 0015-8518.
  6. Franz Kafka at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  7. ^ Steinhauer 1983, pp. 390–408.
  8. "Heroes – Trailblazers of the Jewish People". Beit Hatfutsot. Archived from the original on 31 July 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  9. "A new translation of Franz Kafka's diaries restores much of his Jewish musings". www.jta.org. 12 January 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  10. Gray, Jefferson M., review in The Federal Lawyer, October 2009, of Franz Kafka: The Office Writings. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2009.
  11. ^ Gilman 2005, pp. 20–21.
  12. Northey 1997, pp. 8–10.
  13. Kohoutikriz 2011.
  14. Brod 1960, pp. 3–5.
  15. Northey 1997, p. 92.
  16. Gray 2005, pp. 147–148.
  17. ^ Hamalian 1974, p. 3.
  18. Kafka, Franz (2009). The Metamorphosis. New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks. p. ix. ISBN 978-1-4165-9968-5.
  19. Corngold 1972, pp. xii, 11.
  20. ^ Kafka-Franz, Father 2012.
  21. Brod 1960, p. 9.
  22. ^ Brod 1960, pp. 15–16.
  23. Brod 1960, pp. 19–20.
  24. Brod 1960, pp. 15, 17, 22–23.
  25. Stach 2005, p. 22.
  26. Stach 2005, pp. 390–391, 462–463.
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Sources

Journals
Newspapers
Online sources

Further reading

Books on Kafka and Prague

  • Eisner, Pavel (1950). Franz Kafka and Prague. New York: Golden Griffin Books.
  • Frynta, Emanuel (1960). Kafka and Prague. London: Batchworth Press Limited.
  • Hatefutsoth, Beth (1980). Kafka–Prague. Tel Aviv: The Nahum Goldman Museum of the Jewish Diaspora.
  • Kállay, Karol (2005). Franz Kafka and Prague. Bratislava: Slovart Publishing Ltd. (Chicago, Illinois: Independent Publishers Group).
  • Salfellner, Harald (1998). Franz Kafka and Prague: Third greatly revised and enlarged edition. Prague: Vitalis.
  • Salfellner, Harald (2011). Franz Kafka and Prague: A Literary Guide. Prague: Vitalis.
  • Wagenbach, Klaus (1996). Kafka's Prague: A Travel Reader. Translated by Shaun Whiteside. Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 9780879516444 – via Internet Archive. See also Wagenbach (2019), listed in "Sources".
  • Železná, Marta, ed. (1998). Kafka and Prague. Third revised edition. Prague: Franz Kafka Publishers.

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