English 226: Kafka

 

One of the most enigmatic but powerful writers of fiction, Franz Kafka created eerie yet completely convincing worlds in the novel The Trial, the novella The Metamorphosis, and the short story "A Hunger Artist"-- works that many consider deeply emblematic of the absurd plight of modern humanity. While some readers find Kafka's works comic, others find them terrifying, and still others find them deeply spiritual. Critics often see in Kafka's fiction both symbolic satires of the bureaucratic twentieth century and penetrating studies of modern psychological problems.

Texts:  We will read "The Metamorphosis" and "The Judgement", both in the translations by Willa and Edwin Muir.  If you've never read Kafka before, get ready for fascinating but maze-like experience. As Christopher M. Wisniewski writes, "There are seemingly as many different schools of thought and 'interpretations' of Kafka as there are words in the English language"

Before You Read: For a brief overview of Kafka's life, here is the entry on Kafka in the Encyclopedia Britannica.  A more detailed and livelier bio is Leni's biography of Kafka, which, while accurate enough, focuses ultimately on Kafka's strange love life. This is part of Leni's Franz Kafka Page, a useful, extensive, and entertaining source on Kafka. If you scroll down to the bottom of the biography, you will find there many helpful resources on Kafka, including:

  • a list of remarkably contradictory Views of Kafka
  • Leni's comments on Kafka and Judaism
  • Vladimir Nabokov's extensive and scholarly Lecture on "The Metamorphosis"
  • info on Movies based on Kafka's works
  • a wonderful presentation of Kafka pictures (Don't miss these!)
  • an extensive list of links to other good Kafka sites
  • Kafka's "Letter to His Father" translated by Ernst Kaiser and Eithne Wilkins. (This extremely long letter, which was never sent, reveals the troubled relationship between the intellectual, highly reflective author and his pragmatic, authoritarian father, shedding intense light on such stories as "The Judgement" and The Metamorphosis. As Leni says, it is "required reading for anyone who wants to understand Kafka's personality and family.")

 

When You Read: Look for parallel themes in The Metamorphosis and "The Judgement." What similarities and differences do you see in the father in each story? In Gregor's and Georg's responses and self images? What family dynamics do you see in each story? You may also find it helpful to consider the questions and themes presented, chapter by chapter, in Dr. George Mitrevski's Study Guide on The Metamorphosis.  You might also enjoy this amusingly illustrated retelling of part of the story: The Metamorphosis adapted by Peter Kuper.