!!!Kafka, Franz

b. Prague (Czech Republic), July 3, 1883, 
d. Kierling (municipality of Klosterneuburg, Lower Austria), June 3, 
1924, writer, one of the most important German-speaking prose authors 
of the 20th century: Studied law at the University of Prague, then 
worked as insurance lawyer for the Prague insurance agency 
Arbeiter-Unfall-Versicherungs-Anstalt (1922 retirement). From 1902 
close friendship with M.  Brod, together they visited the literary 
salons of Prague, among their friends were G. Meyrink, E.  Weiss and 
F.  Werfel. Brod supported K. in his literary work, who was very much 
oppressed by his authoritarian father's lack of understanding and the 
bureaucratical narrowness of his occupation ("Brief an den Vater", 
1919).

\\
When he fell ill with tuberculosis in 1917, K. at last had time to 
write. Two testamentary dispositions that the hand-written manuscripts 
in his estate be destroyed were disregarded by Brod; he published the 
unfinished novels "Der Prozess" (1925, written in 1914/15; tr. The 
Trial), "Das Schloss" (1926, written in 1922; tr. The Castle) and 
"Amerika" (1927; tr. America; started by K. with the title "Der 
Verschollene" in 1911-1914, first chapter "Der Heizer" published in 
1913) and the "Gesammelte Schriften" (7 vols., 1935-1937, with 
biographie by M. Brod), thereby initiating the worldwide recognition 
of K.'s work. Brod´s notes interpret K.´s works from a 
theological perspective.

\\
Although hardly appreciated during his lifetime, K. succeeded as 
hardly any other writer of his time in depicting the threat to 
individuals resulting from an increasingly technicised and anonymous 
bureaucratic world. In unpretentious and precise language he portrays 
the fates of "heroes" surrounded by a cynical environment which 
confuses them and reduces them to absurd helplessness and impotence, 
and makes them fail tragically despite their own desperate efforts. In 
a way these portraits are a reversal of the classic Bildungsroman, the 
novel of educational development. K. adopts motifs of the Jewish and 
Christian religion, sin and atonement, sacrifice and salvation, and 
describes in his artistic narratives and parables the intrusion of 
irrational power into daily life ("Die Verwandlung", 1916; tr. The 
Metamorphosis). The adjective "kafkaesque", which describes such 
grotesque and absurd situations, can be found in most languages of the 
western world.

!Further works
short prose and narratives: Die Aeroplane in Brescia, 
in: Bohemia 82, Nr. 269, 1909; Betrachtung, 1913; In der Strafkolonie, 
1919; Ein Landarzt. Kleine Erzaehlungen, 1919; Ein Hungerkuenstler. 
Vier Geschichten, 1924. - Diaries and letters: Tagebuecher 1910-23, 
ed. by W. Haas, 1951; Briefe an Milena, ed. by W. Haas 1952 (enlarged 
edition, ed. by J. Born and M. Mueller, 1983); letters to Felice, 
including correspondence from the time of their engagement, ed. by F. 
Heller and J. Born, 1967; letters to Ottla and the family, ed. by H. 
Binder and K. Wagenbach, 1974; letters to his parents from 1922-24, 
ed. by J. Cermák and M. Svatos, 1990. - Krit. Ausgabe der 
Werke, 12 vols., ed. by J. Born et al., 1983-1993; Kritische 
Ausgabe der Briefe, ed. by H. G. Koch, 1999ff.; Hist.-krit. 
Ausgabe saemtlicher Handschriften, Drucke und Typoskripte, ed.by R. 
Reuss and P. Staengle, 1995ff.

!Literature
K. Wagenbach, F. K., 1966; H. Binder (ed.), 
K.-Handbuch, 2 vols., 1979; W. Schmidt-Dengler (ed.), Was bleibt 
von F. K.? Positionsbestimmung, 1985; M. I. Caputo-Mayr and 
J. M. Herz, Eine kommentierte Bibliographie der 
Sekundaerliteratur, 1987; K. Wagenbach, F. K. Ein Leben in 
Bildern, 1989; T. Anz, F. K., 1989; F. K., Special Edition 
"Text und Kritik", 1994; M. L. Caputo-Mayr, F. K., 
2 vols., 2000 (vol. 1: Bibliographie der Primaerlit. 
1908-1997, vol. 2: Bibliographie der Sekundaerlit. 1955-1997).



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