KAFKA, Franz

KAFKA, Franz
(1883-1924)
   Czech novelist, not usually or profitably considered a writer of fantasy or sf, though some of his stories - such as In der Strafkolonie (1919 chap; trans 1933; trans Willa and Edwin Muir as title story in ThePenal Colony coll 1948 US; vt In the Penal Settlement 1949 UK) and Die Verwandlung (1915; trans A.L. Lloyd as The Metamorphosis 1937 chap UK) - present through a prose of hallucinated transparency a world radically displaced from normal reality (FABULATION). The former tells of an execution machine which incises moral slogans on the victim's body; the latter is a horrifying allegory of alienation in which a young man is transformed overnight into a huge beetle. Other fables are included in The Great Wall of China (coll trans Willa and Edwin Muir 1933 UK) and TheTransformation and Other Stories: Works Published during Kafka's Lifetime (coll trans Malcolm Pasley 1992 UK), which presents a new version of Die Verwandlung plus other material whose release FK sanctioned. His most famous works - none finished and all published posthumously (and despite his apparent wishes that they be destroyed on his death) - are his three novels: Amerika (written 1911-14; 1927; trans Willa and Edwin Muir 1938 UK), Der Prozess (written 1914-15; 1925; trans Willa and Edwin Muir as TheTrial 1937 UK) and Das Schloss (written 1921-22; 1926; trans Willa and Edwin Muir as The Castle 1930 UK). Though all share a vision of the menacing absurdity of the world (ABSURDIST SF), when read in chronological order of writing they present an illuminating sequence from the persecuted innocence of Amerika's protagonist (literally displaced into a surrealistic New World) to the confidence-man ingenuities of K., the protagonist of The Castle, who seems almost capable of forcing the 20th-century world to give him meaning and a room. FK's work is Modernist,its fable-like quality indefinably dreamlike; his influence, which has been enormous, permeates much of modern sf's attempts to get at the quality of life in dislocated, totalitarian, surrealistic or merely inscrutable venues.
   JC
   About the author: The literature on FK is enormous. A recent study of interest is Franz Kafka (1990) by Pietro Citati.
   See also: AUSTRIA; FANTASY; MONSTERS; PARANOIA.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Encyclopedia. . 2011.

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  • KAFKA, FRANZ — (1883–1924), Czech born German novelist, whose work has had an enormous impact on western art and literature. Kafka, who was born and raised in Prague, studied law at the German University there. He worked in a law office and then for an… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Kafka, Franz — born July 3, 1883, Prague, Bohemia, Austria Hungary died June 3, 1924, Kierling, near Vienna, Austria Czech writer who wrote in German. Born into a middle class Jewish family, he earned a doctorate and then worked successfully but unhappily at a… …   Universalium

  • Kafka, Franz — (1883 1924)    by John Marks   In Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature, Deleuze and Guattari seek to overturn much of the received critical wisdom on Franz Kafka s work by presenting him as a joyful and comic writer, who is positively engaged in the… …   The Deleuze dictionary

  • Kafka, Franz — (1883 1924)    by John Marks   In Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature, Deleuze and Guattari seek to overturn much of the received critical wisdom on Franz Kafka s work by presenting him as a joyful and comic writer, who is positively engaged in the… …   The Deleuze dictionary

  • Kafka, Franz — ► (1883 1924) Escritor checo. Sus obras reflejan la angustia del hombre inmerso en un mundo paradójicamente impenetrable. Es autor de novelas cortas, cuentos y novelas, entre las que cabe mencionar: La metamorfosis (1915), donde plantea el… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Kafka, Franz — (1883–1924)    Writer. Kafka was born in Prague on 3 July 1883. The fact that he was brought up among Czechs as a German speaking Jew may have contributed to a feeling of alienation, reinforced by a domineering father and chronic ill health.… …   Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament

  • Kafka, Franz — (1883 1924)    German novelist of Czech origin. He was born in Prague and worked in a law office and then an insurance company, pursuing his writing in his spare time. His short stories (including Metamorphosis) were published in his lifetime. At …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Kafka,Franz — Kaf·ka (käfʹkə, kä), Franz. 1883 1924. Austrian writer whose stories, such as “The Metamorphosis” (1916), and novels, including The Trial (1925) and The Castle (1926), concern troubled individuals in a nightmarishly impersonal world. * * * …   Universalium

  • Kafka, Franz —    см. Кафка, Франц …   Энциклопедический словарь экспрессионизма

  • Kafka — Kafka, Franz …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Franz Kafka — (um 1906) Franz Kafka (* 3. Juli 1883 in Prag, damals Österreich Ungarn; † 3. Juni 1924 in Kierling – heute Stadtteil von Klosterneuburg –, Österreich; selten auch tschechisch František Kafka) war ein deutschsprachige …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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