Franz Kafka: His Life and Work

Kafka’s Parents Julie Löwy Hermann Kafka

Kafka’s Sisters Valli, Elli, Ottla

Kafka, aged 10; Valli (left) and Elli (middle)

Kafka’s Sisters Gabriella (Elli)Valerie (Valli)Ottilia (Ottla)

Kafka and Ottla, 1914

Altstädter Deutschen Staatsgymnasium Imitating the German-speaking elite of Prague, Kafka’s father sent his son to German schools

At Ferdinand-Karls University Intended to study philosophy, against his father’s wishes Entered in 1901 to study law, against his own wishes Abandoned law for chemistry Returned to law Abandoned it again for German studies and art history Returned to law 1905, when his health failed, he left to recover In 1906 he returned and finished his doctorate in law

Kafka as Doctor of Law, around 1906

Professional Life Before finishing law school, he drafted legal notices for a local attorney Assisted his parents in the family business 1906: one year unpaid apprenticeship in Prague’s court system 1907: one year at the Assicurazioni Generali (Italian Insurance Agency) : Arbeiter-Unfall-Versicherungs- Anstalt für das Königsreich Böhmen in Prag (Workers’ Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia)

Assicurazioni Generali

Arbeiter-Unfall-Versicherungs-Anstalt für das Königsreich Böhmen in Prag (Workers’ Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia)

Friends While at the university, he made friends with: Max Brod Oskar Baum Felix Weltsch Together they frequented the cafés, theatres, and bordellos of Prague, discussing politics, art, and their own writings

Novels 1925: Der Prozess (The Trial), ed. Brod 1926: Das Schloss (The Castle), ed. Brod 1927: Amerika, ed. Brod

Kafka’s Writings: Short Fiction 1913: “Der Heizer: Ein Fragment” (The Stoker: A Fragment”) 1913: Betrachtung (Meditations) 1915: Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis) 1916: “Das Urteil: Eine Geschichte” (“The Judgment: A Story”) 1919: In der Strafkolonie (In the Penal Colony) 1919: Eine Landarzt (A Country Doctor) 1924: Ein Hungerkunstler (A Hunger Artist)

Diaries

Diary Drawings

Recurring themes in Kafka’s work Father-son conflict Isolation or alienation of the individual Law as inaccessible/uncaring Science vs. the state of nature The dehumanizing aspect of the bureaucratic state Loss of individual security and social cohesion (through war, changing social order, industrialization) A sense of anxiety and doubt about earlier assumptions about the individual’s social and personal value A questioning of earlier narratives, especially religious ones, about the human problems of evil, suffering, and injustice The nightmare of modern experience in an industrialized world

Formal qualities of Kafka’s work The short stories are told as parables Each work is carefully constructed The world is carefully specified and described Naturalism: reality is external, not internal Expressionism: reality is distorted to reveal man’s absurd condition Comical elements The “fantastic,” natural supernaturalism, magical realism

Kafka’s Judaism His father was only perfunctorily attached to the Jewish community and its religious practices Haskalah – Jewish Enlightment movement Kafka was German both in language and culture Kafka was sympathetic to Czech political and cultural aspirations Later he studied Hebrew and supported Zionism Anti-Semitism in Prague

Prague Was a prominent provincial capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Situated on the Vltava River Is important as background to Kafka’s stories, if not literally, symbolically

Kafka’s birthplace

Café Continental

Jewish Ghetto

Prague 1897

Modern Prague

Kafka in 1901

Kafka in 1910

Kafka in 1915

Kafka and Felice Bauer They were twice engaged before their final rupture in 1917

Kafka in 1922

Dora Dymant

Kafka dies near Vienna, in 1924, of tuberculosis

Kafka’s Grave, Jewish Cemetery, Prague