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| − | '''Franz Kafka''' (July 3, 1883 – June 3, 1924) was a [[Bohemia]]n [[author]] (writing in [[German]]) and [[attorney]] who wrote [[short story|short stories]] and [[novel]]s illustrating how humans are alienated from a hostile, unintelligible and indifferent modern world. Most of his fiction involves protagonists caught in a nightmarish, often-bureaucratic situation that they cannot hope to resolve or escape from.<ref>The New American Desk Encyclopedia, Penguin Group, 1989</ref> | + | '''Franz Kafka''' (July 3, 1883 – June 3, 1924) was a [[Bohemia]]n [[author]] (writing in [[German]]) and [[attorney]] who wrote [[short story|short stories]] and [[novel]]s illustrating how humans are alienated from a hostile, unintelligible and indifferent modern world. Most of his fiction involves protagonists caught in a nightmarish, often-[[bureaucratic]] situation that they cannot hope to resolve or escape from.<ref>The New American Desk Encyclopedia, Penguin Group, 1989</ref> |
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| | Today his work can be viewed as a metaphor for the [[Administrative State]], and for the abuse of power by the [[D.C.]] [[Establishment]]. The relentless persecution of [[Trump]] by the [[Deep State]] is "Kafkaesque". | | Today his work can be viewed as a metaphor for the [[Administrative State]], and for the abuse of power by the [[D.C.]] [[Establishment]]. The relentless persecution of [[Trump]] by the [[Deep State]] is "Kafkaesque". |
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| | An admirer described Kafka as one of the finest German authors of the 20th century, and compared his influence to that of [[Dante]] and [[Shakespeare]] in prior centuries.<ref>https://www.scirp.org/html/4-2810042_44439.htm</ref> In Kafka's landmark writings ''The Trial'' and ''The Castle'', Kafka faces an unending stream of difficulties and claims oppressing him. | | An admirer described Kafka as one of the finest German authors of the 20th century, and compared his influence to that of [[Dante]] and [[Shakespeare]] in prior centuries.<ref>https://www.scirp.org/html/4-2810042_44439.htm</ref> In Kafka's landmark writings ''The Trial'' and ''The Castle'', Kafka faces an unending stream of difficulties and claims oppressing him. |
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| − | His friend Max Brod ignored Kafka's request to burn his writings at his death and instead had them published, and Kafka became a celebrity only after his death. Several of his works became classics after Kafka died, including ''[[The Trial]]'' (1925) and ''[[The Castle]]'' (1926). In ''The Trial'', an innocent man finds himself a defendant in a trial that he cannot understand, and he is sentenced to [[death]] for a crime he did not commit. Kafka’s most famous short story was ''[[The Metamorphosis]]'' (1915), in which the narrator Gregor Samsa awakens to find that he has been transformed into a monstrous [[vermin]] (often interpreted to be an [[insect]]). Through the course of the story, Gregor suffers an injury that ultimately becomes fatal. | + | His friend Max Brod ignored Kafka's request to burn his writings at his death and instead had them published, and Kafka became a celebrity only after his death. Several of his works became classics after Kafka died, including ''The Trial'' (1925) and ''The Castle'' (1926). In ''The Trial'', an [[innocent]] man finds himself a defendant in a trial that he cannot understand, and he is sentenced to [[death]] for a crime he did not commit. Kafka’s most famous short story was ''[[The Metamorphosis]]'' (1915), in which the narrator Gregor Samsa awakens to find that he has been transformed into a monstrous [[vermin]] (often interpreted to be an [[insect]]). Through the course of the story, Gregor suffers an injury that ultimately becomes fatal. |
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| | Throughout Kafka’s works he expressed and sympathized with the feeling of being an outsider. Kafka didn't place much emphasis on formal [[religion]], though never rebuked entirely his [[Jewish]] heritage. Indeed, many of the ethical dilemmas found in his works reflect his intellectual fondness for rabbinical [[rhetoric]]. Franz Kafka passed away at age 40 due to complications surrounding the onset of [[tuberculosis]]. His body lies in the New Jewish Cemetery in [[Prague]]-Žižkov. | | Throughout Kafka’s works he expressed and sympathized with the feeling of being an outsider. Kafka didn't place much emphasis on formal [[religion]], though never rebuked entirely his [[Jewish]] heritage. Indeed, many of the ethical dilemmas found in his works reflect his intellectual fondness for rabbinical [[rhetoric]]. Franz Kafka passed away at age 40 due to complications surrounding the onset of [[tuberculosis]]. His body lies in the New Jewish Cemetery in [[Prague]]-Žižkov. |
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| | "Kafkaesque", a term coined based on Kafka's works means surreal in a horrifying sense, like a nightmare.<ref>https://decipheringkafka.wordpress.com/kafkas-writing-style/</ref> Kafka's novels are difficult at first even to understand. | | "Kafkaesque", a term coined based on Kafka's works means surreal in a horrifying sense, like a nightmare.<ref>https://decipheringkafka.wordpress.com/kafkas-writing-style/</ref> Kafka's novels are difficult at first even to understand. |
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| | == See also == | | == See also == |
| | *[[Marcel Proust]] | | *[[Marcel Proust]] |