Franz-Kafka

Franz Kafka

Kafka on the Shore Existentialism &

Transcendentalism

Franz Kafka 1883-1924 • Born in Prague, Czech Republic • Jewish, middle class • Doctor of Law • No literary attention until after his death • Died of tuberculosis at age of 40 • Works published posthumously

Kafka • Influenced by • Socialism • Yiddish ( Jewish ) literature • Talmud ( Jewish mystical teachings) • Existentialism leanings • Transcendental metaphysical contemplation

Existentialism • a sense of disorientation & confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world. • the individual is solely responsible for giving his own life meaning and to be done passionately and sincerely despite of existential obstacles and distractions including despair, angst, absurdity, alienation, & boredom

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emphasis is the individual about what constitutes a: fulfilling life achievements obstacles to overcome what external and internal factors are involved includes the potential consequences of the existence] or non-existence of God.[

Transcendental metaphysical contemplation • reality, or reality as we can know it, is mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. • reality beyond what is perceptible to the senses

• the mind shapes the world we perceive into the form of space-andtime.

Now back to Kafka • Some believe he had schizoid personality disorder • Speculations regarding his sexual preferences • Anorexia? • Wrote in German • Never finished any of his full length novels • Known to start in middle or last page of note book & write in a random order

Characteristics of his work • Ambiguous words/terms • Hopelessness or absurdity • Magical realism • Metaphysical quest for God ( Talmud/ Zohar) • Surrealist humor • People invent their own struggles

Famous for • The Metamorphosis • The Trial • The Castle

• It’s about a man who wakes up and finds he is changed into a beetle, and how his family reacts to his change. It’s an allegorical short novel about how society view illness, elderly, or societal expectations .

Literary mystery: Missing writings • 20 notebooks & 35 letters to last GF • Kafka Project San Diego State university • It began in 1998 is an official international search for his lost writings • confiscated by Gestapo in Berlin in 1933 • 2003 they found 3 letters • 2010 found a short story