Franz Kafka (1883-1924)
The Czech author Franz Kafka has become a byword for much that is uncomfortable and obscure in literary modernism. His name is now a well-worn adjective used to describe works with a similar feel to Kafka’s excursions into the hinterlands of the modern psyche. Few, however, can match Kafka’s clear, ringing prose (even in translation) and visionary intensity. You won’t always know where you are, but the views are enthralling.
In six two-hour sessions, we will be reading and discussing a number of Kafka’s shorter stories and parables, which I will provide in a course reader.
Fridays, 5 February-11 March, 1-3pm, in Ross House first-floor room 1.3