Editing Franz Kafka (section)

== Critical response ==

=== After-death biographies and critiques ===

After his death, [[Rudolf Kayser]] wrote an article titled "Anmerkungen zu Franz Kafka" for the ''[[Neue Rundschau]]'', and Manfred Sturmann wrote a biographical essay titled "Erinnerungen an Kafka" for the ''[[Allgemeine Zeitung]]''.{{sfn|Ackermann|1950|p=106}} In 1935, Brod wrote a biography. "Since this work was written in German, however, it was not available to the majority of English critics".{{sfn|Ackermann|1950|p=108}}

From 1924 to 1927, Brod arranged for the publication of Kafka's three unfinished novels and otherwise promoted Kafka's works. During this period, many analytical essays were written about his work. In the late 1920s, 55 articles were written about Kafka's work, most of them reviews and references. Examples include Heinrich Jacob's "Kafka oder die Wahrhaftigke" for ''Der Feuerreiter'' in 1924 and Brod's "Infantilismus Kleist und Kafka" in 1927.{{sfn|Ackermann|1950|pp=106-107}}

Kafka's work was translated to English in the 1930s, and American journals and magazines such as ''[[The New Yorker]]'', ''[[The Nation and Athenaeum]]'', ''[[The Nation]]'', ''[[Scribner's Monthly|Scribners]]'', ''[[New York Tribune]]'', and ''[[The Bookman (New York City)|The Bookman]]'', wrote reviews about his books. ''The Castle'' was specially very well reviewed. But afterwards, until 1937, only three articles were written.{{sfn|Ackermann|1950|pp=107-108}}

At the same time, in Germany, in 1930 only four articles were written, and the following year saw eight articles. But in 1932, only one article was published, possibly because of the rise of the [[National Socialist]] party, as there was a strong antisemitic bias at a time. In [[Nazi Germany]], between 1933 and 1937, only 11 articles about Kafka were published, mostly by Jews in periodical such as ''[[Der Morgen]]'', ''[[Frankfurter Zeitung]]'', ''[[Jüdische Rundschau]]'', and ''[[Hochland (magazine)|Hochland]]''. From 1937 to 1939, no articles were written.{{sfn|Ackermann|1950|p=107}}

In 1937, ''The Trial'' was translated to English. There were 12 reviews in the United States, but the book was reviewed 20 times in other languages, including in France and Brazil. The reviews were mixed, with ''[[The New York Times]]'' reviewer stating that "it is beyond me" and other reviewers stating that Kafka was "one of the most extraordinary writers of our time".{{sfn|Ackermann|1950|p=109}}

In the following year, ''Amerika'' was translated to English and generally well received by four English and two American reviewers. In the same year, ''Das Schloss'' was translated into French and received five reviews.{{sfn|Ackermann|1950|p=108}}

In 1939, Kafka's work was reviewed in many countries, including in the periodicals ''[[The Southern Review]]'', ''[[The Kenyon Review]]'' and ''Expressionism in German Life''. In 1940, ''The Southern Review'' published a religious interpretation of ''The Trial''. In 1941, eleven reviews and articles were published, including "a doctor's dissertation at the [[University of Zürich]]" by Herbert Tauber, entitled "Franz Kafka, eine Deutung seiner Werke". Other countries whose writers showed interest in Kafka's work were Peru, Cuba, and Brazil.{{sfn|Ackermann|1950|pp=108-109}}

In the first years of [[World War II]], interest in Kafka's work diminished in the United States, with only two articles published. In 1943, four articles were published, with one that "criticized Kafka as a symbol of the social decadence which was responsible for the failure of the [[Weimar Republic]]". But in the following year, interest in his work increased again, with six articles published. As World War II drew to a close, interest in Kafka grew once again, with 16 articles appearing in various countries' periodicals, including ''Focus One'', ''[[Quarterly Review of Literature]]'', and ''[[Les Cahiers du Sud]]'', as well as in the book ''Freudism and the Literary Mind''. Many intellectuals grew interested on Kafka's work, with articles by [[Parker Tyler]] in ''Accent'', [[Albert Camus]] in ''Hope and Absurdity'', and [[Jean Wahl]] in ''Kierkegaard and Kafka'' tying his work to [[existentialism]]. In 1946, Kafka's work was popular, with 21 articles on it written that year.{{sfn|Ackermann|1950|p=109}}

=== Critical interpretations ===

The British-American poet [[W. H. Auden]] called Kafka "the [[Dante]] of the twentieth century";{{sfn|Bloom|2002|p=206}} the novelist [[Vladimir Nabokov]] placed him among the greatest writers of the 20th century.{{sfn|Durantaye|2007|pp=315–317}} [[Gabriel García Márquez]] noted the reading of Kafka's ''The Metamorphosis'' showed him "that it was possible to write in a different way".{{sfn|Kafka-Franz|2012}}{{sfn|Paris Review|2012}} A prominent theme of Kafka's work, first established in the short story "Das Urteil",{{sfn|Gale Research|1979|pp=288–311}} is father–son conflict: the guilt induced in the son is resolved through suffering and atonement.{{sfn|Brod|1960|pp=15–16}}{{sfn|Gale Research|1979|pp=288–311}} Other prominent themes and archetypes include alienation, physical and psychological brutality, characters on a terrifying quest, and mystical transformation.{{sfn|Bossy|2001|p=100}}

Kafka's style has been compared to that of Kleist as early as 1916, in a review of "Die Verwandlung" and "Der Heizer" by Oscar Walzel in ''Berliner Beiträge''.{{sfn|Furst|1992|p=83}} The nature of Kafka's prose allows for varied interpretations and critics have placed his writing into a variety of literary schools.{{sfn|Socialist Worker|2007}} [[Marxists]], for example, have sharply disagreed over how to interpret Kafka's works.{{sfn|Lib.com|2008}}{{sfn|Socialist Worker|2007}} Some accused him of distorting reality whereas others claimed he was critiquing capitalism.{{sfn|Socialist Worker|2007}} The hopelessness and absurdity common to his works are seen as emblematic of [[existentialism]].{{sfn|Sokel|2001|pp=102–109}} Some of Kafka's books are influenced by the [[expressionist]] movement, though the majority of his literary output was associated with the experimental [[Literary modernism|modernist]] genre. Kafka also touches on the theme of human conflict with bureaucracy. William Burrows claims that such work is centred on the concepts of struggle, pain, solitude, and the need for relationships.{{sfn|Burrows|2011}} Others, such as [[Thomas Mann]], see Kafka's work as allegorical: a quest, metaphysical in nature, for God.{{sfn|Panichas|2004|pp=83–107}}{{sfn|Gray|1973|p=3}}<!-- -{{sfn|Mann|Heller|1981|p={{page needed | date = August 2012 }}}} uncomment when page ref found- -->

According to [[Gilles Deleuze]] and [[Félix Guattari]], the themes of alienation and persecution, although present in Kafka's work, have been overemphasised by critics. They argue that Kafka's work is more deliberate and subversive—and more joyful—than may first appear. They point out that reading Kafka while focusing on the futility of his characters' struggles reveals Kafka's humour; he is not necessarily commenting on his own problems, but rather pointing out how people tend to invent problems. In his work, Kafka often creates malevolent, absurd worlds.{{sfn|Kavanagh|1972|pp=242–253}}{{sfn|Rahn|2011}} Kafka read drafts of his works to his friends, typically concentrating on his humorous prose. The writer [[Milan Kundera]] suggests that Kafka's [[surreal humour|surrealist humour]] may have been an inversion of Dostoevsky's presentation of characters who are punished for a crime. In Kafka's work, a character is punished although a crime has not been committed. Kundera believes that Kafka's inspirations for his characteristic situations came both from growing up in a patriarchal family and from living in a totalitarian state.{{sfn|Kundera|1988|pp=82–99}}

Attempts have been made to identify the influence of Kafka's legal background and the role of law in his fiction.{{sfn|Glen|2007}}{{sfn|Banakar|2010}} Most interpretations identify aspects of law and legality as important in his work,{{sfn|Glen|2011|pp=47–94}} in which the legal system is often oppressive.{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp=216–218}} The law in Kafka's works, rather than being representative of any particular legal or political entity, is usually interpreted to represent a collection of anonymous, incomprehensible forces. These are hidden from the individual but control the lives of the people, who are innocent victims of systems beyond their control.{{sfn|Glen|2011|pp=47–94}} Critics who support this [[absurdism|absurdist]] interpretation cite instances where Kafka describes himself in conflict with an absurd universe, such as the following entry from his diary:

{{blockquote|Enclosed in my own four walls, I found myself as an immigrant imprisoned in a foreign country;... I saw my family as strange aliens whose foreign customs, rites, and very language defied comprehension;... though I did not want it, they forced me to participate in their bizarre rituals;... I could not resist.{{sfn|Preece|2001|pp=15–31}}}}

However, James Hawes argues many of Kafka's descriptions of the legal proceedings in {{lang|de|Der Process}}—metaphysical, absurd, bewildering and nightmarish as they might appear—are based on accurate and informed descriptions of German and Austrian criminal proceedings of the time, which were [[inquisitorial]] rather than [[Adversarial system|adversarial]].{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp=212–214}} Although he worked in insurance, as a trained lawyer Kafka was "keenly aware of the legal debates of his day".{{sfn|Banakar|2010}}{{sfn|Ziolkowski|2003|p= 224}} In an early 21st-century publication that uses Kafka's office writings as its point of departure,{{sfn|Corngold et al.|2009|pp=xi, 169, 188, 388}} Pothik Ghosh states that with Kafka, law "has no meaning outside its fact of being a pure force of domination and determination".{{sfn|Ghosh|2009}}

=== Translations ===

The first instance of Kafka being translated into English was in 1925, when William A. Drake published "A Report for an Academy" in the ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Drake|first=William A.|date=1 November 1925|title=A Report for an Academy|page=SM7|work=[[New York Herald Tribune]]}}</ref> Eugene Jolas translated Kafka's "The Judgment" for the modernist journal ''[[Transition (literary journal) (1927-1938)|transition]]'' in 1928.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Franz Kafka {{!}} Modernist Archives Publishing Project|url=http://www.modernistarchives.com/person/franz-kafka|access-date=8 April 2021|website=www.modernistarchives.com|archive-date=25 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425225943/http://www.modernistarchives.com/person/franz-kafka|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1930, [[Edwin Muir|Edwin]] and [[Willa Muir]] translated the first German edition of {{lang|de|Das Schloss}}. This was published as ''The Castle'' by [[Secker & Warburg]] in England and [[Alfred A. Knopf]] in the United States.{{sfn|''Guardian''|1930}} In the 1930s, [[Alberto Spaini]] translated ''The Process'' to Italian and Alexandre Vialatte translated it to French.{{sfn|Ackermann|1950|p=108}} A 1941 edition, including a homage by Thomas Mann, spurred a surge in Kafka's popularity in the United States during the late 1940s.{{sfn|Koelb|2010|p=69}} The Muirs translated all shorter works that Kafka had seen fit to print; they were published by [[Schocken Books]] in 1948 as ''[[The Penal Colony: Stories and Short Pieces]]'',{{sfn|Kafka|1948|pp=3–4}} including additionally ''The First Long Train Journey'', written by Kafka and Brod, Kafka's "A Novel about Youth", a review of Felix Sternheim's ''Die Geschichte des jungen Oswald'', his essay on Kleist's "Anecdotes", his review of the literary magazine ''[[Hyperion (magazine)|Hyperion]]'', and an epilogue by Brod.

Later editions, notably those of 1954 (''[[Dearest Father: Stories and Other Writings]]''), included text, translated by [[Eithne Wilkins]] and [[Ernst Kaiser]],{{sfn|Kafka|1954|loc = publisher's notes}} that had been deleted by earlier publishers.{{sfn|Adler|1995}} Known as "Definitive Editions", they include translations of ''The Trial, Definitive'', ''[[The Castle, Definitive Edition, Muir Translation|The Castle, Definitive]]'', and other writings. These translations are generally accepted to have a number of biases and are considered to be dated in interpretation.{{sfn|Sokel|2001|p=63}} Published in 1961 by Schocken Books, ''[[Parables and Paradoxes]]'' presented in a bilingual edition by [[Nahum N. Glatzer]] selected writings,{{sfn|Preece|2001|p=167}} drawn from notebooks, diaries, letters, short fictional works and the novel ''Der Process''.

New translations were completed and published based on the recompiled German text of Pasley and Schillemeit{{nsmdns}}''[[The Castle, Critical Edition, Harman Translation|The Castle, Critical]]'' by [[Mark Harman (translator)|Mark Harman]] ([[Schocken Books]], 1998),{{sfn|Kafka|1998|loc = publisher's notes}} ''The Trial, Critical'' by [[Breon Mitchell]] (Schocken Books, 1998),{{sfn|Preece|2001|pp=xv, 225}} and ''The Man Who Disappeared (Amerika)'' by [[Michael Hofmann]] ([[Penguin Books]], 1996){{sfn|Kirsch|2009}} and ''Amerika: The Missing Person'' by Mark Harman (Schocken Books, 2008).

==== Translation problems to English ====
{{further|Franz Kafka bibliography#English translations}} {{further|The Metamorphosis#Translations of the opening sentence}}

Kafka often made extensive use of a characteristic particular to German, which permits long sentences that sometimes can span an entire page. Kafka's sentences sometimes deliver an unexpected impact just before the full stop, finalizing the meaning and focus of the sentence. This is due to the construction of [[subordinate clauses in German]], which require that the verb be at the end of the sentence. Such constructions are difficult to duplicate in English, so it is up to the translator to provide the reader with the same (or an at least equivalent) effect as the original text.{{sfn|Kafka|1996|p=xi}} German's more flexible word order and [[Syntactic ambiguity|syntactical]] differences provide for multiple ways in which the same German writing can be translated into English.{{sfn|Newmark|1991|pp=63–64}} An example is the first sentence of Kafka's ''[[The Metamorphosis#Translations of the opening sentence|The Metamorphosis]]'', which is crucial to the setting and understanding of the entire story:{{sfn|Bloom|2003|pp=23–26}}

{{Verse translation|Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt.|As Gregor Samsa one morning from restless dreams awoke, found he himself in his bed into a monstrous vermin transformed.|lang=de|attr1=original|attr2=literal word-for-word translation{{sfn|Prinsky|2002}}}}

The sentence above also exemplifies an instance of another difficult problem facing translators: dealing with the author's intentional use of ambiguous [[idiom]]s and words that have several meanings, which results in phrasing that is difficult to translate precisely.{{sfn|Lawson|1960|pp=216–219}}{{sfn|Rhine|1989|pp=447–458}} English translators often render the word {{lang|de|Ungeziefer|italic=}} as 'insect'; in Middle German, however, {{lang|de|Ungeziefer|italic=}} literally means 'an animal unclean for sacrifice';{{sfn|Corngold|1973|p=10}} in today's German, it means 'vermin'. <!-- Brod referred to it as Insekt, though.{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=? will add when source is found again}} --> It is sometimes used colloquially to mean 'bug'—a very general term, unlike the scientific 'insect'. Kafka had no intention of labeling Gregor, the protagonist of the story, as any specific thing but instead wanted to convey Gregor's disgust at his transformation.{{sfn|Sokel|1956|pp=203–214}}{{sfn|Luke|1951|pp=232–245}} Another example of this can be found in the final sentence of "[[Das Urteil]]" ("The Judgement"), with Kafka's use of the German noun {{lang|de|[[wikt:Verkehr|Verkehr]]|italic=}}. Literally, {{lang|de|Verkehr|italic=}} means 'intercourse' and, as in English, can have either a sexual or a non-sexual meaning. The word is additionally used to mean 'transport' or 'traffic'; therefore the sentence can also be translated as: "At that moment an unending stream of traffic crossed over the bridge."{{sfn|Kafka|1996|p=75}} The double meaning of ''Verkehr'' is given added weight by Kafka's confession to Brod that when he wrote that final line he was thinking of "a violent ejaculation".{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=129}}{{sfn|Hawes|2008|p=50}}