Delve into Kafka's surreal world in 'The Trial' where Joseph K faces a Kafkaesque legal system. Explore Kafka's influences, relationships, and symbolism in the novel's court. Discover the urban settings and the profound impact of Kafka on modern literature.
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Kafka's Early Writing
Kafka began writing around 1908, primarily short stories.
He published two story collections in his lifetime, but his novels (The Trial, The Castle, America) remained incomplete.
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Bureaucracy and the Law
The Trial explores the law as a system of deferral and indirectness, reflecting the modern bureaucratic experience.
Kafka's writing blends with his work at an insurance company, mirroring the pervasive nature of bureaucratic language.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Kafka's Family Background
Kafka's father, Hermann, was a self-made businessman from a humble background.
His mother came from a more prosperous family, creating social tensions within the household.
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Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Franz Kafka's novel of power and alienation 'The Trial', in which readers follow the protagonist Joseph K into a bizarre, nightmarish world in which he stands accused of an unknown crime; courts of interrogation convene in obscure tenement buildings; and there seems to be no escape from a crushing, oppressive bureaucracy.
Kafka was a German-speaking Jew who lived in the Czech city of Prague, during the turbulent years which followed the First World War. He spent his days working as a lawyer for an insurance company, but by night he wrote stories and novels considered some of the high points of twentieth century literature. His explorations of power and alienation have chimed with existentialists, Marxists, psychoanalysts, postmodernists - and Radio 4 listeners, who suggested this as our topic for listener week on In Our Time.
GUESTS
Elizabeth Boa, Professor Emerita of German at the University of Nottingham
Steve Connor, Grace 2 Professor of English at the University of Cambridge
Ritchie Robertson, Taylor Professor of the German Language and Literature at the University of Oxford
In Our Time: Culture