Past Present Future Politics on Trial 100th Anniversary Special: Franz Kafka’s The Trial
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Aug 21, 2025 Ian Ellison, a writer and Kafka expert, dives into the labyrinth of Franz Kafka’s 'The Trial' on its 100th anniversary. He unpacks the bizarre experience of a trial that never occurs and its eerie reflections of Kafka’s own struggles with love and identity. The conversation explores the concept of the 'Kafkaesque' and how Kafka's themes of absurdity and bureaucracy resonate in today's society. Ellison also sheds light on the relevance of these ideas amidst modern technology and complex social networks.
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Kafka's Strategic Day Job
- Franz Kafka worked at the Workers' Accident Insurance Institute to earn time to write, working mornings and writing late at night.
- He treated the job as strategic, rising through ranks while keeping space for his literary practice.
Failed Engagement Sparked The Trial
- Kafka's engagement to Felice Bauer and its humiliating breakdown in Berlin directly preceded the writing of The Trial.
- He began drafting the novel about a week to ten days after being confronted and shamed by Felice and her friends.
Private Crisis Meets Global Upheaval
- Kafka wrote The Trial amid personal crisis and the outbreak of World War I, blending private rupture with wider historical upheaval.
- He sought escape yet was prevented from leaving his job and life by the war's constraints.
