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| Source: Kafkaesque Giph, from Giphy.com |
Kafkaesque
adjective
"Comes from the author Franz Kafka, and refers to the style with
which he wrote his books (which in his dying wish asked for to be
burned).
Basically it describes a nightmarish situation which most people
can somehow relate to, although strongly surreal. With an ethereal,
"evil", omnipotent power floating just beyond the senses." (Urban
Dictionary 1)
The Man Behind Kafkaesque
This new word known as Kafkaesque came about because of the
well known writer Franz Kafka. However, no one today was ever
suppose to know who Kafka was. Kafka had written many works
throughout his life that never got published or were still
unfinished. Before Kafka died his one wish to his friend Max
Brod was that all of his works be burned and destroyed.
Obviously today it can bee seen that Brod went against Kafka's
wishes and kept his works. Kafka wanted his works destroyed
because he did not believe that any of his pieces were
good enough to be published. The works that were published while
Kafka was still alive were a few of his short stories. A number of
these short stories included Meditation in 1913 (Eng. trans in
1949), The Judgment in 1913 (Eng. trans in1945) which was a
collection of short pieces, The Metamorphosis in 1915 (Eng. trans
in 1961) was another short story about a son who transforms into a
bug. Kafka also published the Penal Colony in 1919 (Eng. trans. in
1961), this was a parable he wrote on a torture machine, then came
the story A Hunger Artist in 1924 (Eng. trans in 1938) which he
made at the time of his death, this story was about an artist with an
inability to connect the life of humans in society.
After Kafka's death Max Brod was able to get more of his
works published. The only things that were published after
Kafka died were novels. Some of the novels included The Trial in
1925 (Eng. trans in 1937), which was one of Kafka's well known
novels, There was The Castle in 1926 (Eng. trans in 1930), a novel
about gaining authority recognition. The next novels that were
published was one of his earlier works Amerika published in 1927 (
Eng. trans 1938), a book about an immigrant boys struggle. All of
the works he wrote include his visions of oppression with torment
and depression. However, there are many different
criticisms behind Kafka's works that makes understanding his
works so difficult. The only way to truly understand Kafka's works
is to know his pains in life that show through his works.
Too Many Meanings !!!
Kafkaesque shows how unique Kafka is because his name has
“entered the language in a way no other writer’s has,” said
Fredrick Karl (The Atlantic 2). Kafkaesque has had many critics
try and figure out what the word really means beside the modern
dictionary definitions. After extensive research, all of the meanings
found about this word has come from deep analysis of Kafka's
works. All of Kafka's works shows this reoccurring message of
society, politics and individuals connection to the
bureaucracy. Kafka's works also have this interesting twist of
putting his characters through surreal experiences in order to
accomplish their goals, which in the end has an irrational ending.
In the video above the meaning it gave Kafkaesque was “It’s not
the absurdity of bureaucracy alone, but the irony of the characters’
circular reasoning in reaction to it, that is emblematic of Kafka’s
writing,” the video argues.Another outlook given to Kafkaesque is
from the New York times “What I’m against is someone going to
catch a bus and finding that all the buses have stopped running and
saying that’s Kafkaesque,” he said. “What’s Kafkaesque [...] is
when you enter a surreal world in which all your control patterns,
all your plans, the whole way in which you have configured your
own behavior, begins to fall to pieces [...] What you do is struggle
against this with all of your equipment, with whatever you have.
But of course you don’t stand a chance. That’s Kafkaesque.”
(HuffingtonPost 8). The discovery of the word Kafkaesque has
taken many people through a journey to connect them to him. In
all Kafqaesque seems like a word created to describe Kafka
himself. To describe how he has felt his whole life, trying but
knowing that he will not have the ending he wants. The word
Kafkaesque is really up to interpretation of the writer and the
writers work.
Works Cited
Fallon, Claire. “What Does 'Kafkaesque' Mean, Anyway?” The
Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 4 July 2016,
www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kafkaesque-meaning-
video_us_57768f83e4b09b4c43c02e5b.
Fassler, Joe. “What It Really Means to Be 'Kafkaesque'.” The
Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 15 Jan. 2014,
www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/01/what-it-
really-means-to-be-kafkaesque/283096/.
Ritter, Christopher d. “Franz Kafka.” Franz Kafka,
www.levity.com/corduroy/kafka.htm.
This new word known as Kafkaesque came about because of the
well known writer Franz Kafka. However, no one today was ever
suppose to know who Kafka was. Kafka had written many works
throughout his life that never got published or were still
unfinished. Before Kafka died his one wish to his friend Max
Brod was that all of his works be burned and destroyed.
Obviously today it can bee seen that Brod went against Kafka's
wishes and kept his works. Kafka wanted his works destroyed
because he did not believe that any of his pieces were
good enough to be published. The works that were published while
Kafka was still alive were a few of his short stories. A number of
these short stories included Meditation in 1913 (Eng. trans in
1949), The Judgment in 1913 (Eng. trans in1945) which was a
collection of short pieces, The Metamorphosis in 1915 (Eng. trans
in 1961) was another short story about a son who transforms into a
bug. Kafka also published the Penal Colony in 1919 (Eng. trans. in
1961), this was a parable he wrote on a torture machine, then came
the story A Hunger Artist in 1924 (Eng. trans in 1938) which he
made at the time of his death, this story was about an artist with an
inability to connect the life of humans in society.
After Kafka's death Max Brod was able to get more of his
works published. The only things that were published after
Kafka died were novels. Some of the novels included The Trial in
1925 (Eng. trans in 1937), which was one of Kafka's well known
novels, There was The Castle in 1926 (Eng. trans in 1930), a novel
about gaining authority recognition. The next novels that were
published was one of his earlier works Amerika published in 1927 (
Eng. trans 1938), a book about an immigrant boys struggle. All of
the works he wrote include his visions of oppression with torment
and depression. However, there are many different
criticisms behind Kafka's works that makes understanding his
works so difficult. The only way to truly understand Kafka's works
is to know his pains in life that show through his works.
Too Many Meanings !!!
Kafkaesque shows how unique Kafka is because his name has
“entered the language in a way no other writer’s has,” said
Fredrick Karl (The Atlantic 2). Kafkaesque has had many critics
try and figure out what the word really means beside the modern
dictionary definitions. After extensive research, all of the meanings
found about this word has come from deep analysis of Kafka's
works. All of Kafka's works shows this reoccurring message of
society, politics and individuals connection to the
bureaucracy. Kafka's works also have this interesting twist of
putting his characters through surreal experiences in order to
accomplish their goals, which in the end has an irrational ending.
In the video above the meaning it gave Kafkaesque was “It’s not
the absurdity of bureaucracy alone, but the irony of the characters’
circular reasoning in reaction to it, that is emblematic of Kafka’s
writing,” the video argues.Another outlook given to Kafkaesque is
from the New York times “What I’m against is someone going to
catch a bus and finding that all the buses have stopped running and
saying that’s Kafkaesque,” he said. “What’s Kafkaesque [...] is
when you enter a surreal world in which all your control patterns,
all your plans, the whole way in which you have configured your
own behavior, begins to fall to pieces [...] What you do is struggle
against this with all of your equipment, with whatever you have.
But of course you don’t stand a chance. That’s Kafkaesque.”
(HuffingtonPost 8). The discovery of the word Kafkaesque has
taken many people through a journey to connect them to him. In
all Kafqaesque seems like a word created to describe Kafka
himself. To describe how he has felt his whole life, trying but
knowing that he will not have the ending he wants. The word
Kafkaesque is really up to interpretation of the writer and the
writers work.
Works Cited
Fallon, Claire. “What Does 'Kafkaesque' Mean, Anyway?” The
Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 4 July 2016,
www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kafkaesque-meaning-
video_us_57768f83e4b09b4c43c02e5b.
Fassler, Joe. “What It Really Means to Be 'Kafkaesque'.” The
Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 15 Jan. 2014,
www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/01/what-it-
really-means-to-be-kafkaesque/283096/.
Ritter, Christopher d. “Franz Kafka.” Franz Kafka,
www.levity.com/corduroy/kafka.htm.
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