Franz Kafka

At 40 years old, Franz Kafka has this physical status:

Franz Kafka (1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely known as one of twentieth-century literature's top figures.

His art, which incorporates elements of realism and the fantastic, has been interpreted as investigating themes of alienation, existential fear, guilt, and absurdity.

"Die Verwandlung" ("The Metamorphosis"), Der Versuch (The Trial), and Das Schloss (The Castle) are among his best known works.

Kafkaesque has used the English word to refer to situations like those described in his writing. Kafka was born in Prague, the capital of Bohemia and later part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, making the Czech Republic's capital.

He trained as a lawyer and after completing his legal training, he was employed full time by an insurance company, causing him to relegate writing to his spare time.

Kafka wrote hundreds of letters to family and close friends, including his father, with whom he had a tense and formal relationship throughout his lifetime.

He became involved with several people, but never married.

He died of tuberculosis at the age of 40 in 1924. During his lifetime, only a few of Kafka's works were published: the story collections Betrachtung (Contemplation) and Ein Landarzt (A Country Doctor) and individual stories (such as "Die Verwandlung") were published in literary journals, but no one of them was published: only a few of Kafka's works were published: few of his stories (such as "Die Verwandlung") and individual stories (such as "Die Verwandlung") were among Kafam in literary journals were distributed in literary magazines, but received much of Kafka's: the -published in literary journals (A Country Doctor), undi (A Country Doctor) and Ein Landarzt) and "A Country Doctor") were out "A Country Doctor") and "A Country Doctor") were distributed in literary magazines, but not widely distributed in literary journals, but no one of Kafka's (A Country Doctor") and "Die Verwandlung") and individual stories (such as "Die Verwandlung") and "A Country Doctor") and "A Country Doctor") and "A Country Doctor") and "A Country Doctor") and "A Country Doctor") and "A Country Doctor") and "A Country Doctor") and "A Country Doctor") and "A Country Doctor"), but no one or "Die Verwand

Kafka ordered his executor and friend Max Brod to burn his unfinished works, including his books Der Process, Das Schloss, and Der Verschollene, but Brod ignored these instructions.

During the twentieth and 21st centuries, his work has influenced a large number of writers, critics, artists, and philosophers.

Life

Kafka was born in Prague near the Old Town Square and became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His family were German-speaking middle-class Ashkenazi Jews. Hermann Kafka (1854–1931), his father, was the fourth child of Jakob Kafka, a shochet or ritual slaughterer in Osek, a Czech village with a large Jewish population located near Strakonice in southern Bohemia. Hermann brought the Kafka family from Prague. He began working as a traveling sales rep and used the image of a jackdaw (kavka in Czech) as his company's emblem, which was officially and colloquially written as kafka. Julie (1856–1934), Kafka's mother, was the niece of Jakob Löwy, a wealthy retail merchant in Podobrady, and she was better educated than her husband.

Parents in Kafka probably spoke German, often influenced by Yiddish, but they certainly encouraged their children to speak Standard German, which was probably a means of social mobility. Hermann and Julie had six children, Franz was the eldest of all. Georg and Heinrich, Franz's two brothers, died in infancy before Franz was seven; Gabriele ("Ellie") (1889-1944), Valerie ("Valli") (1892-1943), and Ottilie ("Ottla") (1892-1943). Both three three children were killed in World War II's Holocaust. Valli was arrested in 1942 and deported to the ghetto in occupied Poland, but this is the only known information about her. Ottilie was Kafka's favorite niece.

Hermann is described by biographer Stanley Corngold as a "huge, selfish, overbearing businessman" and by Franz Kafka as "a true Kafka in strength, fitness, appetite, eloquence, self-satisfaction, worldly hegemony, persistence, presence of mind, and knowledge of human nature." Both parents were absent from the house on business days, with Julie Kafka spending as many as 12 hours per day assisting with the family's running. As a result, Kafka's childhood was somewhat unhappy, and the children were largely raised by a succession of governesses and servants. Kafka's father's troubled relationship with him is portrayed in his Brief an den Vater (Letter to His Father), in which he claims of being greatly affected by his father's authoritarian and demanding personality; his mother, on the other hand, was quiet and shy. Kafka's father, the dominant figure in the family's poetry, had a major influence on Kafka's writing.

In a cramped apartment, the Kafka family had a servant girl living with them. Franz's room was often damp. The family moved to a larger apartment in November 1913, but Ellie and Valli had married and moved out of the first apartment. The sisters did not know where their husbands were stationed in the military and moved back to the family in this larger apartment in early August 1914, only after World War I began. Both Ellie and Valli had children. Franz, 31, moved into Valli's former apartment, which was quieter by comparison, and lived by himself for the first time.

Kafka attended the Deutsche Knabenschule (meat market), now known as Masná Street, from 1889 to 1893. His Jewish education came to an end with his bar mitzvah celebration at the age of 13. Kafka never liked the synagogue and joined his father only on four high holidays a year.

After finishing elementary school in 1893, Kafka was accepted to the rigorous classical-oriented state gymnasium, Altstädter Deutsches Gymnasium, an academic secondary school located within the Kinsk Palace. However, Kafka wrote and wrote in Czech, but German was the chosen language of instruction. He taught the latter at the gymnasium for eight years, receiving good marks. Despite receiving accolades for his Czech, Kafka never considered himself fluent in the language, even though he spoke German with a Czech accent. In 1901, he took his Matura exams.

Kafka, who was admitted to the Universität of Prague in 1901, began studying chemistry but then transitioned to law after two weeks. Although this career did not excite him, it did offer a variety of career paths, which pleased his father. In addition, the law mandated a longer course of study, allowing Kafka time to enroll in German studies and art history. He also joined Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten (the German students' reading and Lecture Hall), which arranged literary lectures, readings, and other events. Felix Weltsch, a researcher who came from an Orthodox Hasidic Warsaw family, and writers Ludwig Winder, Oskar Baum, and Franz Werfel were among Kafka's acquaintances.

Kafka met Max Brod, a fellow law student who became a lifelong friend. Brod coined the phrase "The Close Prague Circle") to describe the group of writers, which included Kafka, Felix Weltsch, and Brod himself, years later. Brod soon found out that although Kafka was shy and rarely spoke, what he said was surprisingly deep. Kafka loved reading in his youth, Brod's book "Protester Saint Anthony" in French, and La Tentation de St. Antoine by Flaubert (La Temptation of Saint Anthony) in French; on Brod's initiative; and Le Temptation de Saint Anthony) in French; Kafka was an avid reader at his own request. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Gustav Flaubert, Nikolai Gogol, Franz Grillparzer, and Heinrich von Kleist were among his "true blood brothers" in Kafka's list. Besides this, he was also devoted to Goethe's writings. On June 18, 1906, Kafka was awarded the Doctor of Law degree and spent an obligatory year as a law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.

Kafka was recruited at Assicurazioni Generali, an insurance company, where he spent almost a year. He was dissatisfied with a work schedule, from 08:00 to 18:00—that made it impossible to concentrate on writing, which was gaining importance to him. He resigned on July 15, 1908. As he joined the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute in Bohemia, two weeks later, he found writing more amenable to writing. The job involved investigating and assessing personal injury claims among factory employees; injuries such as missing fingers or legs were commonplace at the time, owing to poor work safety legislation. Machine lathes, drills, planning equipment, and rotary saws were all common among factory lathes, drills, planing machines, and rotary saws that were rarely equipped with safety guards.

When working at the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute, management professor Peter Drucker credits Kafka for inventing the first civilian hard hat, but this is not backed up by any government or company statement. His father referred to his son's work as an insurance agent as a Brotberuf, literally "bread job," a job that only does the bills; Kafka would often despise it. Kafka was quickly promoted and his responsibilities included processing and reviewing compensation claims, writing articles, and treating appeals from businessmen who felt their companies had been placed in a higher risk category, which cost them more in insurance premiums. For the many years he worked at the insurance company, he would compile and write the annual report. His superiors were extremely appreciative of the findings. Kafka got off work at 2 p.m. so that he had time to devote to his literary pursuits, which he had committed. Kafka's father was also expected to help out and take over the family's fancy goods store. Kafka's illness kept him from serving in the insurance company and writing.

Elli's husband, Karl Hermann, and Kafka became partners in Prague's first asbestos factory, Prager Asbestwerke Hermann & Co., in late 1911, after using dowry funds from Hermann Kafka. At first, Kafka had a positive attitude and devoted a large portion of his free time to the company, but later he resisted the encroachment of this occupation on his writing time. He also became involved and amused in Yiddish theatre performances during this period. Kafka "immersed himself in Yiddish words and Yiddish literature" after seeing a Yidish theatre troupe perform in October 1911. This curiosity sparked his growing interest in Judaism. Kafka became a vegetarian about this time. Around 1915, Kafka received his draft notice for military service in World War I, but his employers at the insurance company arranged for a postponement of his appointment because his service was considered a vital government service. He later joined the military but was refused to do so due to health problems connected with tuberculosis, which he was diagnosed in 1917. Kafka's Accident Insurance Institute, 1918, put him on a pension due to his illness, for which there was no cure at the time, and the remainder of his life was spent in sanatoriums.

Kafka never married. According to Brod, Kafka was "tortured" by sexual appetite, and Reiner Stach, Kafka's biographer, says that his life was full of "incessant womanising" and that he was plagued with fear of "sexual disappointment." For the majority of his adult life, Kafka was inquiring in pornography. In addition, he had close friendships with several women during his lifetime. Felice Bauer, a Brod cousin who worked in Berlin as a representative of a dictaphone company, was visiting Kafka on August 13, 1912. In his diary, Kafka wrote a week after the dinner at Brod's house: 'Keila's home.'

Kafka wrote the book "The Judgment") in just one night and spent time on Der Verschollene (The Man Who Disappeared) and "Die Verwandlung") shortly after this gathering. Over the next five years, Kafka and Felice Bauer mainly communicated by letters, met occasionally, and were engaged twice. Briefe an Felice, Kafka's defunct letters to Bauer were published as Briefe et Felice; her letters do not survive. According to the biographers Stach and James Hawes, Kafka became involved with Julie Wohryzek, a young and uneducated hotel chambermaid. Despite the fact that the two rented a flat and planned a wedding date, the wedding did not take place. During this period, Kafka began a letter to his Father, who refused to Julie due to her Zionist convictions. He met with yet another woman before the date of the intended marriage. Although he needed women and sex in his life, he had low self-confidence, was disgustingly sex, and was cripplingly shy about his body.

Stach and Brod state that during the time Kafka knew Felice Bauer, he had an affair with Margarethe "Grete" Bloch, a Jewish woman from Berlin, who was a friend of her. Bloch gave birth to Kafka's son, according to Brod, although Kafka's knew of him. The child, whose name is unknown, was born in 1914 or 1915 and died in Munich in 1921. However, Kafka's biographer Peter-André Alt says that, although Bloch had a son, Kafka was not the father because the pair were never close. The contention that Kafka was the father is disputed by a slew of contradictory evidence, Stach points out.

Kafka was diagnosed with tuberculosis in August 1917 and migrated to Zürau, Bohemian village, where her sister Ottla worked on the farm of her brother-in-law Karl Hermann. He was relaxed and later characterized this period as possibly the best period of his life, owing to the fact that he had no obligations. He kept diaries and Oktavhefte (octavo). Kafka extracted 109 numbered pieces of text on Zettel, single pieces of paper in no given order, from the notes in these books. They were later released as Die Züründe, Hoffnung, Leid, and den wahren Weg (Die Zürauer Aphorismen oder Betrachtungen über Sünde, Sünde, Determination, undid, and den wahren Weg), according to Der Zürauer Aphorismen oder Reflections on Sin, Hope, Suffering, and the True Way), which were later published.

Kafka began a close friendship with Milena Jesenská, a Czech journalist and writer, in 1920. Briefe an Milena later published his letters to her. Kafka met Dora Diamant, a 25-year-old kindergarten teacher from an Orthodox Jewish family on a holiday in July 1923 to Graal-Müritz on the Baltic Sea in July. Kafka, a writer who wanted to escape his family's influence to write his books, moved to Berlin (September 1923-March 1924) and lived with Diamant. She became his lover and ignited his interest in the Talmud. He wrote four stories, none of which were intended for publication, including Ein Hungerkünstler (A Hunger Artist).

Kafka had a lifelong apprehension that people found him physically and emotionally repulsive. However, many of those who met him invariably found him to have clear intelligence and a sense of humor; they also found him handsome, but in a more modest manner.

Brod compared Kafka to Heinrich von Kleist, arguing that both writers were able to portray a situation with precise details. Brod found Kafka to be one of the most amusing people he had encountered; Kafka loved sharing humour with his friends, but also helped them through difficult situations with solid advice. Brod said he was a devoted reciter who was able to phrase his words as if it were music. Both of Kafka's most notable features, according to Brod, were "absolute Wahrhaftigkeit" (fully Wahrhaftigkeit) and "precise conscientiness" (prese Gewissenhaftigkeit). He investigated fine detail, the insignificant, in depth, and with such passion and precision that things appeared that were unexpected, seemingly bizarre, but completely true (nichts as truth).

Despite Kafka's inability as an infant, he later developed a passion for games and physical fitness, and he was an accomplished rider, swimmer, and rower. He and his companions set off long hikes on weekends, many planned by Kafka himself. Alternative medicine, modern education systems such as Montessori, and technological novelties such as airplanes and film were among his other interests. Writing was vital to Kafka; he called it a "form of meditation." When writing, he was extremely sensitive to noise and preferred absolute silence.

Kafka may have exhibited a schizoid personality disorder, according to Pérez-lvarez. His style is said to have inspired a substantial portion of his writing, not just in "Die Verwandlung" ("The Metamorphosis"), but it appears in other writings. In this diary entry from June 21, 1913, his anarchy can be seen.

and in Zürau Aphorism number 50:

Kafka may have had borderline personality disorder with co-occurring psychophysiological insomnia, according to Alessia Coralli and Antonio Perciaccante of San Giovanni di Dio Hospital. Joan Lachkar interpreted Die Verwandlung as "a vivid representation of the borderline personality" and referred to it as "a model for Kafka's own abandonment fears, anxiety, depression, and parasitic dependency needs." Kafka described the borderline's general confusion of basic and healthy wishes, aspirations, and needs with something both ugly and disdainful."

Despite the fact that Kafka never married, he esteemed marriage and children. He had several girlfriends and lovers in his life. He may have suffered from an eating disorder. Doctor Manfred M. Fichter of the University of Munich provided "proof for the assertion that Franz Kafka had suffered from an atypical anorexia nervosa," and that Kafka wasn't only lonely and ill, but also "occasionally suicidal." Sander Gilman, a 1995 book "Diete", "why a Jew may have been regarded as 'hypochondriacal' or "homosexual, and how Kafka incorporates elements of this way of understanding the Jewish male into his own self-image and writing," explores. In late 1912, Kafka considered suicide at least once.

Kafka attended many meetings of the Klub mladch, a Czech anarchist, anti-militarist, and an anti-clerical group, prior to World War I. Hugo Bergmann, a student at the same elementary and high schools in Kafka, fell out with Kafka after their last academic year (1900–1901) because "[Kafka's] socialism and my Zionism were much too strident." "I became a Zionist in 1898, and I became a socialist." The synthesis of Zionism and socialism did not exist." According to Bergmann, Kafka wore a red carnation to school to show his love for socialism. Kafka made a remark about influential anarchist scholar Peter Kropotkin in one diary entry: "Don't forget Kropotkin."

The Kafka's contribution to Eastern bloc socialism was hotly debated during the communist period. Opinions ranged from the suggestion that he mocked the bureaucratic bungling of a fading Austro-Hungarian Empire to the suggestion that he embodied the rise of socialism. Marx's theory of alienation was a further point. Although the traditional interpretation of Kafka's alienation were no longer relevant for a culture that had allegedly abolished alienation, a 1963 conference held in Liblice, Czechoslovakia, reaffirmed the importance of Kafka's portrayal of bureaucracy. It's still a mystery whether or not Kafka was a political writer.

Kafka grew up in Prague as a German-speaking Jew. He was deeply interested by Jews of Eastern Europe, who, he said, had an intense spiritual life that was lacking from Jews in the West. There are several references to Yiddish writers in his journal. Despite this, he was also alienated from Judaism and Jewish life at certain times. He wrote in his diary on January 8, 1914: he wrote in his diary on January 8: he wrote on January 8: 1914.

Kafka branded himself an atheist in his adolescent years.

According to Hawes, Kafka, although aware of his own Jewishness, did not incorporate it into his art, which, according to Hawes, lacks Jewish characters, scenes, or themes. Despite the fact that Kafka was uncomfortable with his Jewish roots, he was the undisputed Jewish writer, according to literary critic Harold Bloom, who believed that he was the quintessential Jewish writer. "The presence of Jewishness in Kafka's history is no longer subject to doubt," Lothar Kahn says. In Prague, Pavel Eisner, one of Kafka's first translators, interprets Der Process (The Trial) as the manifestation of the "triple aspect of Jewish life... his protagonist Josef K. is (symbolically) arrested by a German (Rabensteiner), a Czech (Kullich), and a Jew (Kaminer). Although there is no proof that he is a Jew, he advocates for the "guiltless guilt" that imbues the Jew in the modern world.

In his essay Sadness in Palestine?

Kafka is Livia Rothkirchen's "symbolic figure of his time." Several Jewish, Czech, and German writers who were sympathetic to Jewish, Czech, and German culture were among his contemporaries. "This situation lends their writings a broad cosmopolitan outlook and a sense of exaltation bordering on transcendental metaphysical reflection," Rothkirchen says. Franz Kafka is an illustrious example.

Kafka sent Hugo Bergmann, a Tel Aviv guy, a letter announcing his desire to migrate to Palestine near the end of his life. Bergmann did not come to Kafka because he had young children and was afraid that Kafka would infect them with tuberculosis.

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