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The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis. Understanding Kafka and the many -isms. Franz Kafka: 1883-1924. Born to a Jewish family in Prague Grew up speaking German, also fluent in Czech Worked as an insurance adjuster so he could also write; very few of his works were published in his lifetime.

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The Metamorphosis

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  1. TheMetamorphosis Understanding Kafka and the many -isms

  2. Franz Kafka: 1883-1924 • Born to a Jewish family in Prague • Grew up speaking German, also fluent in Czech • Worked as an insurance adjuster so he could also write; very few of his works were published in his lifetime • Contracted TB in 1917, died of starvation in relation to the disease in Prague in 1924

  3. The Metamorphosis (1915) • One of the few works of Kafka to be published in his lifetime • Wanted all his works destroyed upon his death • Die Verwandlung = translates to “The Transformation” • Also means the changing of a scene in a play • Follows the transformation of GregorSamsa into a “ungeziefer”, an “unclean animal not fit for sacrifice” • Story addressed several changes and transformations re: all characters

  4. Metaphor • The opening of the story is far more important than the end • “the identity [of the beginning] as radical starting point; the intransitive and conceptual aspect, that which has no object but its own constant clarification”: Edward Said, 1968 • Metaphor – usually clarifies a relation of (A) as something (B) • What happens to metaphor when (A) literally becomes (B)?

  5. As a … bug? • In “vermin” form, Samsa has lost his physical human identity which keeps him in isolation, still retains some higher human functioning • Able to remember even if he cannot communicate • Does not see himself as truly abhorrent until music incident • Why does Gregor go through this transformation? • How are others affected by his change?

  6. Realism: • Things exist and have properties which are independent from any thoughts, theories, or beliefs • Naturalism is an off-shoot of this idea, in that social conditions, heredity, and environment are inescapable forces shaping human character and existence • Both seek to represent daily life

  7. Surrealism: • Reaction against rationalism • Designed to purposely cause surprise through unexpected juxtapositions, non sequitur • Seeks to liberate imagination from control of reason

  8. Existentialism: • See the world as a difficult, uncaring place and the individual must find own path • Each person is responsible for making own purpose and meaning • Way to manage the crisis of human existence

  9. Absurdism: • Conflict between the human tendency to look for meaning in life and the inability to find any meaning • Human efforts will ultimately fail do to the overwhelming nature of the question • The absurd arises from the simultaneous existence of the human individual and the universe • Closely linked to existentialism

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