Franz Kafka and his Prague contexts : studies in language and literature /
Nekula, Marek,1965-author.
Univerzita Karlova,publisher.
"Franz Kafka is by far the Prague author most widely read and admired internationally. However, his reception in Czechoslovakia, launched by the Liblice conference in 1963, has been conflicted. While rescuing Kafka from years of censorship and neglect, Czech critics of the 1960s "overwrote" his German and Jewish literary and cultural contexts in order to focus on his Czech cultural connections. Seeking to rediscover Kafka's multiple backgrounds, in 'Franz Kafka and His Prague contexts' Marek Nekula focuses on Kafka's Jewish social and literary networks in Prague, his German and Czech bilingualism, and his knowledge of Yiddish and Hebrew. Kafka's bilingualism is discussed in the context of contemporary essentialist views of a writer's "organic" language and identity. Nekula also pays particular attention to Kafka's education, examining his studies of Czech language and literature as well as its role in his intellectual life. The book concludes by asking how Kafka "read" his urban environment, looking at the readings of Prague encoded in his fictional and non-fictional texts."
Includes bibliographical references (pages 216-236) and index.
Suppression and distortion: Franz Kafka 'from the Prague perspective' -- The 'being' of Odradek: Franz Kafka in his Jewish context -- Franz Kafka's languages -- Kafka's 'organic' language: language as a weapon -- Franz Kafka at school: Kafka's education in Czech language and literature -- Kafka's Czech reading in context -- Divided city: Franz Kafka's readings of Prague.
"Franz Kafka is by far the Prague author most widely read and admired internationally. However, his reception in Czechoslovakia, launched by the Liblice conference in 1963, has been conflicted. While rescuing Kafka from years of censorship and neglect, Czech critics of the 1960s "overwrote" his German and Jewish literary and cultural contexts in order to focus on his Czech cultural connections. Seeking to rediscover Kafka's multiple backgrounds, in 'Franz Kafka and His Prague contexts' Marek Nekula focuses on Kafka's Jewish social and literary networks in Prague, his German and Czech bilingualism, and his knowledge of Yiddish and Hebrew. Kafka's bilingualism is discussed in the context of contemporary essentialist views of a writer's "organic" language and identity. Nekula also pays particular attention to Kafka's education, examining his studies of Czech language and literature as well as its role in his intellectual life. The book concludes by asking how Kafka "read" his urban environment, looking at the readings of Prague encoded in his fictional and non-fictional texts."
Kafka, Franz, 1883-1924.
German literature.