Franz Kafka
The man who explored the human struggle
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian Jewish novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work, which fuses elements of realism and the fantastic, typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers, and has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity. His best known works include "Die Verwandlung" ("The Metamorphosis"), Der Process (The Trial), and Das Schloss (The Castle). The term Kafkaesque has entered the English language to describe situations like those found in his writing.
Timeline of Kafka's life:
- 1883 Born in Prague, Bohemia, Lands of the Bohemian Crown, Austria-Hungary.
- 1889 to 1893 Primary school on the Fleischmarktgasse (Meat Market Street). Sisters, Gabrielle, called Elli(1889); Valerie, called Valli(1890); and Ottilie, called Ottla(1892); wereborn during this period.
- 1893 to 1900 Studies at the Altstädter German Institute. First friends are: Oskar Pollak and Rudolf Illový. The Kafka family lives on the Zeltnergasse (Zeltner Street). Higher education at the German University of Prague first, chemistry, in the summer, German studies, then law. First meetings with Max Brod. Correspondence with Oskar Pollak; Kafka writes to him on 20 December:“Prague doesn’t let go. Of either of us. This old crone has claws. One has to yield, or else.” Kafka, at the age of nineteen, is expressing the tension he feels between the place in which he has to live and his desire to overcome its limits. In this respect, his writing is a kind of journey that is captive, to a liberation that he would have be total and knows to be impossible.
- 1901 to 1902 Higher education at the German University of Prague; first, chemistry; in the summer, German studies, then law. Spends the summer holidays at Liboch, near Prague, and travels to Munich. First meetings with Max Brod.
- 1903 Up until this year, has destroyed his first exercises in style. Reads Nietzsche.
- 1904 Autumn / winter: probably, the first draft of “Description of a Struggle” (“Beschreibung eines Kampfes”).
- 1906 Obtains his doctorate in law.
- 1907 He starts work at the Prague office of the Assicurazioni Generali.
- 1908 The first prose pieces appear, eight fragments, in the magazine Hyperion.
- 1909 “Conversation with the Supplicant” and “Conversation with the Drunk” are published in Hyperion. Spends his holidays in Riva (on Lake Garda) with Max and Otto Brod. On 29 September, the Prague daily Bohemia publishes the tale “The Airplanes at Brescia” (“Die Aeroplane in Brescia”). He started to write a diary.
- 1910 In the Easter supplement of Bohemia, five prose pieces appear under the title “Reflections” (Betrachtungen). Starts writing the Diaries. Heattends Yiddish theater performances.
- 1911 His interest in Yiddish theater grows and he makes friends with Jizchak Löwy.
- 1912 During the first months he starts The Man Who Disappeared (“Der Verschollene”).
- 1913 In Leipzig, Rowohlt publishes Meditation (Betrachtung)
- 1914 Begins writing The Trial (Der Prozess).
- 1915 In January, goes to see Felice Bauer. In March, moves to his own apartment on Lange Gasse.
- 1916 In July, goes to Marienbad with Felice. Writes short stories for A Country Doctor (Ein Landarzt).
- 1917 Writes “Aphorisms.” In December, in Prague, breaks off his engagement with Felice for the second time.
- 1919 A Country Doctor and “In the Penal Colony” are published. Becomes engaged to Julie Wohryzek. Spends the winter with Max Brod in Schelesen. Writes “Letter to his Father” (“Brief an den Vater”), a document as hurtful as a shot to the hierarchical heart of the family, but prevented from reaching its intended recipient by his mother.
- 1922 In the spring, writes “A Hunger Artist” (“Ein Hungerkünstler”) and in the summer, “Investigations of a Dog” (“Forschungen eines Hundes”). Spends June to September in Planá with Ottla, then Prague.
- 1923 Met with Dora Diamant. Writes some of the narratives: “A Little Woman” (“Eine kleine Frau”) and “The Burrow” (“Der Bau”).
- 1924 Writes “Josephine, the Singer, or the Mouse Folk.” Kafka can neither talk nor swallow his food. Leaves Prague at the beginning of April. Dies on 3 June, while Dymant has gone out for a moment to fetch flowers for him. The writer is buried on 11 June in Prague. “A Hunger Artist” is published that summer.
