AbstractsLanguage, Literature & Linguistics

Perspectives on Kafka

by Javadian Shabnam




Institution: Roskilde University
Department:
Year: 2015
Keywords: Kafka
Record ID: 1120009
Full text PDF: http://rudar.ruc.dk/handle/1800/17926


Abstract

This project focuses on the works by the German author Franz Kafka analyzed through the book ”Either/Or” by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. This research draws upon two short stories - “The Judgement”, “The Metamorphosis” and the novel “The Trial” as well as the extracts from Kafka's personal journal and the letters to his father under the title “Dearest father”. The main focus of our research is the struggle of the protagonists against external authoritative forces and their commitments to the society they are within. This focus shows the importance of the choices they make in the stories. The protagonist characteristics have been analyzed by examining the theory of the three existential spheres of living one's life, published in ”Either/Or”. The situations that the protagonists find themselves in have as well been analyzed through autobiographical writings of Kafka. The research has led to the conclusion that different aspects and interpretations can be found by applying a philosophical reading to literature. Our project shows the differences within the clarified and idealized characters described in “Either/Or” and the more realistic and complex characters, portrayed in the everyday life situations, within the works of Kafka. In this research the reader is left with a possibility to see various approaches towards the problems the main characters encounter and the possible solutions they could find.