German 391K - Kafka

Conducted in English. This seminar is an introduction to the short stories, novel fragments, letters and diaries of Franz Kafka, with special emphasis on the works of his "breakthrough" period. Through small-group discussion and frequent analytic writing assignments, we will also explore the major critical interpretations of Kafka's work since his death in 1924 and consider both Kafka's literary context (Austro-German high modernism, fin-de-siecle decadence, Expressionism) and the unique political and social environments of Prague and Berlin during his lifetime (Czech, German and Jewish nationalism, socialism and anarchism, sexualities and the modern city, mass-culture).