1 / 9

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.

mahala
Télécharger la présentation

The Metamorphosis

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  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

More Related