Pages:
2
,
362 pages (typescript).
Year of publication:
2013
Dissertation note:
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Louisville in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Humanities, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky
Keywords:
Kafka, Franz,
;
Austrian literature late 19th century.
;
Austrian literature early 20th century.
;
German literature late 19th century.
;
German literature early 20th century.
;
Jews Austrian literature.
;
Manuscripts.
Abstract:
Kafka's use of silence and gesture in depictions of violence are meant to evoke empathy in the reader. One of the most sophisticated examples of this stylistic move occurs in his aphorisms and parable on Abraham. The use of silence and gesture as well as the turn toward aphorism and parable are factors of Kafka's heritage as a writer in fin de siècle Austria-Hungary. The similarities of style and theme between the German and Jewish literary traditions, both of which influenced Kafka, has led to an imbalance in scholarly understanding of the origins of Kafka's style. Ignoring both the influence that German-language intellectual trends had on Kafka as well as the works of Kafka's that appear prior to 1912 - the year that Kafka wrote ‘Das Urteil’ and the year after his first encounter with the Yiddish theater -leads to a misunderstanding of the origins of Kafka's style. It is easily demonstrable that Kafka's style is rooted in German letters, and that many fundamental elements of his style, such as the use of silence and gesture, occur in works prior to 1912.
URL:
http://digital.cjh.org/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=5407922&custom_att_2=simple_viewer
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