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GERM264

Kafka: Enigma or Paradigm?
GERM264 SP

Crosslistings: COL 285, GELT264
Photo Caption and Credits

Spring 97 Availability (Last Updated on Thu Apr 17 05:00:17 EDT 1997 )

Section  Limit  Enrollment  Available
  01       50      0         50

Next Offered in 9899 SP

Franz Kafka's work is among the most enigmatic of modern prose narratives - and among the most influential for novelists as diverse as Borges and Eco. He has been called a modern classic, his characters have been viewed as paradigmatic of modern man, his world seen as typical of an absurd, secularized universe, which has come to be referred to as Kafkaesque. It has also been argued that the primary message of Kafka's writing is that there is no message, while others have seen him as the ultimate creator of a dreamlike universe accessible only to Freudian interpretation or to a reading that places him firmly in his Central European, Jewish background. A careful reading of two major novels and several short stories, as well as some diary excerpts will attempt an introduction to Kafka's world and its presumptive structures.

MAJOR READINGS

Franz Kafka, THE TRIAL, THE CASTLE,
METAMORPHOSIS, THE PENAL COLONY, THE HUNGER ARTIST, LETTER
TO HIS FATHER, DIARIES

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Several short and one long paper.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Class attendance and active participation are essential. Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Discussion Lecture

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UG Credit: 1.00 Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA GERM

Prerequisites: None

Last Updated on MAR-10-1997



About the Photo:

Franz Kafka

Reference:

Binder, Hartmut, FRANZ KAFKA, Germany: Alfred Kroner Verlag Stuttgart, 1979



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