This Companion of specially-commissioned essays offers a comprehensive account of his life and work, providing a rounded contemporary appraisal of Central Europe's most distinctive Modernist. Contributions cover all the key texts, and discuss Kafka's writing in a variety of critical contexts such as feminism, deconstruction, psychoanalysis, Marxism, and Jewish studies. The essays are enhanced by supplementary material including a chronology of the period and detailed guides to further reading. They will be of interest to students of German, European and Comparative Literature, and Jewish Studies.
Edited by:
Julian Preece (University of Kent Canterbury)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 16mm
Weight: 420g
ISBN: 9780521663915
ISBN 10: 0521663911
Series: Cambridge Companions to Literature
Pages: 280
Publication Date: 23 May 2002
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; Chronology; Notes on Contributors; Introduction: Kafka's Europe Julian Preece; 1. Kafka's writing and our reading David Constantine; 2. A psychoanalytic reading of The Man Who Disappeared Anne Fuchs; 3. The exploration of the modern city in The Trial Rolf J. Goebel; 4. The Castle Elizabeth Boa; 5. Kafka's short fiction Ruth V. Gross; 6. Kafka's later stories and aphorisms Stanley Corngold; 7. The letters and diaries Julian Preece; 8. The case for a political reading Bill Dodd; 9. Kafka and Jewish folklore Iris Bruce; 10. Kafka and gender Dagmar C. G. Lorenz; 11. Myths and realities in Kafka biography Anthony Northey; 12. Editions, translations, adaptations Osman Durrani; 13. Kafka adapted to film Helen Hughes and Martin Brady; 14. Kafka and popular culture Iris Bruce; Index.
Julian Preece is Senior Lecturer at the School of European Culture and Languages at the University of Kent at Canterbury. He is the author (with Waldemar Lotnik) of Nine Lives: Ethnic Conflict in the Polish-Ukrainian Borderlands and The Life and Work of Gunter Grass: Literature, History, Politics (2001).
Reviews for The Cambridge Companion to Kafka
'... provides a valuable overview of varied aspects of Kafka's works, including a relevant up-to-date bibliography at the end of each essay.' Poetics Today 'The Cambridge Companion series is renowned for its well-researched and accessible studies, and this is no exception. ... The inclusion of such a wide range of material in this volume makes it an ideal introduction to Kafka's work. The material is presented lucidly, and each contribution takes into account previous reception as well as presenting new readings and interpretations. The volume also benefits from English translations throughout, thus serving an interdisciplinary as well as a Germanist readership.' MLR
