History Commons^™

Czech Fiction? Kafka And History In Czech Literature, Zachary Macholz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Much of Czech literature of the twentieth century leans heavily on the political and historical context of a given time period. This is not true of Franz Kafka, but his work is nonetheless reflective of many elements of Czech history after the turn of the century. This paper explores the role that Kafka’s The Trial and Czech political and social history plays in the formation of works of fiction and drama, and concludes that Czech authors Hašek, Hrabal, and Havel all deal explicitly with political and historical themes, and draw from Kafka, while the authors Škvorecky and Kundera are also …