Ronald Speirs

Beatrice Sandberg

German philosopher Franz Kafka wrote but three novels, admired today as great works of fiction. Kafka's fiction presents intensely imagined worlds which fascinate and disturb both by their strangeness and their similarity to our own. This study analyzes these works in the context of their author's life and surveys critical approaches to his work.

Franz Kafka

Jakob Lothe

Franz Kafka: Narration, Rhetoric, and Reading presents essays by noted Kafka critics and by leading narratologists who explore Kafka's original and innovative uses of narrative throughout his career. Collectively, these essays by Stanley Corngold, Anniken Greve, Gerhard Kurz, Jakob Lothe, J. Hillis Miller, Gerhard Neumann, James Phelan, Beatrice Sandberg, Ronald Speirs, and Benno Wagner examine a number of provocative questions that arise in narration and narratives in Kafka's fiction. The arguments of the essays relate both to the peculiarities of Kafka's story-telling and to general issues in narrative theory. They reflect, for example, the complexity of the issues surrounding the "somebody" doing the telling, the attitude of the narrator to what is told, the perceived purpose(s) of the telling, the implied or actual reader, the progression of events, and the progression of the telling. As the essays also demonstrate, Kafka's narratives still present a considerable challenge to, as well as a great resource for, narrative theory and analysis.

Narration, Rhetoric, and Reading

Was heißt Familie? Der Begriff ist vielschichtig und dynamisch und variiert stark im Laufe der Zeit – entsprechend dem divergierenden Status der Familie in der Öffentlichkeit. Während sich ihre Strukturen auflösen, gewinnt Familie aufgrund der Globalisierung an Bedeutung, da das Bedürfnis nach Zugehörigkeit sich verstärkt und Generationenromane der Versicherung von Kontinuität dienen. Die hier behandelten literarischen Texte aus zwei Jahrhunderten geben Einblick in das Erlebnis von Familienleben unter bürgerlichen Normen und deren Ablehnung. Sie zeugen von Frustrationen und Glücksmomenten, berichten von Mutter- und Vaterrollen und beleuchten Erfahrungen der durch die Migration in unterschiedlichen Kulturen lebenden Familien. Und immer finden sich Wunschbilder und Alternativen als Gegenentwürfe zur Wirklichkeit.

Erzählte Zeitgeschichte(n) bei Schweizer Autoren vom 18. Jhdt. bis zur Gegenwart

Familienbilder als Zeitbilder

The Missing Person, The Trial and The Castle are known throughout the world as great works of modern fiction, admired for the originality of their technique, subtlety of language and multiple suggestiveness. The present study takes power in its social, psychological and moral complexity and follows this thematic thread through the labyrinth of imagery and motif in each novel. The detailed analyses of the novel are preceded by an account of Kafka's life and a survey of critical approaches to his work.

Stein Ugelvik Larsen

English and German; summaries in either language.

Faschismus und Europäische Literatur

"Franz Kafka: Narration, Rhetoric, and Reading" presents essays by noted Kafka critics and by leading narratologists who explore Kafka's original and innovative uses of narrative throughout his career. Collectively, these essays by Stanley Corngold, Anniken Greve, Gerhard Kurz, Jakob Lothe, J. Hillis Miller, Gerhard Neumann, James Phelan, Beatrice Sandberg, Ronald Speirs, and Benno Wagner examine a number of provocative questions that arise in narration and narratives in Kafka's fiction. The arguments of the essays relate both to the peculiarities of Kafka's story-telling and to general issues in narrative theory. They reflect, for example, the complexity of the issues surrounding the "somebody" doing the telling, the attitude of the narrator to what is told, the perceived purpose(s) of the telling, the implied or actual reader, the progression of events, and the progression of the telling. As the essays also demonstrate, Kafka's narratives still present a considerable challenge to, as well as a great resource for, narrative theory and analysis.

Beatrice Sandberg

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