Course Description

Franz Kafka plays a major role in the construction of the modern and postmodern literary canon of the twentieth century. His novels, stories, parables, letters, and diaries continue to intrigue literary critics, writers of fiction, and readers with their rich texture of autobiographical, allegorical, dreamlike, grotesque, comical, and visionary qualities. We will read Kafka's novels, short stories, parables, and selections from his diaries and letters in the contexts of his biography, the Prague German and Jewish minority communities, and European culture and politics. We will trace "the Kafkaesque" in other cultural productions such as film and comics. We will discuss Kafka research, with a strong focus on recent scholarship such as feminist, poststructuralist, historicist, or postcolonial readings.

Student Learning Objectives

By the end of the course you should be able to:
• explain Kafka’s novels and a selection of his stories and shorter texts in the context of his biography and the cultural and political background of their time
• identify Kafka’s literary and rhetorical devices and relate them to the content of the text
• discuss, orally and in writing, Kafka’s literary production and its continuing aesthetic and cultural validity or challenge
• describe and explain various critical and theoretical approaches to Kafka’s work
• write a research paper on a given or self-chosen topic, supporting arguments with evidence (quotations) from the literary texts and from Kafka research and, optionally, from literary theory

Texts

Required
Kafka, Franz. Amerika: The Man Who Disappeared. Michael Hoffman, trans. New Directions, 2002. $23.95. (A)
_____. The Trial. Breon Mitchell, trans. New York: Schocken, 1998. $13.00. (T)
_____. The Castle. Mark Harman, trans. New York: Schocken, 1998. $14.00. (C)
_____. The Complete Stories. Nahum N. Glatzer, ed. New York: Schocken, 1971, $15.00. (CS)
_____. The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony and Other Stories. Joachim Neugroschel, trans., New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993, 1995, 2000, $13.00. (N)
_____. The Metamorphosis: Translation, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism. Stanley Corngold, trans. and ed., New York: Norton, 1996. $8.55. (BC)
_____. The Sons. New York: Schocken, 1989, $11.00. (S)

Optional
_____. Franz Kafka: The Diaries 1910-1923. Max Brod, ed. New York: Schocken, 1976, $15.00. (D)
Preece, Julian, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Kafka. New York: Cambridge UP, 2002. $22.00.

Publisher’s prices were provided. All books are available at considerable discounts from internet distributors.

Films on Video
available for viewing in the library media center; we will either schedule convenient times for collective viewing or you are expected to watch them individually:

Nabokov on Kafka: Understanding the Metamorphosis. (Peter Medak, 1994) 30 min.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1919)
The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962) 118 min.
The Trial (David Jones, 1992) 120 min.
Franz Kafka (David Thomas, 1980; The Modern World: Ten Great Writers)
The Golem (Paul Wegener and Cor Boese, 1920)
Kafka (Steven Soderbergh, 1992)
Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life – and Other Strange Tales (1999), Kafka short film: 25 min.

Course Requirements and Evaluation

Attendance    Impact on grade is defined below in “Class Attendance Policy”
Class Work   20% See below for details
Oral Presentations   10% See below for details
4 Reaction Papers   10% See below for details
1 Research Paper    20% See below for details
Midterm Exam   10% Exam on material from first half of semester
Final Exam    20% Exam focused on material from second half of semester, but
    including a comprehensive knowledge of Kafka’s work and research on it

Class Work
You are expected to come to class prepared with notes, questions, and comments that  you can contribute to a lively discussion of Kafka’s texts and Kafka research.

Oral Presentations
You will briefly present one or several research articles over the course of the semester. Towards the end of the semester, you will also present your own research findings for your paper and receive feedback from the class before submitting the final version.

Reaction Papers
You will write three 1-page reaction papers before Spring Break, and one shortly after Spring Break. Two of the four may be creative work: your own short stories or parables. The reaction papers are free essays with your own thoughts on a certain text or aspect of a text, ideally before you have consulted any research literature on that specific text. You may choose your own topics and works to discuss and dates to submit (within the above guidelines).

Research Paper
A list of topics will be handed out or you may select your own topic, after consultation with me. Your paper should present your own analysis and interpretation in the context of other scholarly views. Follow MLA guidelines for quotations.

For all typed work: use 1” margins on all sides and New Times Roman font size 12, double-spaced. Number your pages.

Exams
Both exams will test your knowledge of Kafka’s work and the research discussed in class. They will consist of identifications of characters or passages with analysis of their function in a particular text, brief explanations of scholarly approaches to a particular text, and a mini-essay.

German Minor Option, if you’re an undergraduate: Write the 4 responsive papers in German, using a German edition of Kafka, quoting in German; include some German scholarly sources in your research paper (written in English).

Audit Only Option: Attend all class meetings until the end of the semester; be prepared for class (read, take notes) and participate in discussions. You will not have to hand in written work or take exams, but may do so, if you wish.

Class Attendance Policy
Regular attendance is a university requirement. For every unexcused absence in excess of 3 (three) classes, your semester grade could be reduced by 1 point. If you miss more than 10 minutes of a class period (unless pre-approved by me), it will count as an absence, but I encourage you to still attend the class so as not to miss the material. If you have to miss a class, please inform me about it beforehand or as soon as possible after the absence. You will still be expected to be prepared for the next class; contact me or a class mate for information on the missed material and any assignments. For information about what qualifies as an excused absence, please consult: http://www.ncsu.edu/provost/academic_regulations/attend/reg.htm

Students with Disabilities
Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. Before talking to me, you need to register with Disability Services for Students at 1900 Student Health Center, Campus Box 7509, 515-7653. For more information consult http://www.ncsu.edu/provost/offices/affirm_action/dss/.

Academic Integrity Policy
Human interaction and effective communication function on the basis of trust. An atmosphere of trust, honesty and respect for each other fosters educational progress and success. Please do not give me any reason to be suspicious of your honesty. You are to do your own work on all class assigments, papers, and exams, unless it is a designated pair or group assigment. For papers that also means not incorporating others’ ideas and selling them as your own—this is called plagiarism. Whether you take ideas (verbatim or just as an idea) from books, the internet, or other sources does not matter: you need to acknowledge their source if they are not your own. The NC State Library has a Plagiarism Tutorial at: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/scc/tutorial/plagiarism/index.html
Please ask me about anything that remains unclear. Violations of academic integrity (plagiarism, cheating, etc.) will be prosecuted according to NC State’s policy on academic integrity, posted at: http://www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/provost/info/hat/current/appendix/appen_l.html

Semester Schedule

Note: student oral presentations are mentioned here only where they occupy considerable class time; other oral presentations will be included all through the semester.

Introduction: Kafka, Family, Prague, Fin-de-Siècle Culture

1 - Th, Jan. 9 Introduction to the course; overview of Kafka’s life, political and cultural contexts; outline of Kafka research
 

Fathers, Sons, and the Bourgeois Family

2 - Tue, Jan. 14 overview continued; "Letter to His Father" (S)
3 - Th, Jan. 16 "The Judgment" (N 55-72 or CS 77-88), Diary entry Sep. 23, 1912 (Diaries 1910-13, 275-276; on reserve or D 212-213)
     Tue, Jan. 21 no classes
4 - Th, Jan. 23 "The Metamorphosis" (N 115-188 or BC 3-42 or CS 89-139)
5 - Tue, Jan. 28 "The Metamorphosis"; Nabokov, “Franz Kafka: The Metamorphosis” in Lectures on Literature, 251- 283 (on reserve) and discussion of video: Nabokov lectures on “The Metamorphosis” (30 min.); oral presentations on BC articles
6 - Th, Jan. 30 “The Metamorphosis”; more oral presentations on BC articles and on other literary criticism of this story; discussion of the short film Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life

Narrative Structures, Dream Structures, Cinematic Techniques

7 - Tue, Feb. 4 Short review of dream structures in “The Judgment” and “The Metamorphosis”; some of Kafka’s dreams (D, Letters, pages TBA); “A Dream” (N 278 – 80), The Bridge" (CS 411-412), "Give It Up!" (CS 456), "My Neighbor" (CS 424-425), "The Departure" (CS 449), "The Great Wall of China" (CS 235-248), "The City Coat of Arms" (CS 433-434), "The Next Village" (N 262 or CS 404), "An Imperial Message" (N 263 – 264 or CS 4-5); discussion of the expressionist film: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1919, 52 min.)

Transpositions

8 - Th, Feb. 6 Amerika: The Man Who Disappeared
9 - Tue, Feb.11 Amerika: The Man Who Disappeared
10 - Th, Feb. 13 Amerika: The Man Who Disappeared

Trials and the Idea of Judgment

11 - Tue, Feb. 18 "The Judgment" revisited (N 55-72 or CS 77-88), "A Fratricide" (N 275 – 277 or CS 402-404), The Trial
12 - Th, Feb. 20 The Trial
13 - Tue, Feb. 25 The Trial
14 - Th, Feb. 27 The Trial; discussion of film adaptations of The Trial (Orson Welles, David Jones)
15 – Tue, March 4 Midterm

The Body Inscribed

16 – Th, March 6 "A Country Doctor" (N 235 – 243 or CS 220-225), "In the Penal Colony" (N 189 – 229 or CS 140-167)

       Tue, March 11 and Th March 13: Spring Break

17 - Tue, March 18 "A Hunger Artist" (N 301 – 316 or CS 268-277)

Identities

18 - Th, March 20 "A Report for an Academy" (N 281-293 or CS 250-262), "Jackals and Arabs" (N 252-257 or CS 407-411), "A Crossbreed" (CS 426-427), "Investigations of a Dog" (CS 278-316); discussion of the film: The Golem (Paul Wegener and Cor Boese, 1920)
19 -Tue, March 25 “Investigations” cont., "The Wish to Be a Red Indian" (N 47 or CS 390), "The Anxiety of the Head of the Family" (N 265-267 or CS 427-429), "The Hunter Gracchus" (CS 226-234)
20 - Th, March 27 "Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk" (CS 360-376), "An Introductory Talk on the Yiddish Language" (in Franz Kafka, Dearest Father, 381-386; on reserve)

Taking on Authority

21 - Tue, April 1 The Castle
22 - Th, April 3 The Castle
23 - Tue, April 8 The Castle

Struggles

24 - Th, April 10 “Description of a Struggle" (CS 9-51), "A Little Fable" (CS 445), "The Bucket Rider" (CS 412-414), "Blumfeld, an Elderly Bachelor" (CS 183-205)
25 - Tue, April 15 “The Burrow" (CS 325-359)
       Th, April 17 Spring Holiday

Taking on Kafka

26 - Tue, April 22 Student presentations of their research for their papers
27 - Th, April 24 Student presentations of their research for their papers

The Never-Ending Kafka Industry: Some Recent Cultural Productions of Kafka and the "Kafkaesque"

28 - Tu, April 29 Who was Kafka?  Who and what is Kafka? Who and what will Kafka be? Kuper, Give It Up! (on reserve); Mairowitz/Crumb, Introducing Kafka (on reserve); discussion of film: Kafka (Steven Soderbergh, 1992); Kundera “Somewhere Behind” (copy, on reserve) and “The Castrating Shadow of Saint Garta” (in Testaments Betrayed, 35-53, on reserve)
29 - Th, May1 Final Discussion
      Friday, May 2 Research Paper due
Tue, May 13  8-11 a.m. Final Exam