"Allmählich kriegt man vor Kafkas Vater, vor Möbeln und selbst vor Felice Respekt" : Hermann Kafkas Herkunft und deren Präsenz im Werk des Sohnes

Abstract

The literary region of South Bohemia is prominently represented on the Atlas of World Literature by Adalbert Stifter – some may also remember Hašek's "Budweiser Anabasis", an important element of Schwejk's wanderings into war. However, one of the most notorious father-figures in world literature, Hermann Kafka, comes from a small town in southern Bohemia, Wosek. This article would like to proceed in two directions. First, to reconstruct the world of origin of this father, a socialisation that in many ways also remained imprinted in the Kafka family. Hardness against oneself, the will to rise, physical presence and potency were qualities that Hermann Kafka acquired in this milieu and permanently "exemplified" to his son. The son repeatedly invoked this vitality of origin in many texts, not least in the "Brief an den Vater". On the other hand, the article will show the extent to which this Wosek world was incorporated into Franz Kafka's texts, for example, the extent to which the atmosphere of the village in the "Castle" novel reflects the concrete Wosek conveyed by the father, however alienated. This part is intended as a suggestion for further analyses.