Franz Kafka And The Philosophy Of “Kafkaesque”

Franz Kafka.

That name might ring a bell.

Nowadays, he’s often regarded as one of the greatest literary figures of the 20th century.

And his works still strike a tune with modern readers.

Perhaps more than ever.

He is known for his uniquely dark, disorienting, and surreal writing style.

A style and quality so unique to him that anything that resembles it has come to be known and referred to as “Kafkaesque”.

I don’t know about you, but if your work is able to create its own genre — you’re doing something right.

But in order to understand his writing and the Kafkaesque philosophy, we need to understand his origin story.

Kafka was born in Prague in 1883.

His father was a macho man named Hermann.

And his mother was a woman named Julie.

Hermann was a high flying businessman who through sheer force of will managed to rise from the bottom to the top of Czech society.

This feat is very difficult to accomplish now, let alone in the 1800s in Eastern Europe.

Hermann Kafka was a very aggressive Type-A personality.