Vita Fellig
JNS, Dec. 5, 2024
The German-Jewish writer Franz Kafka, who died 100 years ago at age 40, is on the short list of people whose name has become an eponymous adjective. The term “Kafkaesque” suggests bureaucratic folly, but Kafka, whose life and work is being celebrated in major exhibitions in Israel, Germany and New York, should also be thought of specifically as a Jewish writer, experts told JNS.
Stefan Litt, curator of the humanities collection at the National Library of Israel and co-curator of the library’s exhibit “Kafka: Metamorphosis of an Author” (through June), told JNS that the exhibit displays never before seen personal letters, notebooks and manuscripts of Kafka’s.
“The items have been chosen in order to depict Kafka’s world, his social contacts, his biographic background and his literary work,” Litt said. “Many people have a vague idea who exactly he was, and the exhibit is seeking to provide a better understanding of the author and his work.”
The “imaginary worlds” of Kafka “describe encounters of individuals with a world full of powers which are not predictable but almighty, not transparent but decisive for the fate of many human beings,” he added. “Many of our contemporaries experience these encounters and will experience them also in the future.”
The Kafka collection at Israel’s National Library in Jerusalem is one of three leading collections of the author’s work, according to Litt. ...SOURCE