One of God's "Bad Moods": Kafka's Social Diagnosis and its Multiple Interpretations

In this editorial for the special issue on Franz Kafka, Yvanka B. Raynova examines Kafka's relationship to Nietzsche as well as the very different and often contradictory interpretations of Kafka's work by philosophers and literary critics. She argues that although Kafka's novels can...

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Main Author: Yvanka Raynova
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Axia Academic Publishers 2025-01-01
Series:Labyrinth: An International Journal for Philosophy, Value Theory and Sociocultural Hermeneutics
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Online Access:https://www.axiapublishers.com/ojs/index.php/labyrinth/article/view/363
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author Yvanka Raynova
author_facet Yvanka Raynova
author_sort Yvanka Raynova
collection DOAJ
description In this editorial for the special issue on Franz Kafka, Yvanka B. Raynova examines Kafka's relationship to Nietzsche as well as the very different and often contradictory interpretations of Kafka's work by philosophers and literary critics. She argues that although Kafka's novels cannot be directly "translated into a philosophical, theological, sociological, or psychoanalytical discourse" (Jürgen Born), they should not be interpreted and evaluated solely from a literary perspective, as they raise institutional questions that have led to socio-critical and political associations that are just as urgent for us today. In this context, she refers to the controversies surrounding Kafka's work in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, to his current socio-political reception in art, and to the Kafkaesque in the contemporary world.
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spelling doaj-art-76c67d331a4b47379a8ca178dc7e6d792025-08-20T02:08:57ZdeuAxia Academic PublishersLabyrinth: An International Journal for Philosophy, Value Theory and Sociocultural Hermeneutics2410-48171561-89272025-01-0126210.25180/lj.v26i2.363One of God's "Bad Moods": Kafka's Social Diagnosis and its Multiple InterpretationsYvanka Raynova0Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences / Institut für Axiologische Forschungen, Wien In this editorial for the special issue on Franz Kafka, Yvanka B. Raynova examines Kafka's relationship to Nietzsche as well as the very different and often contradictory interpretations of Kafka's work by philosophers and literary critics. She argues that although Kafka's novels cannot be directly "translated into a philosophical, theological, sociological, or psychoanalytical discourse" (Jürgen Born), they should not be interpreted and evaluated solely from a literary perspective, as they raise institutional questions that have led to socio-critical and political associations that are just as urgent for us today. In this context, she refers to the controversies surrounding Kafka's work in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, to his current socio-political reception in art, and to the Kafkaesque in the contemporary world. https://www.axiapublishers.com/ojs/index.php/labyrinth/article/view/363Franz KafkaFriedrich Nietzscheinterpretationsocial critiqueartsmedia
spellingShingle Yvanka Raynova
One of God's "Bad Moods": Kafka's Social Diagnosis and its Multiple Interpretations
Labyrinth: An International Journal for Philosophy, Value Theory and Sociocultural Hermeneutics
Franz Kafka
Friedrich Nietzsche
interpretation
social critique
arts
media
title One of God's "Bad Moods": Kafka's Social Diagnosis and its Multiple Interpretations
title_full One of God's "Bad Moods": Kafka's Social Diagnosis and its Multiple Interpretations
title_fullStr One of God's "Bad Moods": Kafka's Social Diagnosis and its Multiple Interpretations
title_full_unstemmed One of God's "Bad Moods": Kafka's Social Diagnosis and its Multiple Interpretations
title_short One of God's "Bad Moods": Kafka's Social Diagnosis and its Multiple Interpretations
title_sort one of god s bad moods kafka s social diagnosis and its multiple interpretations
topic Franz Kafka
Friedrich Nietzsche
interpretation
social critique
arts
media
url https://www.axiapublishers.com/ojs/index.php/labyrinth/article/view/363
work_keys_str_mv AT yvankaraynova oneofgodsbadmoodskafkassocialdiagnosisanditsmultipleinterpretations