Kafka and Cultural Zionism Dates in Palestine [Hardcover]

Kafka and Cultural Zionismis an illumination of the individual Jewish identity of this major modernist German author. Through a thorough examination of Kafka's life, his influences, and his writings, Iris Bruce makes a case for Kafka's interest in Zionism and demonstrates the presence of Jewish themes and motifs in Kafka's literary works. In recognizing this essential part of Kafka's individual voice, Bruce hopes to provide a new perspective on Kafka and his writings that allows the reader to find the humor, playfulness, rebelliousness, and challenge that can be overlooked if the reader expects to find a Kafka who is disengaged from his ethnic and cultural identity, as well as the politics of his age.

 

Outstanding Academic Title,Choice Magazine

Kafka and Cultural Zionismis an illumination of the individual Jewish identity of this major modernist German author. Through a thorough examination of Kafka's life, his influences, and his writings, Iris Bruce makes a case for Kafka's interest in Zionism and demonstrates the presence of Jewish themes and motifs in Kafka's literary works. In recognizing this essential part of Kafka's individual voice, Bruce hopes to provide a new perspective on Kafka and his writings that allows the reader to find the humor, playfulness, rebelliousness, and challenge that can be overlooked if the reader expects to find a Kafka who is disengaged from his ethnic and cultural identity, as well as the politics of his age.

 

Outstanding Academic Title,Choice Magazine

 “Focusing on cultural Zionism in Prague (and the rest of German-speaking Europe) during the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Bruce makes a compelling case that Kafka was one of the proto-cultural Zionists and quickly identified with the moment once it was established.”— Sander L. Gilman, Emory University, author ofFranz Kafka,lÓ