Kafka i Felicja. Romans epistolarny

Abstract

Kafka belongs to the greatest letter writers of the 20th century, but his epistolary prose does not enjoy the popularity it deserves. Kafka’s letters present problems in a different way than his fictional works. They should be read both as a biographical document and a literary text corresponding with the short stories and novels of the author of The Metamorphosis. The article discusses Kafka’s letters to Felice Bauer, a young woman he loved and with whom he was twice engaged. In reality this story ended with a disaster, however its resulted was a remarkable literary text. Elias Canetti called the letters to Felice “the second Trial”; in fact, this epistolary series resembles a novel in letters rather than writing correspondence, such as the one left by Joyce, Mann or Gombrowicz. It offers a fascinating, extraordinary range of emotional experience, style and deep self-analysis. At the same time, it arouses concern due to obsessiveness, repetitions, helplessness of the hero.