International symposium, St. John’s College, Oxford
13-15 September 2010
The First World War, often called the »Urkatastrophe« of the twentieth century, changed Kafka’s life, as it did everybody’s. The famous diary entry for 2 August 1914 – »Germany has declared war on Russia. Went swimming in the afternoon« – gives an impression of detachment which is entirely misleading, as this conference will aim to show.
We envisage the symposium as having three concentric circles: 1) the historical context, recreated with the help of historians of Central Europe; 2) the Prague literary circle and its contacts with Czech-language culture; 3) Kafka and his works, especially those produced in the Alchimistengässchen.
Vgl. zum Programm und zu Details: http://www.kafka-research.ox.ac.uk/activities/06kafka_Worldwar.php
Vortrag am 13.09.2010 zu: „Der Erste Weltkrieg im Prager Tagblatt“.