Kafkaesque Cinema

Argues that Kafkaesque cinema is a critical category that can enable us to consider the interconnections between historical events, politics and aesthetics in films across the globe

• The first major investigation of the Kafkaesque in World Cinema
• Discusses case studies from Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Chile, mainland China, Cuba, the former Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Poland, USA, and the former USSR to deliver a crucial re-evaluation of the Kafkaesque as a critical category in film studies
• Demonstrates how the Kafkaesque cinematic aesthetic is rooted in Kafka’s critique of modernity, but it also extends beyond his work and his historical experiences
• Establishes an original critical methodology through the concept of the Kafkaesque to examine how global filmmakers draw on Kafka’s lessons to respond to the historical contradictions of modernity and late modernity
• Draws on a range of disciplines in the Humanities including film, literary, and theatre studies, critical theory, and history

For all its familiarity as a widely used term, “Kafkaesque cinema” remains an often-baffling concept that is poorly understood by film scholars. Taking a cue from Jorge Luis Borges’ point that Kafka has modified our conception of past and future artists, and André Bazin’s suggestion that literary concepts and styles can exceed authors and “novels from which they emanate”, this monograph proposes a comprehensive examination of Kafkaesque Cinema in order to understand it as part of a transnational cinematic tradition rooted in Kafka’s critique of modernity, which, however, extends beyond the Bohemian author’s work and his historical experiences.

Drawing on a range of disciplines in the Humanities including film, literary, and theatre studies, critical theory, and history, Kafkaesque Cinema will be the first full-length study of the subject and will be a useful resource for scholars and students interested in film theory, World Cinema, World Literature, and politics and representation.