While his memory languished under Nazi censorship, Franz Kafka covertly circulated through occupied France and soon emerged as a cultural icon, read by the most influential intellectuals of the time as a prophet of the rampant bureaucracy, totalitarian oppression, and absurdity that branded the twentieth century. In tracing the history of Kafka's reception in postwar France, John Hamilton explores how the work of a German-Jewish writer from Prague became a modern classic capable of addressing universal themes of the human condition. More information here.
“Kafka lovers who are inclined to emulate their hero had better be en garde while opening this book: Kafka wrote, 'There is no having, only a being, only a state of being that craves the last breath.' John Hamilton's France/Kafka is literally breathtaking in its historical sense, theoretical finesse, and visual intelligence, observant of the finest telling detail. I risked danger and read France/Kafka in one go and with unstinting joy: there is no finer critic-close reader and philosopher-than John Hamilton, who, in Kafka and France, has found his predestined subject.” ―Stanley Corngold, Professor Emeritus of German and Comparative Literature, Princeton University, USA
“France/Kafka: An Author in Theory shows John Hamilton at a new peak of his scholarly powers and demonstrates what Comparative Literature can accomplish today. An elegant dance in French, German, and English, Hamilton's book provides a comprehensive reconstruction of Kafka's aerolithic impact within the French intellectual context from surrealism and existentialism to feminism and deconstruction. Kafka, who considered himself a spiritual son of Gustave Flaubert, turns out to be the elusive godfather of French theory. While unfolding an erudite dossier of a century of cultural history, France/Kafka discreetly designs its own literary theory, revealing all reading as Übersetzung. Franz Kafka is an author in continued translation: John Hamilton passes on the Imperial Message for the 21st century.” ―Eckart Goebel, Professor for Comparative Literature, University of Tübingen, Germany