It has been suggested that The Castle, Critical Edition, Underwood Translation be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

It has been suggested that The Castle, Critical Edition, Harman Translation be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

It has been suggested that The Castle, Definitive Edition, Muir Translation be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

The Castle

Author	Franz Kafka
Original title (if not in English)	Das Schloß
Translator	see individual articles
Country	Germany
Language	German
Genre(s)	Philosophical, Dystopian novel
Publisher	Kurt Wolff Verlag, Munich
Released	1926
ISBN	NA

The article is about the German novel by Franz Kafka. For other uses, see The Castle (disambiguation).

The Castle is a philosophical novel by Franz Kafka. In it a protagonist, known only as K., strives to gain access to the mysterious authorities of a castle that governs the village where K. has arrived to work as a land surveyor. Dark and at times surreal, The Castle is about alienation, bureaucracy, and the seemingly endless frustrations of man's attempts to stand against the system. Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... The Castle is a philosophical novel by Franz Kafka. ... Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... The Castle is a philosophical novel by Franz Kafka. ... Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... The Castle is a philosophical novel by Franz Kafka. ... Kafka at the age of five Franz Kafka (IPA: ) (July 3, 1883 – June 3, 1924) was one of the major German-language novelists and short story writers of the 20th century, whose unique body of writing — much of it incomplete, and published posthumously despite his wish that much of it... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Philosophical novels are works of fiction in which a significant proportion of the novel is devoted to a discussion of the sort of questions normally addressed in discursive philosophy. ... Utopian fiction is the creation of an ideal world as the setting for a novel. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Castle refers to more than one creative work: The Castle (Das Schloß) is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1922. ... Kafka at the age of five Franz Kafka (IPA: ) (July 3, 1883 – June 3, 1924) was one of the major German-language novelists and short story writers of the 20th century, whose unique body of writing — much of it incomplete, and published posthumously despite his wish that much of it... Surveyor at work with a leveling instrument. ... In sociology and critical social theory, alienation refers to the individuals estrangement from traditional community and others in general. ... This page is about the sociological concept. ...

History of the novel

Kafka began writing The Castle on the evening of January 22, 1922, the day he arrived at the mountain resort of Spindlermühle (now in the Czech Republic). A picture taken of him upon his arrival shows him by a horse-drawn sleigh in the snow in a setting reminiscent of The Castle.^[1] Hence, the significance that the first few chapters of the handwritten manuscript were written in first person and at some point later changed by Kafka to a third person narrator, 'K.'^[2] January 22 is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... Å pindlerův Mlýn (in German Spindlermühle) is town in the Czech Republic. ...

Max Brod

Kafka died prior to finishing The Castle and it is questionable whether Kafka intended on finishing it had he survived his tuberculosis. On separate occasions he told his friend Max Brod of two different conditions: K., the book's protagonist, would continue to reside and die in the village; the castle notifying him on his death bed that his "legal claim to live in the village was not valid, yet, taking certain auxiliary circumstances into account, he was permitted to live and work there" ^[2], but then on September 11, 1922 in a letter to Max Brod, he said he was giving up on the book and would never return to it.^[3] As it is, the book ends mid-sentence. Max Brod Max Brod (May 27, 1884 – December 20, 1968) was a German-speaking Jewish author, composer, and journalist. ... This article is about the date September 11 in general. ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ...

Although Brod was instructed by Kafka to destroy all his works on his death, he did not and set about publishing Kafka's writings. The Castle was originally published in German in 1926 by the publisher Kurt Wolff Verlag of Munich. This edition sold far less than the 1500 copies that were printed.^[4] It was republished in 1935 by Schocken Verlag in Berlin, and in 1946 by Schocken Books of New York.^[5]

Brod had to heavily edit the work to ready it for publication. His goal was to gain acceptance of the work and the author, not to maintain the structure of Kafka's writing. This would play heavily in the future of the translations and continues to be the center of discussion on the text.^[6]

Brod placed a strong religious significance to the symbolism of the castle.^[7][1] This is one possible interpretation of the work based on numerous Judeo-Christain references as noted by many including Arnold Heidsieck.^[8]

Malcolm Pasley

The publisher, Salmen Schocken, soon realized the translations were "bad" and in 1940 desired a "completely different approach".^[6] In 1961 Malcolm Pasley got access to all of Kafka's works, except The Trial, and deposited them in Oxford's Bodleian library. Pasley and a team of scholars (Gerhard Neumann, Malcolm Pasley, Jost Schillemeit, and Jürgen Born) started publishing the works in 1982 through S. Fischer Verlag. Das Schloß was published that year as a two volume set — the novel in the first volume, and the fragments, deletions and editor's notes in a second volume. This team restored the original German text to its full, and incomplete state, including the unique Kafka punctuation considered critical to the style.^[9] Image File history File links DasSchloss(Pasley). ... Kafka at the age of five Franz Kafka (IPA: ) (July 3, 1883 – June 3, 1924) was one of the major German-language novelists and short story writers of the 20th century, whose unique body of writing — much of it incomplete, and published posthumously despite his wish that much of it... Sir John Malcolm Sabine Pasley, 5th Baronet (April 5, 1926 – March 4, 2004), commonly known as Malcolm Pasley born in Rajkot, India. ... A dystopia (or alternatively cacotopia) is a fictional society, usually portrayed as existing in a future time, when the conditions of life are extremely bad due to deprivation, oppression, or terror. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Sir John Malcolm Sabine Pasley, 5th Baronet (April 5, 1926 – March 4, 2004), commonly known as Malcolm Pasley born in Rajkot, India. ... The Trial book cover This article is about the novel by Kafka. ... Entrance to the Library, with the coats-of-arms of several Oxford colleges The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in England is second in size only to the British Library. ... The German publishing house S. Fischer Verlag (today in Frankfurt am Main) was founded in 1886 by Samuel Fischer in Berlin and is a leading German address for literary publications and fiction. ...

Stroemfeld/Roter Stern

The interpretations to Kafka's intent for the manuscript is ongoing. Stroemfeld/Roter Stern Verlag is working for the rights to publish another critical edition with manuscript and transcription side-by-side. But they have met with resistance from the Kafka heirs and Pasley.^[10] To date this edition is not available.

Major editions

• 1930 Translators: Willa and Edwin Muir. Based on the First German edition, by Max Brod. Published By Secker & Warburg in England and Alfred A. Knopf in the United States.
• 1941 Translators: Wilma and Edwin Muir. Edition include a Homage by Thomas Mann,
• 1954 Translators: Wilma and Edwin Muir additional sections translated by Eithne Wilkins and Ernst Kaiser. "Definitive edition". Based on the Schocken 1951 Definitive edition ^[11]
• 1994 Translators: Muir, et al. Preface by Irving Howe
• 1997 Translator: J. A. Underwood , Introduction: Idris Parry. Based on Pasley Critical German Text.
• 1998 Translator: Mark Harman Based on Pasley Critical German Text

Edwin Muir (15 May 1887 - 3 January 1959) was an Orcadian [1] poet, novelist and translator born on a farm in Deerness on the Orkney Islands. ... Max Brod Max Brod (May 27, 1884 – December 20, 1968) was a German-speaking Jewish author, composer, and journalist. ... Colophon of the publisher Alfred A. Knopf. ... Edwin Muir (15 May 1887 - 3 January 1959) was an Orcadian [1] poet, novelist and translator born on a farm in Deerness on the Orkney Islands. ... For other persons named Thomas Mann, see Thomas Mann (disambiguation). ... Edwin Muir (15 May 1887 - 3 January 1959) was an Orcadian [1] poet, novelist and translator born on a farm in Deerness on the Orkney Islands. ... The Castle is a philosophical novel by Franz Kafka. ... The Castle is a philosophical novel by Franz Kafka. ... Sir John Malcolm Sabine Pasley, 5th Baronet (April 5, 1926 – March 4, 2004), commonly known as Malcolm Pasley born in Rajkot, India. ... The Castle is a philosophical novel by Franz Kafka. ... Mark Harman (1951 – ) is a renowned translator, most notably of Franz Kafkas work, and professor at Elizabethtown College, where he is chair of the Department of English and Modern Languages [1]. A native of Dublin, Harman was educated at University College and Yale University, where he took his BA... Sir John Malcolm Sabine Pasley, 5th Baronet (April 5, 1926 – March 4, 2004), commonly known as Malcolm Pasley born in Rajkot, India. ...

The title

The title, Das Schloß, may be translated as "the castle" or "the lock". It is as similar to Der Schluß (close or end).^[1] The castle is locked and closed to K. and the townspeople; neither can gain access.

Plot

The narrator, K., is a land surveyor summoned to the castle to perform a survey. K. arrives in the village, governed by the castle, under the impression he is to report to a castle authority. He is quickly notified that his castle contact is an official named Klamm, who, in the introductory note, informs K. he will report to the Mayor (also known as the Council Chairman, depending on the translation).

The Mayor informs K. that, through a mix up in communication between the castle and the village, he was erroneously requested but, trying to accommodate K., the Mayor offers him a position in the service of the school teacher as a janitor. Meanwhile, K., unfamiliar with the customs, bureaucracy and processes of the village, continues to attempt to reach the official Klamm, who is not accessible.

The villagers hold the officials and the castle in the highest regard, justifying, quite elaborately at times, the actions of the officials, even though they do not appear to know what or why the officials do what they do. The villagers simply defend it. The number of assumptions and justifications about the functions of the officials and their dealings are enumerated through lengthy monologues of the villagers. Everyone appears to have an explanation for the official's actions that appear to be founded on assumptions and gossip. One of the more obvious contradictions between the "official word" and the village conception is the dissertation by the secretary Erlanger on Frieda's required return to service as a barmaid. K. is the only villager that knows that the request is being forced by the castle (even though Frieda may be the genesis^[12][13]), with no regard for anyone in the village, only Klamm. Pepi and Jeremiah quickly come to their conclusions and do not hesitate to state them.

The castle is the ultimate bureaucracy with copious paperwork that the bureaucracy maintains is "flawless". This flawlessness is of course a lie; it is a flaw in the paperwork that has brought K. to the village. There are other failures of the system which are occasionally referred to. K. witnesses a flagrant misprocessing after his nighttime interrogation by Erlanger as a servant destroys paperwork when he cannot determine who the recipient should be.

The castle's occupants appear to be all adult men and there is little reference to the castle other than to its bureaucratic functions. The two notable instances are the reference to a fire brigade and that Otto Brunswick's wife is self declared as from the castle. The latter builds the importance of Han (Otto's son) in K's eyes, as a way to gain access to the castle officials.

The functions of the officials are never mentioned. The officials that are discussed have one or more secretaries that do their work in their village. Although the officials come to the village they do not interact with the villagers unless they need female companionship, implied to be sexual.

Characters

Note: The Muir translations refer to the Herrenhoff Inn where the Harman translations translate this to the Gentleman's Inn. Below all references to the inn where the officials stay in the village is the Herrenhoff Inn since this was the first, and potentially more read, translation. The Castle is a philosophical novel by Franz Kafka. ... The Castle is a philosophical novel by Franz Kafka. ...

The main character is the central figure of a story. ...

Major themes

Although The Castle's story is very limited in space and time, the humanity of K.'s struggle gives it an epic feeling. Some critics believe Kafka was trying to write the main work of his life.^{[citation needed]} The epic is a broadly defined genre of poetry, and one of the major forms of narrative literature. ...

Theological

It is well documented that Brod's original construction was based on religious themes and this was furthered by the Muir's in their translations. But it has not ended with the Critical Editions. Numerous interpretations have been made with a variety theological angles.

One interpretation of K.'s struggle to contact the castle is that it is representative a man's search of salvation.^[15] According to Mark Harman, translator of a recent edition of The Castle, this was the interpretation favored by the original translators Willa and Edwin Muir, who produced the first English volume in 1925. Harman feels he has removed the bias in the translations toward this view, but many still feel this is the point of the book.

Fueling the biblical interpretations of the novel are the various names and situations. For example, the official Galater (the German word for Galatians), one of the initial regions to develop a strong Christian following from the work of Apostle Paul and his assistant Barnabas. The name of the messenger, Barnabas, for the same reason. Even the Critical Editions naming of the beginning chapter, "Arrival", among other things liken K. to an Old Testament messiah.^[16] This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Epistle to Galatians is a book of the New Testament. ... A 19th century picture of Paul of Tarsus Paul of Tarsus (originally Saul of Tarsus) or Saint Paul the Apostle (fl. ... Barnabas was an early Christian mentioned in the New Testament. ... Note: Judaism commonly uses the term Tanakh. ... In Judaism, the Messiah (מָשִׁיחַ Standard Hebrew Arabic: Al-Masih, المسيح), Tiberian Hebrew , Aramaic ) initially meant any person who was anointed by a prophet of God. ...

Abuse of power

While in talking to Olga in (Chapter XVII, "Amalia's Secret") K. himself ridicules the officials, in general, based on Sortini's "abuse of power" in requesting Amalia to come to the Gentleman's Inn.^[17] K. caught, once again, in not understanding the customs of the village is shocked at the behavior of Sortini. Olga expresses the "heroic" actions of Amalia, but appears too understanding of the community's acceptance of status quo when it comes to the solicitations by the officials.

Bureaucracy

The obvious thread throughout The Castle is bureaucracy. The extreme degree is nearly comical and the village residents' justifications of it are amazing. Hence it is no surprise that many feel that the work is a direct result of the political situation of the era in which it was written. The considerations of anti-Semitism, remnants of the Habsburg bureaucracy, etc.^[18][8] The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy; also used as the flag of the Austrian Empire until the Ausgleich of 1867. ...

But even in these analyses, the veiled references to more sensitive issues are pointed out. For instance, the treatment of the Barnabas family, with their requirement to first prove guilt before they could request a pardon from it and the way their fellow villagers desert them have been pointed out as direct a reference to the anti-Semitic climate at the time.^[19]

Allusions to other works

Critics often talk of The Castle and The Trial in concert. Highlighting the struggle of the protagonist against a bureaucratic system and standing before the law's door unable to enter as in the parable of the priest in The Trial.^[20] The Trial book cover This article is about the novel by Kafka. ...

In spite of motifs common with other works of Kafka, The Castle is quite different from The Trial, Kafka's most famous novel. While K., the main hero of The Castle, faces similar uncertainty and difficulty in grasping the reality that suddenly surrounds him; Josef K., the main hero of The Trial, seems to be more experienced and emotionally stronger. On the other hand, while Josef K.'s surroundings stay familiar even when strange events befall him, K. finds himself in a new world whose laws and rules are unfamiliar to him. In literature, a motif is a recurring element or theme that has symbolic significance in the story. ... The Trial book cover This article is about the novel by Kafka. ...

Allusions to The Castle in other works

A story similar to that of The Castle is told in the television series The Prisoner. In the late 1970s, an unlicensed computer game spin-off of The Prisoner took things one step further by incorporating elements of The Castle into the game play. Also, the Austrian director Michael Haneke (director of The Piano Teacher and Caché) has made a film version of The Castle. The Prisoner was a 1967 UK science fiction television series, starring Patrick McGoohan. ... The Prisoner is a 1980 Apple II computer game produced by Edu-Ware. ... Michael Haneke A feature film is twenty-four lies per second. ...

A videogame set for release on the PS3 by controversial designer Suda 51, called Kurayami, is based around this work. Goichi Suda, aka Suda 51, works as a video game designer for Grasshopper Studios. ... Kurayami is a proposed action/adventure video game by Suda 51 for the PlayStation 3 console. ...

Release details

Refer to:

• The Castle, Definitive Edition, Muir Translation
• The Castle, Critical Edition, Underwood Translation
• The Castle, Critical Edition, Harman Translation

The Castle is also referred to in Lawrence Thornton's Imagining Argentina. A professor is arrested under suspicion of subversive activities. He tells the authorities he has been meeting Dostoevski, Koestler and Camus at a place called The Castle. The main character's cat is also named Kafka. The Castle is a philosophical novel by Franz Kafka. ... The Castle is a philosophical novel by Franz Kafka. ... The Castle is a philosophical novel by Franz Kafka. ...

Although not expressly stated as such, the Steven Soderberg film "Kafka" from 1991, starring Jeremy Irons, incorporates the basic thematic elements of "The Castle" as well as allusions to Kafka's own life as a writer and his collected works. The title character, "Kafka", an insurance company clerk by day and a writer by night, lives and works in the shadow of the mysterious Castle, which rules over the life and death of the local citizenry through a seemingly, incomprehensibly complex conspiracy of bureaucracy and cover ups.

There is also a distinct Russian movie Zamok (The Castle) filmed in 1994 by Aleksei Balabanov. Aleksei Balabanov (born 25 February, 1959 in Yekaterinburg, Russia) is a popular Russian filmmaker. ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Franz Kafka & the trip to Spindemuhle", Eric Ormsby, The New Criterion, November 1998, (http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/17/nov98/ormsby.htm)
2. ^ ^{a b} The Castle, Alfred A. Knopf, 1968, New York, New York, Publisher's note page vi
3. ^ The Castle, Mark Harman, 1998, Schocken Books, New York, New York, Translator's Preface, page xv
4. ^ The Castle, Mark Harman, 1998, Schocken Books, New York, New York, Publisher's Note, page vii
5. ^ The Castle, Alfred A. Knopf, 1968, New York, New York, Publisher's note page iv
6. ^ ^{a b} The Castle, Mark Harman, 1998, Schocken Books, New York, New York, Publisher's Note, page xi
7. ^ The Castle, Mark Harman, 1998, Schocken Books, New York, New York, Publisher's Note, page xiv-xvii
8. ^ ^{a b} Community, Delusion and Anti-Semitism in Kafka's The Castle, Arnold Heidsieck, pages 1-15 (http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/german/track/heidsiec/KafkaAntisemitism/KafkaAntisemitism.pdf)
9. ^ Stepping into Kafka’s head, Jeremy Adler, Times Literary Supplement, Oct. 13, 1995(http://www.textkritik.de/rezensionen/kafka/einl_04.htm)
10. ^ "Scholars squabble in Kafkaesque drama", Von David Harrison, The Observer, May 17, 1998, S. 23 (http://www.textkritik.de/rezensionen/kafka/proc_03.htm)
11. ^ The Castle, Alfred A. Knopf, 1968, New York, New York, Publisher's note page vii
12. ^ The Castle, Alfred A. Knopf, 1968, New York, New York, Fragments page 428
13. ^ The Castle, Alfred A. Knopf, 1968, New York, New York, page 395
14. ^ The Castle, Alfred A. Knopf, 1968, New York, New York, Passages Deleted by the Author, page 422
15. ^ The Castle, Mark Harman, 1998, Schocken Books, New York, New York, Translator's Preface, page xviii
16. ^ Community, Delusion and Anti-Semitism in Kafka's The Castle, Arnold Heidsieck, pages 1-15 (http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/german/track/heidsiec/KafkaAntisemitism/KafkaAntisemitism.pdf)
17. ^ The Castle, Mark Harman, 1998, Schocken Books, New York, New York, page 193
18. ^ Doctoral paper, Hartmut M. Rastalsky, 1997,http://www.lsa.umich.edu/german/hmr/dissertation/10kafka.doc
19. ^ Community, Delusion and Anti-Semitism in Kafka's The Castle, Arnold Heidsieck, pages 11ff (http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/german/track/heidsiec/KafkaAntisemitism/KafkaAntisemitism.pdf)
20. ^ Doctoral paper, Hartmut M. Rastalsky, 1997 (http://www.lsa.umich.edu/german/hmr/dissertation/10kafka.doc)

External links

• Kafka website
• Kafka Society of America
• "Franz Kafka's Quest for an Unavailable God", by Roz Spafford. A 1998 San Francisco Chronicle review of the Mark Harman translation.