News | April 1, 2024

New Centenary Exhibition Explores Kafka’s Life, Work and Influence

Bodleian Libraries

Kafka with patients and staff, Sanatorium in Tatranske Matliary, where he was treated for tuberculosis

Kafka: Making of an Icon will mark the 100th anniversary of the author’s death and celebrate not only Kafka’s achievements and creativity, but also his continuing inspiration for new literary, theatrical and artistic creations around the world.

After the exhibition’s run at the Weston Library, Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, from May 30 until October 27, it will move to the Morgan Library in New York running November 22 through April 13, 2025.

Kafka: Making of an Icon will feature materials from the archives of the Bodleian Libraries alongside international loans. The Bodleian Libraries hold the majority of Franz Kafka's papers, notably the original manuscripts of The Metamorphosis, two of his unfinished novels, Das Schloss (The Castle) and Der Verschollene (America), as well as personal correspondence.

The exhibition shows how his experiences nourished his imagination, taking visitors on a journey through Kafka’s life and influences, from his relationship with his family and friends, to the places where he lived and worked, through to his last years of illness and his death on June 3, 1924, at only 40.

Items on show include literary notebooks, drawings, diaries, letters, postcards, glossaries, architectural models, videographic materials and photographs. Among them is a postcard to his brother-in-law in which Kafka jokes about his exceptional skiing skills, despite being severely ill at the time. His Hebrew notebook and his letter (in Hebrew) to his teacher demonstrate his dedication to learning the language that connected him to his
family roots, but there are also snippets of Czech, French and Italian, a reminder of Kafka’s keen multilingualism and interest in languages beyond German and Hebrew.

Bodleian Libraries

Postcard of Jardins de Versailles, with Kafka's writing on picture side

Bodleian Libraries

Final page of Kafka's Das Urteil

Bodleian Libraries

Postcard with six small drawings by Kafka entitled by him 'Ansichten aus meinem Leben' (Scenes from my life)

The centre of the exhibition gallery is dedicated to The Metamorphosis. Alongside the original manuscript of the novella, the exhibition includes entomology illustrations that explore the possibilities of what the creature that used to be Gregor Samsa might have looked like, as well as modern reinterpretations of the story. Among them, thanks to a private loan, visitors will be able to see the original manuscript of The Cockroach, Ian McEwan’s satirical novella inspired by The Metamorphosis.

To complete the picture of Kafka’s world, the exhibition looks into the author’s travels, both real and imaginary. His notebooks and travel journals reveal how his travels in Western Europe and reading of the memoirs of Ejnar Mikkelsen’ Arctic expedition enabled him to practise descriptive writing, while his readings of a book of Chinese poetry and viewing the stereoscopic images he had access to, strengthened his fascination with remote spaces and made him aware of European colonialism.

Kafka's influence beyond his death is represented by the iconic painting by Andy Warhol Franz Kafka (1980), and a display of how the author’s work has been translated into numerous languages and a variety of formats, with a particular focus on Asia and the modern day interest in Kafka in Korea and Japan.

Professor Carolin Duttlinger, co-curator of the exhibition, said: "The centenary of Franz Kafka's death is a unique opportunity to celebrate his global legacy while also introducing his texts to a new generation of readers. We are very excited about the upcoming exhibition, which will tell the story of Kafka's life, times and works, including how his manuscripts ended up at the Bodleian Library in Oxford."