Zur Rezeption Kafkas im 20. und 21. Jahrhundert – ein Abriss

The following paper deals with the critical reception of the works of Franz Kafka in Europe and North America. The wide range of existing interpretations, from thevery first attemptsto the later literary reception at the beginning of the 21^st century, is analyzed within four chrono logically ordered segments. The purpose of this analysis, which plays an important role in the basis of my doctoral thesis, is to establish which elements of the “western” literary reception of Kafka have played a role in the assimilation of Kafka’s works in Japan.