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Reading Reality into the Fantasy of Kafka’s Metamorphosis

Kim, Yeon Soo 1

1이화여자대학교

Candidate

ABSTRACT

This study examines the potential for wide-ranging interpretation that was already latent within the textual makeup of Metamorphosis. This potential was read or understood through its interaction with the reader’s real world context to reveal how an event as extraordinary as Gregor Samsa’s transformation can entail an element of realism. The signified aspect of the verminous insect can be seen as an extension of hatred against Jews as Gregor’s supernational transformation was closely tied to the anti-Semitism that spread across Europe during the time Metamorphosis was written. However, when adopted in a different time and space, it is most likely to be accepted as a fantastical tale that defies all rules of nature, a story that is simply “unrealistic.” At the same time, it could also be seen as unrealistic yet possible when the reader’s real world context conflates Jews who were the Other of Kafka’s time and other communities that are considered as the Other in the reader’s contemporary perspective. The implications drawn here are expected to contribute to the study of comparative literature of Kafka’s fantastic stories and the way they are being adopted in similar or varying forms. Keywords: Kafka’s Metamorphosis, vermin motif,

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* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.
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