- Jahrgang 71 (2021)
- Vol. 71 (2021)
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- Ausgabe 2
- Nr. 2
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- Seiten 185 - 201
- pp. 185 - 201
A Kind of Homecoming
Kafka’s Judaism as the Site of Spiritual and Literary Self-Discovery
Seiten 185 - 201
My article traces Kafka’s short story ‚Das Urteil‘ to the writer’s avid re-engagement with his Jewish heritage during the fall and winter of 1911. I suggest that Kafka’s re-introduction to the ‚Kol Nidrei‘ prayer during October of that year – in the synagogue as well as in the Yiddish theater – led him to experiment with a religiously-inspired prose style that would eventually lead to his literary breakthrough on the night of Yom Kippur, 1912.