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Kafka's “Elf Söhne“: A Further Dimension
Author(s) -
Lewis Hanna B.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
orbis litterarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.109
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1600-0730
pISSN - 0105-7510
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0730.1980.tb01898.x
Subject(s) - listing (finance) , narrative , interpretation (philosophy) , literature , dimension (graph theory) , philosophy , history , simple (philosophy) , art , epistemology , linguistics , mathematics , finance , pure mathematics , economics
Kafka's “Elf Söhne” has often been considered a listing of eleven stories he was working on in 1917. However, the eleven sons may also be seen as the eleven surviving sons of Jacob (before the arrival of Benjamin or after the loss of Joseph). Another listing in Kafka's Judaic background is that of the four sons in the Haggadah (the Passover narrative) and similarities are evident here. This amplifies the possibilities of interpretation for this simple story without precluding Kafka's own explanation.