The Process

Franz Kafka (1883—1924) — one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, a classic of German literature and a key figure of modernism. His prose is recognizable by its disturbingly clear style, in which extreme precision of language combines with an atmosphere of anxiety, absurdity, and alienation. Kafka reconsiders fundamental questions of human existence in new forms — guilt, power, helplessness, loneliness, and the opacity of complex systems. His texts, despite their outward simplicity, reveal deep psychological and philosophical layers, and the situations he created have become iconic: “Kafkaesque” now refers to the confrontation of man with irrational, incomprehensible forces.

The more Josef K., against whom an absurd trial is being conducted, tries to clarify his unnamed guilt and defend himself, the deeper he plunges into the nightmarish labyrinths of the opaque state mechanism. The informality of the court, which is crammed into the attics of dilapidated houses, negates its solemn severity and strict rationality. Grotesque comedy is replaced by merciless tragedy. A tragedy where a bureaucratic system controls the fate of a human being.