Absurdism in Franz Kafka's Fiction

فرانز کافکا کے فکشن میں مہملیت

Abstract

The Absurdist movement did not formally exist, but the term is applied to playwrights and their works who presented a pessimistic view of humanity as a futile struggle to find purpose and control its fate. In this view, mankind is depicted as hopeless, troubled, and anxious. Many literary critics consider the origins of modern absurdist fiction to be from Albert Camus's 1942 novel "The Stranger" and his philosophical essay "The Myth of Sisyphus". However, modern absurdism begins with Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis". He is called the "King of the Absurd" and the founder of the Absurdist movement. According to Camus, the tension between the conflict of purpose and the impossibility of achieving it is the key point of absurdism. Disillusionment with society, lack of reaction to strange situations, dull perceptions, and the illusion of freedom and control in the cyclical meaninglessness of life are all concepts that exist in Camus's absurd universe. These situations are clearly shown in Franz Kafka's works "The Metamorphosis", "A Hunger Artist", "The Castle", "The Message of the Dead Emperor", "The Horseman", "A Country Doctor", "A Report to an Academy", "A View from the Balcony of the Circus", "The Murder of My Brother", etc. Franz Kafka's heroes are born from confusion when the ordered universe turns to chaos. This anonymity helps Kafka build an inevitable chaos around his heroes.