The Limitations of Franz Kafka
m "'HE cult of Franz Kafka began during his own lifetime. I It was at first confined to a small group led by Max JL Brod, who proclaimed Kafka's genius. Since very little of his work was published at the time, the Kafka legend took on a semi mythical character. It was not until well after his death and the publication of his major work that the cult spread from Germany and Austria to England, France and the Americas. Hermann Hesse called him "the secret king of German prose." He has been praised by Thomas and Klaus Mann. In England, Stephen Spender, Dylan Thomas, Aldous Huxley, Hugh Walpole, Rex Warner, and above all, Edwin Muir and W. H. Auden spread the gospel. Muir translated his three novels, The Great Wall of China and other short pieces, introducing them with inspired eulogies. The Argentinian critic Claude Edmonde Magny wrote that Kafka has forged myths similar to those of the ancient religions. In this country, the Kafka wave began with the American edition of The Castle in 1930 and The Trial in 1937. Twice a Year published additional material by and on him under the title Franz Kafka: A Miscellany in 1940. New Directions has since taken him up, declaring that "Franz Kafka symbolizes perfectly the kind of writer for whom New Directions was originated." Several publishing houses are also planning studies on him.