A Little Woman
"A Little Woman" | |
---|---|
Short story by Franz Kafka | |
Original title | 'Eine kleine Frau' |
Translator | Francis C. Golfing (1943) Willa and Edwin Muir (1948) |
Country | Germany |
Language | German |
Genre(s) | Short story |
Publication | |
Published in | Prager Tagblatt |
Publication type | periodical |
Publication date | 20 April 1924 |
Published in English | 1943 |
"A Little Woman" (German: "Eine kleine Frau") is a short story by Franz Kafka written between December 1923 and the end of January 1924. It was first published in the Easter supplement of Prager Tagblatt on 20 April 1924. During his final illness Kafka corrected the proofs of the story for the inclusion into collection A Hunger Artist (Ein Hungerkünstler) published by Verlag Die Schmiede after his death.
Plot summary
The story begins with a detailed description of an anxious young woman. The woman is frustrated with the narrator for some reason which he cannot understand as they are strangers. The narrator contemplates the situation and wonders what will help the little woman with her obsessive frustration with him. He considers that even committing suicide would not affect her anger at him. The reliability of the narrator is not a given, and sometimes there seems the suggestion that he is not the actual source of the woman's irritation, but merely considers himself to be so.[1]
Process of writing
At the end of September 1923 Kafka moved to Berlin-Steglitz with Dora Dymant where he wrote "A Little Woman," based on their landlady.
Publication history (in English)
- 1943; translated by Francis C. Golffing, Accent, Summer 1943, pp. 223-227.
- 1948; translated by Willa and Edwin Muir, in The Penal Colony, New York, Schocken Books, 320 p.
Notes
- ^ Kafka, Franz. The Complete Stories. New York City: Schocken Books, 1995. 317-324.
- v
- t
- e
- The Trial
- The Castle
- Amerika
collections
- Contemplation
- A Country Doctor
- A Hunger Artist
- The Great Wall of China
- The Complete Stories
- The Sons
- The Penal Colony
- Parables and Paradoxes
- Dearest Father
- Description of a Struggle
notebooks
and essays
- Ottla Kafka (sister)
- Franz Kafka and Judaism
- Richard and Samuel
- Franz Kafka Museum
- Franz Kafka Society
- Kafka Project
- Head of Franz Kafka statue
- Statue of Franz Kafka
- Kafka's Dick (1986 play)
- The Loves of Kafka (1988 film)
- Kafka (1991 film)
- Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life (1993 film)
- Category
This article about a short story (or stories) published in the 1920s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e