Jonmaas in Medium: At first, the poet Emily Dickinson and the novelist Franz Kafka might not seem connected. They are both influential writers to be sure, but beyond their general impact, the similarities seem to end. They wrote in different formats, addressed different themes, lived in different eras and geographic locations, and it is rare to hear them mentioned in the same breath.
It also seems that they did not influence one another. Dickinson lived before Kafka, and there isn’t a great deal of evidence that Kafka read Dickinson, let alone was impacted by her. Perhaps most importantly, these two writers engender different sentiments in their readers.
Dickinson’s poems bring joy, Kafka’s novellas illustrate alienation and despair―albeit the kind that brings insight to his readers, and perhaps even joy as well. If they were not connected by similarities of their prose, then they were bound by the threads of how they came to make their prose. And the last common thread might give insight into both the human condition — and the foundation of art itself.
But there were common threads that bound these two figures
If they were not connected by similarities of their prose, then they were bound by the threads of how they came to make their prose.
And the last common thread might give insight into both the human condition — and the foundation of art itself.
All right, let’s begin.
More here.
