Kafkaesque
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"'''Kafkaesque'''" is an [[auctorial descriptive]] which is used to describe concepts, situations, and ideas which are reminiscent of the literary work of [[Prague]] writer [[Franz Kafka]], particularly his novels ''[[The Trial]]'' and ''[[The Metamorphosis]]''.
The term, which is quite fluid in definition, has also been described as "marked by a senseless, disorienting, often menacing complexity: ''Kafkaesque bureaucracies''" [http://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/Kafkaesque] and "marked by surreal distortion and often a sense of impending danger: ''Kafkaesque fantasies of the impassive interrogation, the false trial, the confiscated passport ... haunt his innocence''" — ''[[The New Yorker]]''. [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Kafkaesque]
It can also describe an intentional distortion of reality by powerful but anonymous bureaucrats. "Lack of evidence is treated as a pesky inconvenience, to be circumvented by such Kafkaesque means as depositing unproven allegations into sealed files ..." Another definition would be an existentialist state of ever-elusive freedom while existing under unmitigatable control.
The adjective refers to anything suggestive of Kafka, especially his nightmarish type of narration, in which characters lack a clear course of action, the ability to see beyond immediate events, and the possibility of escape. The term's meaning has transcended the literary realm to apply to real-life occurrences and situations that are incomprehensibly complex, bizarre, or illogical.
== Cultural references ==
* On November 30, 2006, a federal judge condemned the bureaucracy at the United States [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] (FEMA) as "Kafkaesque" and ordered them to resume benefits to [[Hurricane Katrina]] victims.
* In the book ''Rogue Regime'' on the subject of [[North Korea]], the author Japser Becker claims that "terms like [[Orwellian]] or [[totalitarian]] do not do justice to the nature of the regime, only a term like Kafkaesque can describe the chicanery and manipulation that is carried out".
* The [[Mission Hill]] episode, "Andy Gets a Promotion," partially centers around a cartoon drawn by Andy, which makes fun of the misuse of "Kafkaesque" to describe things which are not.
* In the movie [[Annie Hall]], the Rolling Stone reporter that Alvy sleeps with describes the experience as "Kafkaesque".
* In the movie [[The Squid and the Whale]], a character half-listens to another talk about [[The Metamorphosis]]. He's prompted by the description to note that it's "very Kaftaesque", to which the other replies, "That's because it was written by Franz Kafka."
* In the book [[The Audacity of Hope]], [[Barack Obama]] describes the election of nations such as [[Zimbabwe]] and [[Libya]] as "Kafkaesque".
== See also ==
* This is one of a series of adjectives (specifically [[eponym|eponyms]]) based on authors' names, such as [[Brechtian]], [[Tolkienesque]], [[Joycean]], [[Orwellian]], [[Dickensian]], [[Lovecraftian]], [[Pinteresque]], [[Sadistic]]/[[Sadism and masochism|Sadism]], [[Nabokov|Nabokovian]], [[Machiavellianism|Machiavellian]], [[Cartesian]], [[Borges|Borgesian]] and [[Draco (lawgiver)|Draconian]].
== External links ==
* [http://www.imdb.com/keyword/kafka-esque/ IMDb's list of "Kafkaesque" films]
[[Category:Literary genres]]
[[Category:Franz Kafka]]
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