The Department of Germanic Studies and the Greenberg Center for Jewish Studies present a Romberg Memorial Lecture "Glimpses into Kafka’s Workshop" a conversation on translating a new unabridged English edition of Kafka’s Diaries with Ross Benjamin.
Monday, April 17th 4:30–6:00 p.m. CST
Social Science Tea Room
(Social Science Research Building Room 201)
Dating from 1909 to 1923, Kafka’s handwritten diaries contain various kinds of writing: accounts of daily events, reflections, observations, literary sketches, drafts of letters, accounts of dreams, as well as finished stories. This volume makes available for the first time in English a comprehensive reconstruction of the diary entries and provides substantial new content, including details, names, literary works, and passages of a sexual nature that were omitted from previous publications. By faithfully reproducing the diaries’ distinctive—and often surprisingly unpolished—writing in Kafka’s notebooks, translator Ross Benjamin brings to light not only the author’s use of the diaries for literary experimentation and private self-expression, but also their value as a work of art in themselves.
For questions regarding accessibility, please contact the administrator of the Germanic Studies Program, Emily Anderson at andersone@uchicago.edu