Telephones, Narrative, Algorithms: Untimely Meditations on Kafka
This essay traces Kafka’s writings as documents of a technological consciousness both a century ago and today. On the one hand, they are historical archives indexing the influence of modern technology in the lifeworld of the early 20th century. On the other hand, however, they also carry a historica...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Humanities |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/14/1/16 |
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| author | Ansgar K. Mohnkern |
| author_facet | Ansgar K. Mohnkern |
| author_sort | Ansgar K. Mohnkern |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This essay traces Kafka’s writings as documents of a technological consciousness both a century ago and today. On the one hand, they are historical archives indexing the influence of modern technology in the lifeworld of the early 20th century. On the other hand, however, they also carry a historical index through which they become precise informants of our digital age. With a particular eye on Kafka’s parable “Before the Law”, this essay carves out elements of a narrative order which, as for surprising formal correspondences, can (and perhaps must) be called algorithmic. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d59497c8946e4695a65d30d48766eb97 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-0787 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities |
| spelling | doaj-art-d59497c8946e4695a65d30d48766eb972025-01-24T13:34:51ZengMDPI AGHumanities2076-07872025-01-011411610.3390/h14010016Telephones, Narrative, Algorithms: Untimely Meditations on KafkaAnsgar K. Mohnkern0Department of Modern Languages and Cultures, University of Amsterdam, Spuistraat 134, NL-1012 VB Amsterdam, The NetherlandsThis essay traces Kafka’s writings as documents of a technological consciousness both a century ago and today. On the one hand, they are historical archives indexing the influence of modern technology in the lifeworld of the early 20th century. On the other hand, however, they also carry a historical index through which they become precise informants of our digital age. With a particular eye on Kafka’s parable “Before the Law”, this essay carves out elements of a narrative order which, as for surprising formal correspondences, can (and perhaps must) be called algorithmic.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/14/1/16Kafkatechnologyalgorithmsnarrative |
| spellingShingle | Ansgar K. Mohnkern Telephones, Narrative, Algorithms: Untimely Meditations on Kafka Humanities Kafka technology algorithms narrative |
| title | Telephones, Narrative, Algorithms: Untimely Meditations on Kafka |
| title_full | Telephones, Narrative, Algorithms: Untimely Meditations on Kafka |
| title_fullStr | Telephones, Narrative, Algorithms: Untimely Meditations on Kafka |
| title_full_unstemmed | Telephones, Narrative, Algorithms: Untimely Meditations on Kafka |
| title_short | Telephones, Narrative, Algorithms: Untimely Meditations on Kafka |
| title_sort | telephones narrative algorithms untimely meditations on kafka |
| topic | Kafka technology algorithms narrative |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/14/1/16 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ansgarkmohnkern telephonesnarrativealgorithmsuntimelymeditationsonkafka |