Czech literature of the twentieth century encompasses various cultural and ethnic strains. In this course we will read works of German-Jewish, Czech-Jewish, and Czech authors, exploring in depth the authors' lives and cultural environments, taking into account such factors as morals, historical developments, and other related topics.

This course was originally conceived to provide an introduction to the work of Franz Kafka, who is by origin a Czech Jewish writer. The other Czech works we will explore are by: Karel Capek, Hermann Grab, Egon Hostovsky, and Bohumil Hrabal. In addition, we will read a work by the Hungarian novelist Peter Esterhazy.

Background on the authors we will read.

An account of the origin of this course.