Wiadomość ze Wschodu. Motywy orientalne w twórczości Franza Kafki
The Message from the East. Oriental Motifs in Franz Kafka’s Works

Summary/Abstract: Franz Kafka was a writer interested in the European intellectual vision of the East.As an intellectual of the German cultural circles he was familiar with contemporary typesof reception of the Orient (literary, philosophical and religious aspects), both in positiveand negative terms. In several of his works (The Great Wall of China, An Old Manuscript,Jackals and Arabs) he employs oriental motifs to express his own, autonomous worldsof imagination and thought. Although they relate to the Western European projections ofthe East, Kafka was generally more interested in outlining a situation of tension betweenthe rational and impulsive factor in human consciousness, or expressing the sense ofalienation felt by an individual towards a modern state. In addition to these factors, forKafka the Orient was also a way to manifest his own responsibility for creating literatureunderstood as a way of spiritual development.

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