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Kafka, a Czech, wrote in German.

chmod775 7y ago
The Czech Republic borders on Germany, and even though the number of German speakers in Czechia has been declining, about 20% of Czechs still speak some German. In Kafka's time many places in Czechia still had Czech as well as German names. On top of that his parents spoke primarily German. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about his upringing: > His family were German-speaking middle-class Ashkenazi Jews. [...] Kafka's parents probably spoke a German influenced by Yiddish that was sometimes pejoratively called Mauscheldeutsch, but, as the German language was considered the vehicle of social mobility, they probably encouraged their children to speak Standard German. Also all the schools he attended taught in German. That is elementary school, Gymnasium (secondary school), and the university he attended. It's really not comparable to authors writing in a language that is not "native" to them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka#Life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka#Life
gumby 7y ago
He most likely learned it as a child as he grew up in the Austrian Empire. In another comment I point out that I consider (due to experience) the idea that adults cannot become fluent a myth -- I'm merely pointing out that Kafka is likely not an example. Conrad is a much better example: a pole who leant English as an adult and published exclusively in it. For a Czech, consider Milan Kundera (French); Beckett is another example of a writer in French, a language he learnt as an adult.
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barry-cotter 7y ago
Kafka was a Jewish subject of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, living in what he would have called Bohemia and regarded as a province. I have no idea whether he spoke Czech but I’d be astonished if his grandparents weren’t primarily Yiddish speakers. At his death he had been a citizen of Czechoslovakia for only six years, and German speakers were 1/4-1/3 of the Czechoslovak population. > Kafka, a Czech, wrote in German. Albert Camus, an Algerian, wrote in French. Seamus Heaney, an Irishman, wrote in English.

The Czech Republic borders on Germany, and even though the number of German speakers in Czechia has been declining, about 20% of Czechs still speak some German. In Kafka's time many places in Czechia still had Czech as well as German names. On top of that his parents spoke primarily German. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about his upringing: > His family were German-speaking middle-class Ashkenazi Jews. [...] Kafka's parents probably spoke a German influenced by Yiddish that was sometimes pejoratively called Mauscheldeutsch, but, as the German language was considered the vehicle of social mobility, they probably encouraged their children to speak Standard German. Also all the schools he attended taught in German. That is elementary school, Gymnasium (secondary school), and the university he attended. It's really not comparable to authors writing in a language that is not "native" to them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka#Life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka#Life

gumby 7y ago

He most likely learned it as a child as he grew up in the Austrian Empire. In another comment I point out that I consider (due to experience) the idea that adults cannot become fluent a myth -- I'm merely pointing out that Kafka is likely not an example. Conrad is a much better example: a pole who leant English as an adult and published exclusively in it. For a Czech, consider Milan Kundera (French); Beckett is another example of a writer in French, a language he learnt as an adult.

deleted 7y ago
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barry-cotter 7y ago

Kafka was a Jewish subject of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, living in what he would have called Bohemia and regarded as a province. I have no idea whether he spoke Czech but I’d be astonished if his grandparents weren’t primarily Yiddish speakers. At his death he had been a citizen of Czechoslovakia for only six years, and German speakers were 1/4-1/3 of the Czechoslovak population. > Kafka, a Czech, wrote in German. Albert Camus, an Algerian, wrote in French. Seamus Heaney, an Irishman, wrote in English.