Conference Details

We are seeking papers for the "Kafka's Fiction" panel at the 57th annual Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA), which will be held between March 5-8 in Pittsburgh, PA. You can find more information about the event on NeMLA's website: https://www.nemla.org/convention.html

Modality

Hybrid: The session will be held in-person but a few remote presentations may be included.

Panel Abstract

Marking a century since the posthumous publication of The Castle in 1926, this panel aims to explore the enduring currency of Franz Kafka's fiction. His work feels uncanny today: we read of protagonists trapped in impossibly complex systems, unnavigable physical and mental spaces, and enigmatic configurations of law and justice occasioning unusual arrests and forced disappearances, all of which are described in equal parts cruelty and black humor—stories, and perhaps a tone, that resonate now more than ever. Borges once reflected that Kafka's work "modifies our conception of the past, as it will modify the future" (Kafka and His Precursors). We want to consider, in essence, what Kafka might mean in 2026.

In light of this year’s theme of (re)generation, we ask: what might we generate in a (re)turn to Kafka at this particular moment? While any engagement with Kafka's work and its afterlives are welcome additions to this panel, we are especially interested in approaches that extend beyond disciplinary boundaries. Some potential generative approaches could include:

• Close and/or theoretical readings of Kafka's work
• Adaptations of Kafka's work into other media
• Translating Kafka's work
• Teaching Kafka's stories
• Kafka as a mode of reading the present

Please use the NeMLA portal to submit your abstract for the panel: https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/21815