Guest Lecture by Michael E. Huffmaster (University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez)
Amerika, Translation, and Kafka’s Life Writing
May 26, 2026, 4.15-5.45 pm, 00.212, Philo II (Jakob-Welder-Weg 20)
June 2, 2026, 9.40-11.10 am, N.106, Stufenhörsaal (Campus Germersheim)
Cognitive analysis of Kafka’s first novel, Amerika, reveals parallels at the microstructural level with his other two, more well-known novels, The Trial and The Castle. But a significant difference emerges between Amerika and the other two novels at the macrostructural level, which, I posit, may account for the first novel’s relative obscurity. Key passages from Kafka’s life writing can shed light on this discrepancy. Also, the text offers fascinating material for considering the role of translation in the translingual literary reading experience.
Michael Huffmaster is Professor of German at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez. His current book project, Reading Kafka’s Mind, employs cognitive theory to explain the Kafkaesque. His articles on Kafka have appeared in Poetics Today. His work on using literary translation in foreign language education (coauthored with Claire Kramsch) has appeared in Fremdsprachen Lehren und Lernen, Multilingual Education: Between Language Learning and Translanguaging, and most recently The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Education.
You can download the poster for the event here.
