Austria: The wrong way to teach Kafka
On the very first page of the new edition of The Castle, nine words are misspelled; on the next page, 10 are, said Oliver Jungen at Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Oliver Jungen
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany)
Some metamorphosis, said Oliver Jungen. An Austrian publisher has turned Franz Kafka, a giant of German literature, into an illiterate and incoherent babbler. The publishing house of Gehlen and Schulz put out a new edition of Kafka’s The Castle that is riddled with spelling errors and sent it merrily off to schools in German-speaking countries. On the very first page, nine words are misspelled; on the next page, 10 are. And so it goes. The publisher claims that a software glitch caused the typos. But it reads as if someone “scanned in xeroxed sheets of an old edition, ran it through word-recognition software, and then printed it” without subjecting it to a pair of human eyes.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The worst part? These books were printed with a hefty subsidy from the European Union—and Gehlen and Schulz is keeping the money. When confronted by an Austrian newspaper, the publisher had this to say: “True, we have allowed errors to stand...but then literature is not a spelling contest.” Such a counterintuitive response is almost Kafkaesque. Unfortunately, schoolchildren who are taught with materials like these will not be able to appreciate the irony.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Israel marks Oct. 7 attack, hits Lebanon, Gaza
Speed Read It has been one year since Hamas attacked Israel festival goers, sparking an escalating conflict in the Middle East
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Florida braces for Milton as FEMA tackles Helene, lies
Speed Read A flurry of misinformation has been spread about the federal response to Hurricane Helene
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Alcohol-free drinks for Sober October
The Week Recommends These are the best booze-free tipples from refreshing pale ales to bittersweet aperitifs
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Turkey: Banning Twitter doesn’t work
feature In a fit of pique, Turkey’s prime minister moved to shut down public access to Twitter.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Ireland: Why nobody really loves Dublin
feature “Most of our citizens can’t stand Dublin, and that includes many Dubliners.”
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Italy: Can ‘Fonzie’ save the day?
feature This week Italians got their third unelected prime minister since Silvio Berlusconi stepped down in 2011.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Italy: Convicting Amanda Knox with no evidence
feature An Italian appeals court reconvicted the young American student for the 2007 murder of British exchange student Meredith Kercher.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
France: A Gallic shrug at a sex scandal
feature Are the French finally showing interest in their leaders’ dalliances?
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Belgium: Euthanasia for children
feature Should terminally ill children be allowed to end their lives?
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
World Trade Organization: Finally a global deal
feature The World Trade Organization has brokered a trade pact that should generate jobs and wealth around the world.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Greece: Surviving the winter without heat
feature How many Greeks will keel over this winter because they can’t pay their electricity bills?
By The Week Staff Last updated