In defense of Kafka’s porn stash
German scholars have long known that Franz Kafka visited brothels and dabbled in erotica said David Hugendick in Die Zeit. What's astonishing "is that 100 years later an English researcher found them and cried, &lsq
David Hugendick
Die Zeit
British prudishness knows no bounds, said David Hugendick. British biographer James Hawes has just come out with a new book about Franz Kafka, claiming that the esteemed author was a porn addict. It describes “how the author hid his dirty magazines in a closet, and even took the key with him on vacation so his mother wouldn’t find them.” Hawes goes so far as to reproduce some of the pictures! “Sex pictures, with animals! Oh, no, Franz!” Say it isn’t so! Actually, it isn’t. The magazines in question did run a few racy drawings, but they were mostly literary journals, filled with stories by “such smutty writers as Goethe, Rimbaud, and Wilde. Are you aroused yet?” The astonishing thing is not that Kafka read these journals. “It is that 100 years later an English researcher found them and cried, ‘Porno! Porno!’” Hawes claims he wants to reveal the dirty truth about Kafka—but German scholars have long known that the writer visited brothels and dabbled in erotica. “We can only conclude that Hawes doesn’t read German.”
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.
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.
-
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