The course is divided into three parts.

I. INTRODUCTION TO KAFKA AND TRANSLATION OF THE VERWANDLUNG under the guidance of the teacher (12 hours, 2 CFU). After framing Kafka's work in 20th century literature, the Italian reception of Verwandlung will be traced through the digital platform Translated Literature in Italy (www.ltit.it). We will then attempt to give a new translation of the Verwandlung (possible title: The transformation or The mutation); if the result is satisfactory, it will be submitted to a publishing house for publication. Each student will be required to read, in the original language and in the printed edition, also one of the volumes of the following LIST A: 1) Franz Kafka, Erzählungen, hrsg. v. Michael Müller, Reclam Universalbibliothek, 1995 (€ 6.80); 2) Franz Kafka, Der Verschollene, hrsg. v. Michael Müller, Reclam Universalbibliothek, 1997 (€ 6.80); 3) Franz Kafka, Der Process, hrsg. v. Ralf Kellermann, Reclam XL, 2013 (€ 5.80); 4) Franz Kafka, Das Schloß, hrsg. v. Michael Müller, Reclam Universalbibliothek, 1995 (€ 7.40). Anyone wishing to use other editions is invited to contact the teacher.

II. KAFKA’S HISTORICAL TRANSLATIONS (12 hours, 2 CFU). Each student will present in class one of the translations of the Verwandlung from the following LIST B, and collect information on the translator, the publishing house, the book series and the translation project: 1) Rodolfo Paoli, Vallecchi 1934; 2) Anita Rho, Frassinelli 1935; 3) Henry Furst, Longanesi 1953; 4) Giorgio Zampa, Feltrinelli, 1957; 5) Emilio Castellani, Garzanti 1966; 6) Luigi Coppé, Newton & Compton, 1972; 7) Giulio Schiavoni, Rizzoli 1985; 8) Franco Fortini, Einaudi 1986; 9) Andreina Lavagetto, Feltrinelli 1991; 10) Angela Codacci-Pisanelli, Casini 1991; 11) Vito Maistrello, Bruno Mondadori 1992); 12) Patrizia Zanetti, Demetra 1993; 13) Fermo Giovanni Motta, Guaraldi 1995; 14) Nicoletta Giacon, Giunti 2004; 15) Christian Kolbe, Edizioni Clandestine 2004; 16) Enrico Ganni, Einaudi 2008; 17) Arturo Generali, Baldini Castoldi Dalai 2010; 18) Valentina Peroni, Alia 2010; 19) Vincenzo Becker Cossu, Prìncipi & Princìpi 2010; 20) Paola Capriolo, Il notes magico 2011; 21) Serena Alessandra, Selino's 2011; 22) Elisa Perotti, Nova Delphi 2012; 23) Manuela Mereu, Condaghes 2013. The texts will be provided by the teacher.

III. KAFKIAN CRITICISM (12 hours, 2 CFU): Each attending student will present in class an essay or group of essays from the following LIST C: 1) Max Brod, Franz Kafka [1937], Milano, Mondadori, 1956 (325 p.); 2) Walter Benjamin, Franz Kafka nel decimo anniversario della morte [1934], in Id., Angelus novus, Torino, Einaudi, 1962 (short essay) + Theodor W. Adorno, Appunti su Kafka [1942-53], in Id. Note per la letteratura, Torino, Einaudi, 1979 (short essay) + Hannah Arendt, Ripensando a Franz Kafka [1944], in Id., Antologia, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2006 (short essay); 3) Günter Anders, Kafka: pro e contro [1951], Macerata, Quodlibet, 2007 (200 p.); 4) György Lukács, Franz Kafka o Thomas Mann? [1957], in Il significato attuale del realismo critico, Torino, Einaudi, 1957 (the whole book: 160 p.); 5) Klaus Wagenbach, Kafka. Biografia della sua giovinezza [1958], Torino, Einaudi, 1972 (230 p.); 6) Ladislao Mittner, Kafka senza kafkismi [1960], in Id., La letteratura tedesca del Novecento, Torino, Einaudi, 1960 (ca. 50 pp.); 7) Giuliano Baioni, Kafka. Romanzo e parabola [1962], Milano, Feltrinelli, 1962 (300 p.); 8) Milan Kundera, the essays on Kafka in I testamenti traditi [1993], Milano, Adelphi, 2000 (short essays) + David Foster Wallace, Alcune considerazioni sulla comicità di Kafka che forse avrebbero dovuto essere tagliate ulteriormente [1998], in Considera l’aragosta e altri saggi, Torino, Einaudi, 2006 (short essay) + Philiph Roth, «Ho sempre voluto che ammiraste il mio digiuno», ovvero: Guardando Kafka [1973], Torino, Einaudi, 2011 (52 p.) + Giorgio Fontana, «Anche se la redenzione non giunge»: Franz Kafka, per il centenario della nascita [2013], in http://www.giorgiofontana.com/964-qanche-se-la-redenzione-non-giungeq.html (short essay); 9) Michael Löwy, Kafka sognatore ribelle [2004], Milano, Eleuthera, 2014 (160 p.); 10) Reiner Stach, Questo è Kafka? [2012], Milano, Adelphi, 2017 (360 p.).

Program for non-attending students
In addition to the six reference texts listed in the bibliography, non-attending students will study a second work of Kafka among the four ones suggested in list A and a second critical essay (or group of essays) on Franz Kafka among the ten ones suggested in list C.