Wedding preparations in the country

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Wedding preparations in the country is a fragmentary narrative by Franz Kafka that was written between 1907 and 1909 and published posthumously. The actual story, namely the journey of the unhappy groom Raban to his bride in the country, is embedded in meticulous descriptions of the whole environment.

This narrative was intended to be part of a novel. However, after several attempts, Kafka rejected the novel project.

content

Raban's story

First, the pure sequence: The 30-year-old groom Raban goes to the train station with luggage and takes the train to the countryside. Since he is not expected, he gets into the omnibus to the village. When he arrives in front of the inn, Raban cannot make up his mind to get out. (Here the story breaks off).

Raban goes on a rural vacation to his fiancee Betty. It is a rural society in which other acquaintances of Raban will also take part. Raban is unhappy with his role as bridegroom. The bride does not seem attractive to him, obviously he is also cheating on her with a girl named Elvy. But regardless of this, the rural stay depresses him with the sociability he can expect, which he does not appreciate. Raban's gloomy mood is expressed in the ever increasing rainfall. Raban also takes refuge in daydreams , such as the idea of ​​spending the time in hibernation as a large insect and only sending his detached body on a journey.

The surrounding

The circumstances of the trip, the people with their gestures and their clothes, the activities of the children and the variety of objects are described soberly and randomly, but in detail, and almost displace Raban's problem. He meets the friend Lement, who also takes part in the rural society, but will only go there later. There are also various mostly meaningless conversations with fellow travelers.

Narrative perspective and form

The narrative perspective is divided. There is the anonymous narrator who describes the environment in a broad and meticulous manner and whose object is also Raban. On the other hand, there is also Raban's perspective when he addresses his sensitivities in direct speech, mostly in self-talk. The perception of Raban and the narrator run separate paths, the narrator seems to know more than Raban.

Raban himself addresses the importance of the chosen personal perspective. He comments on the effect of choosing the phrase “man” or “I”; H. how startlingly close events storm on him when he allows a personal view. This is how he comes to the idea of ​​separation between his body and his actual self.

The language of the narration is free of any comment, it is factual, emotionless and exact.

In the train journey presented in the opening chapter, the moment of acceleration is described in great detail. The impression of speed is achieved through visualization that is as plastic as possible. The paradoxical attempt at a photographic fixation of an experience of speed is undertaken.

Three versions of the text

There are three fragments of this narrative, within each of which several pages are missing. The version from 1909 retains the street scenes, but varies in the conversation situation. Instead of the familiar Lement, an older man appears. The quality of both conversations - absent-minded and without any real exchange - is similar. The third fragment is a juxtaposition of sequences of images that deal with urban traffic.

Text analysis

The theme of the title, namely "wedding preparations", does not appear in the story and should probably be reserved for the further novel. In the text fragments there is no meeting between Raban and his fiancée. Raban wants to observe, but does not want to be involved himself. His view of women is voyeuristic. He doesn't want to expose himself to the obligation of a serious love affair. The look at his fiancée is appraising and unrelated. His relationship with that lover Elvy, mentioned by the way, is not characterized by passion; rather, sexuality fits into the monotony of everyday life.

Raban's conversations with Lement and other fellow travelers are listless, the conversation doesn't get to the point. You misunderstand each other, but it doesn't matter anyway.

The idea of ​​being an unmolested insect in hibernation is further processed in the 1915 story The Metamorphosis . However, while the metamorphosis of Gregory Samsa appears to the reader as a dire fate, the notion of the metamorphosis is a comforting escape for Raban. In this way Raban tries to counter the fear of the external world breaking into the internal world.

Biographical background

Here Kafka foresaw his own future unhappy situation as a fiancé. Like his hero Raban, he is a voyeur and flaneur. The assonance in the name of the main character to his own name also suggests an autobiographical reference.

In this early work, Kafka used elements that he later picked up. The description of a train journey appears in the Oklahoma chapter of The Lost One . The little prose piece Gibs auf is already carried out in a paragraph of the wedding preparations - way to the train station, asking about the time, answering person who strives away laughing.

Text output

  • Franz Kafka: All the stories. Published by Paul Raabe , Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 1970, ISBN 3-596-21078-X .
  • Franz Kafka: Nachgelassene Schriften und Fragmente I. Edited by Malcolm Pasley, Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 1993, ISBN 3-10-038148-3 , pp. 12–53.

Secondary literature

reception

  • Based on the impression made during Kafka's reading of the wedding preparations, his friend Max Brod expresses himself as follows: “I immediately had the impression that there was no ordinary talent speaking here, but a genius. From then on my efforts began to bring Kafka's works to the public (...) Franz resisted, sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker, sometimes not at all ... ".

Web links

Example interpretation:

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Peter-André Alt : Franz Kafka: The Eternal Son. A biography . Munich: Verlag CH Beck, 2005, ISBN 3-406-53441-4 . P. 156
  2. ↑ a b Peter-André Alt Kafka, the eternal son, p. 159
  3. ^ Klaus Wagenbach: Kafka. rororo 1080- ISBN 3-499-50091-4 pp. 61, 62
  4. ↑ Peter-André Alt Kafka, the eternal son, p. 158
  5. ↑ Peter-André Alt : Kafka and the Film Beck Verlag 2009 ISBN 978-3-406-58748-1 p. 49/50
  6. ↑ a b Peter-André Alt Kafka, the eternal son, p. 157
  7. ↑ Klaus Wagenbach Kafka rororo 1080- ISBN 3-499-50091-4 p. 63
  8. ↑ Peter-André Alt The Eternal Son, p. 250
  9. ^ Von Jagow / Oliver Jahrau's article by Christian Klein p. 23