THE PROBLEM OF THE ARTIST IN FRANZ KAFKA'S SHORT STORIES. (GERMAN TEXT)

The present study is concerned with the Kunstlerproblem in Franz Kafka's short stories: Auf der Galerie, Erstes Leid, Ein Hungerkunstler and Josefine, die Sangerin, oder das Volk der Mause. As a literary topic in German literature since the end of the 18th century, Kunstlerproblem means the psychological struggle of an artist arising from his artistic abilities. Divided in three parts, the dissertation is a comparative study, and shows the methodological and linguistic approach to the Kunstlerproblem as well as its historical dimension. In order to place Kafka in this tradition the following works are given a thorough interpretation in the historical section: Goethe's Torquato Tasso, Grillparzer's Sappho and Der arme Spielmann, Keller's Der grune Heinrich and Thomas Mann's Tonio Kroger.;The study focuses on the Kunstlerproblem as Kafka presents it in his work. Nevertheless his personal problems as an artist, documented in his diaries and letters, are also dealt with, as the close connection between life and work in this subject demands. Thus the section in which Kafka's Kunstlererzahlungen are individually interpreted is introduced by a description of Kafka's situation as a German-speaking Jewish writer in the Czech capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His letters to Felice Bauer reveal his psychological situation. All interpretations, those of Kafka's stories as well as those in the historical section, are based on an analysis of style and structure. Psychological aspects of Kafka's imagery (Sprachbilder) are examined from a structural point of view. In his descriptive language (Bildsprache) he condenses a variety of meanings the same way dreams do.;Each of the four Kunstlererzahlungen is interpreted separately. In addition, certain aspects of the Kunstlerproblem such as art versus life, and artist versus society are thoroughly compared.;The two terms Kunstreiterin and Schone Dame in Auf der Galerie suggest that Kafka uses two different modes of expressing the Getrieben-Werden of an artist's existence and the Nicht-Eingreifen-Konnen of society. The structural analysis of Erstes Leid shows that the narrator's report is intended to justify the behavior of the circus world towards the trapeze artist. He clarifies that neither the Impresario nor any other member of the management is responsible for the artist's suffering. The main emphasis in the interpretation of Ein Hungerkunstler is on the multifaceted aspects of the l'art-pour-l'art-movement. Kafka's last Kunstlererzahlung, Josefine, die Sangerin, oder das Volk der Mause is seen in connection with the Schema zur Charakteristik kleiner Literaturen.;Each interpretation of these six works is introduced by the historical and social background of the individual writer. The methodological section deals with the development of the secondary literature to Kafka's work in general and to the four Kunstlererzahlungen in specific. It demonstrates also the criteria which qualify these four stories as Kunstlererzahlungen, while particularly Eine kleine Frau and Forschungen eines Hundes do not belong to this literary genre.;The final chapter examines both Kafka's indebtedness to and his departure from the tradition of the Kunstlerproblem in German literature. Unlike predecessors of Kafka who dealt with the Kunstlerproblem in German literature, he has shown his four artists as prototypes, which like fairy tale-figures are totally two-dimensional. They have no life-stories and exist merely through their artistic abilities. Whereas in the tradition of the Kunstlerproblem, the artists belonged to the fine arts, three of Kafka's artists appear as acrobats, and the fourth one, the singer Josefine, is a mouse. But only on the surface they are less Kunstler than Artisten.