Law and Humanities

Kafka’s imprint on Law and the Arts, 100 Years since The Trial

Franz Kafka’s writings left a lasting imprint, and continue to provoke fascination, debate, and deep scholarly analysis more than 100 years after the first publication of his early stories in 1908. Kafka’s engagement with topics related to law acutely resonate with contemporary reflections on the nature of law, its functions, its forms. At the same time, Kafka’s works provide fruitful avenues for humanities scholarship on law and law-related topics such as power, the state and the individual, legal procedure and administration, guilt and shame, the role and behaviour of lawyers, to name just a few. The approaching 100^th anniversary of the first publication of The Trial (1925) is an opportunity to reassess the value of Kafka’s work as well as reasons for its continuing relevance for law and the arts. This is the theme for the sixth annual Law and Humanities Roundtable workshop (early July 2024, date tbc), to be followed by a special issue of the journal (2025).

We invite submission of abstracts for paper presentations on themes and topics coalescing around the question of how Kafka’s writings – including the novels and short stories – have shaped, influenced, and impacted humanities scholarship on law.  We welcome submissions on a broad range of topics and from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including interdisciplinary contributions. Papers may focus on the texts themselves, their translation, performance, and adaptation in other arts formats, including the visual arts and media, theatre, and film. Abstracts can be submitted by email to David Gurnham ([email protected]).

Submission Instructions

Deadline for submission of abstracts for paper presentations: Tue 2^nd January 2024

Decisions on selection of abstracts: Tue 30^th January 2024

Roundtable workshop (‘Kafka’s imprint on Law and the Arts’): University of Southampton, July 2024

Please note that submissions can also be considered for the special issue celebrating the 100^th anniversary of The Trial’s first publication (contributions to which will include, but will not be limited to, articles on that novel). Please indicate whether you wish your paper to be considered for the special issue. A separate call for the special issue will be issued with its own schedule for the submission of written-up articles following the Roundtable. Full articles submitted for the special issue will be rigorously peer-reviewed before making any offer of publication.

For more information, contact:

David Gurnham (Editor in Chief, Law and Humanities and Roundtable co-convenor): [email protected]

Ekaterina Yahyaoui (Guest editor of the special issue and Roundtable co-convenor): [email protected]

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