Franz Kafka: His Influence On Global Literature And Magic Realism

Franz Kafka in 1923
socolorization, CC BY-SA 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Introduction

Franz Kafka (1883 – 1924) is one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. Though he published only a small amount of work in his lifetime, his posthumous publications and the later critical uptake of his writing have cemented his reputation as a central figure in modernist literature. 

His major works (such as *The Metamorphosis, The Trial, and *The Castle) present worlds of alienation, absurdity, bureaucratic terror, identity crisis and psychological anguish.

Kafka’s distinctive style—its blending of realist detail with surreal transformation, its tone of existential unease, its focus on the individual trapped in systems beyond comprehension—has given rise to the adjective “Kafkaesque”: a term referencing the absurd, oppressive, alienating dimensions of modern life. 

In this essay I will treat Kafka as not just a literary figure, but also as a thinker whose writing embodies significant psychological and philosophical concerns. While he was not primarily a philosopher in the academic sense, his fiction raises deep questions about consciousness, guilt, authority, identity and meaning—and these have resonated widely. Moreover, I will trace how his writing influenced subsequent authors and literary traditions around the world.

Kafka’s psychological and philosophical “theories”

Although Kafka did not set out to write formal philosophical treatises, his fiction consistently explores certain recurring themes and ideas which can be understood as theories of the psyche and of existence. I will group these into a few major headings: alienation and self-division; guilt and authority; absurdity and meaning; identity, metamorphosis and the fragmentation of self; the bureaucratic system and the individual; and consciousness and introspection.

Franz Kafka - The Thinker 
Franz Kafka - Der Denker
Franz Kafka, Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons 
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Alienation and the divided self

One of the most prominent features of Kafka’s fiction is the sense of alienation of the protagonist—alienation from family, work, society, from one’s body or one’s self. 

In The Metamorphosis Gregor Samsa wakes up transformed into a giant insect; the transformation may be fantastic, but the emotional logic is deeply psychological: Gregor becomes deeply isolated, unable to communicate, increasingly shunned by his family, losing his human standing. 

Literary critics interpret this as an externalisation of feelings of alienation, of being trapped in one’s job, of family obligation, and of bodily vulnerability. 

From a psychological standpoint, this alienation can be read as an enactment of the divided self: the subject that once functioned in the world (Gregor the travelling salesman) now becomes something other, something rejected. The self is no longer unified; identity collapses, boundaries between self and world break down. This fragmentation reflects what many existential and psychoanalytic thinkers would later emphasise: that modern subjectivity is not coherent, but split, anxious, guilty, uncertain.

Philosophically, Kafka’s world suggests that the space between self and other, self and society, becomes a site of tension, unease and existential dread. The self is not simply a comfortable subject, but one under siege, unstable and insecure.

Guilt, authority and the paternal figure

Another major thread in Kafka’s oeuvre is guilt—often irrational, opaque guilt—and authority. Several critics have pointed out Kafka’s troubled relationship with his father, and how this plays out in his fiction. For example, the protagonists often confront a father-figure or an overarching authority whose demands are inscrutable, whose judgement is final and yet unclear. One article notes that Kafka’s characters enact “constant acts of psychological tyranny, negative reinforcement of any Kafka’s initiative … the feeling of guilt … social isolation” in their fictional doubling of his own childhood trauma. 

In The Trial, Josef K. is arrested and placed on trial for an unnamed crime; the court is opaque and remote; the protagonist is never fully informed of what he is charged with. The authority is both everywhere and nowhere. This reflects a psychological logic of guilt without knowing what one has done, of being judged yet never being told exactly for what. Consciousness becomes a tribunal unto itself. Barry Smith in his essay Kafka and Brentano draws on the philosophical work of Franz Brentano to argue that Kafka’s fiction engages ideas of inner tribunal, introspective judgment, correct and incorrect judgments of self-consciousness. 

Philosophically, this suggests Kafka’s work explores what happens when the individual subject is placed into a situation of total surveillance, judgement, and authority—where meaning is withheld, and the self is forced into interminable self-questioning. The result is a sense of ontological guilt: the self exists under suspicion, under accusation, and under an authority that may not be fully intelligible.

Kafka Statue at Prague
Photo: Myrabella / Wikimedia Commons

Absurdity, meaninglessness and the struggle for sense

Kafka’s fiction is frequently read in existentialist terms: the absurd situation, the meaningless of systems, the struggle of the individual to find purpose in a world indifferent or hostile to meaning. 

For example, in the article on The Metamorphosis (Dhaka Tribune) the novella is described as “a catalyst for change in modern thought” because its psychological insights reveal the unconscious turmoil and the dehumanised effects of capitalist society. 

From the psychological angle, Kafka presents protagonists whose efforts to navigate their situation only produce more confusion, frustration and anxiety. Their internal states are tied to external absurdities—a dreamlike logic of punishment, transformation, trial, exile. 

The psyche is under siege by external forces that seem arbitrary, incomprehensible.

Philosophically, Kafka asks: What happens when the world offers no firm ground, when systems of law, family, work and identity turn not into support but into entrapment? The human subject seeks meaning, but the world gives none—or worse, gives false hopes, labyrinths, dead ends. Kafka’s writing embodies a view of existence as essentially precarious, fractured and ambiguous.

Transformation, metamorphosis and identity

Transformation—in body, identity or social role—is a recurrent motif in Kafka’s fiction. The Metamorphosis is the obvious example, but The Castle and other shorter stories also deal with alterations of status, of permission, of recognition. These transformations often underscore the instability of identity: Gregor becomes insect, Josef K. becomes defendant, but neither transformation is entirely literal nor fully symbolic—they inhabit the grey zone of both.

Psychologically, this relates to the theme of self-alienation, of the body as other, of identity as shifting. The self is no longer stable; identity becomes contingent, relational, vulnerable. Kafka writes the experience of being changed and of losing oneself in the processes of others’ perceptions, society’s demands, one’s own guilt.

Philosophically, metamorphosis invites reflection on the nature of selfhood: if identity can shift so radically, what anchors the self? Is the subject simply what others declare it to be? Or is identity a fragile construction vulnerable to forces beyond one’s control? Kafka’s fiction implicitly answers: identity is insecure, defined through external relation and internal dread rather than through stable inner ground.

Bureaucracy, systems and the individual

A particularly Kafkaesque dimension is the depiction of the individual caught in vast, impersonal systems—bureaucracies, legal systems, corporate hierarchies, familial obligations. The protagonists face procedures they cannot understand, gates they cannot pass, verdicts they cannot question. This “system” becomes a psychic as well as social reality.

Psychologically, such depiction evokes the anxiety of powerlessness, the infantilisation of the subject, the fragmentation of agency. The individual is not in control; the self is subsumed within systems that reduce human subjectivity to form, function, process. Kafka thereby dramatizes the modern condition of alienation, insignificance, invisibility.

Philosophically, Kafka’s portrayal underscores the tension between human subjectivity and impersonal structures. It raises the question: can freedom persist when the individual is systematised? Does meaning endure when subjectivity is reduced to administrative categories? Kafka’s fiction suggests that these systems trap human beings, not just socially but existentially: the self becomes secondary to process, recognition, function.

Consciousness, introspection and inner tribunal

Another dimension—perhaps less often noted but conceptually rich—is Kafka’s interest in consciousness itself. Critics like Barry Smith have argued that Kafka’s earliest philosophical training under Brentano’s students left him attuned to ideas about inner perception, active introspection, correct and incorrect judgments, and consciousness as a tribunal. 

In Kafka’s fiction the protagonist often reflects on what is happening to them, tries to make sense of it, yet fails. Their consciousness becomes a space of conflict: between knowledge and ignorance, between expectation and bewilderment, between self-judgment and external judgement. This interiority is not resolved; it remains open, ambiguous. Psychologically, Kafka is writing not so much about behaviour as about being, about the subject’s relation to its own states, about self-observation, guilt, fear, shame. Philosophically, this raises questions of subjectivity, self-knowledge, and the limits of introspection: can the self fully know itself? Or is self-knowledge itself a trap?

Summary of Kafka’s “theories”

Putting it together, one may say that Kafka’s writing offers a complex if indirect theory of modern subjectivity: that the self is alienated, under authority, under systems of meaning that fail it; that guilt is often inexplicable; that identity transforms unpredictably; that consciousness is burdened by introspection; that systems reduce human subjectivity; that meaning is elusive and absurdity pervasive. Kafka shows us not a triumphant self but a vulnerable one, not a world of clarity but one of shadows and labyrinths.

In this sense, Kafka becomes both a psychological realist (in his depiction of inner unrest) and a philosophical visionary (in his dramatization of modern existential conditions).

Kafka’s influence on other authors and literary traditions

With such a rich constellation of psychological and philosophical concerns, Kafka’s writing has had a far-reaching influence. In this section we trace how his impact has been felt on subsequent authors, literary movements and the wider culture of ideas.

Influence on German-language and European literature

Within German-language literature, Kafka’s innovations in style, theme and structure changed the landscape. According to an analysis from the Fluent German Academy, Kafka’s “precise use of the German language and symbolic richness influenced major German authors like Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, and later Günter Grass.”

He brought to literature the sense that everyday realities (work, family, the streets, the office) could harbour the surreal, the absurd—the fantastic intruding into the mundane. In doing so he opened up pathways for modernist experimentation: destabilised narratives, protagonists in crisis, metaphoric transformations of identity and society.

Influence on existentialism, absurdism and philosophy-inflected literature

Kafka’s writing has often been taken up by existentialist and absurdist thinkers, and his influence shows in authors such as Albert Camus and Jean‑Paul Sartre. As one account notes, his works “gave voice to themes of alienation, uncertainty, and the dehumanizing effects of bureaucracy—ideas that resonated deeply in 20th-century Europe.” 

Camus, for instance, saw in Kafka’s protagonists the human struggle for meaning in the face of the absurd. That struggling subject, that disenchanted world—and the persistent drive despite futility—echoes throughout existentialist literature. The term “Kafkaesque” itself has become shorthand for the absurd, labyrinthine, oppressive situation in which the individual experiences meaninglessness.

Influence on global literature and magic realism

Kafka’s reach extends far beyond Europe. He has been cited as an influence on Latin American writers (for example Gabriel García Márquez) and on Asian, African and Eastern European literatures. One study noted that Kafka influenced contemporary Vietnamese writers such as D.A Ta, with respect to existential themes of alienation, absurdity and modern anxiety. 

The “magical” or surreal intrusion into otherwise realistic settings—a hallmark of magic realism—can be traced back in part to Kafka’s style. His blending of mundane settings with uncanny transformations (Gregor’s metamorphosis, Josef K.’s trial, the endless bureaucracy of The Castle) provided a model for writers who sought to depict modern life’s contradictions through mythic or surreal imagery. A paper on magic realism acknowledges that Kafka’s work was “almost incomprehensible without” psychoanalytic theory and surreal logic. 

Influence on contemporary culture and the “Kafkaesque”

Kafka’s impact is not restricted to high literature. His themes of alienation, absurd bureaucracy, identity crisis and psychical anxiety have permeated modern culture broadly. In a blog on contemporary art, Kafka’s exploration of alienation, absurdity and transformation is described as capturing “the essence of the Contemporary condition,” and many visual artists refer to his ideas of oppressive systems, fragmented identity and existential unease. 

The adjective “Kafkaesque” has entered everyday language to describe situations in which individuals face incomprehensible, overwhelming, bureaucratic or absurd structures—a testament to his influence beyond just literature.

Specific influence on authors

Let us pick some concrete authors and trace how Kafka’s themes, styles or psychological-philosophical concerns show up in their writing.

• Albert Camus: In works such as The Stranger and The Fall, Camus explores the absurd, the individual’s isolation, the sense of an indifferent world. Kafka’s influence is often noted in Camus’s portrayal of the human subject confronting meaninglessness.

• Haruki Murakami: A Japanese author whose surreal, dream-logic narratives often evoke Kafkaesque atmospheres—ordinary men thrust into bizarre or incomprehensible situations, identity transformations, labyrinthine systems of meaning. An article asserts that Murakami’s writing “frequently incorporates Kafkaesque elements … themes of meaninglessness, alienation, and the supernatural.” 

• Gabriel García Márquez: Though more often associated with magic realism, his creation of layered, surreal worlds haunted by memory, transformation and social fracture owes something to the Kafka line of thought: the intrusion of the mythic into the everyday, the sense of history as oppressive and uncanny.

• John Maxwell Coetzee: In his novels one often finds protagonists caught in systems of power, alienated, subject to inscrutable judgement—echoing Kafka’s vision of the individual under the apparatus of authority.

• Thomas Mann / Hermann Hesse / Günter Grass: As noted above, and cited by the Fluent German article, Kafka influenced major German writers in their adoption of psychologically-inflected narratives, existential themes and stylistic experimentation.

Franz Kafka in 1923
socolorization, CC BY-SA 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Influence on literary technique and style

Beyond themes, Kafka’s influence is visible in technique: his terse, precise language; his blending of realistic detail with fantastic events; his open endings; his refusal to provide full explanation or closure; his portrayal of protagonists whose internal process matters as much as external plot. 

These stylistic traits have been widely imitated and adapted.

For example, many later authors deploy the technique of “transformation” (literal or metaphorical) as a way of dramatizing inner psychological change; or “bureaucratic absurdity” (labyrinthine laws, endless forms, mysterious authorities) to express modern angst. The aesthetic of disorientation, the undermining of narrative certainty, the atmosphere of unease—all owe something to Kafka’s legacy.

Influence on literary criticism, psychology and philosophy

Kafka’s work also influenced scholarship. His depiction of guilt, alienation and bureaucratic oppression has been fruitfully read in psychoanalytic and philosophical frameworks. The article “Franz Kafka: Psychological features of the writer’s oeuvre” argues that Kafka’s personal psychological experiences (childhood relationship with his father, sense of guilt, isolation) are embedded in his fictional structures. 

Moreover, the connection between Kafka’s writing and Brentano’s philosophy (on inner perception, introspection, correct and incorrect judgment) indicates that Kafka’s fiction can be seen as a probe into consciousness and subjectivity. 

In this way, Kafka has become a bridge between literature and psychology/philosophy: his narratives are not simply stories but existential experiments, investigations into the human condition. His influence continues in how modern literature, thought and criticism conceive of subjectivity, alienation, authority and systems of power.

Integrative reflections and conclusion

When we step back and view Kafka’s work in its totality, we see that his literature functions as a laboratory of modern subjectivity. His protagonists are placed in situations of transformation, judgement, alienation and absurdity. The psychological pressures—guilt, introspection, identity crisis—are relentlessly depicted. The philosophical undercurrents—existential dread, the limits of agency, the nature of systems and authority, the instability of identity—permeate the text.

His stylistic economy and narrative ambiguity reinforce these themes: the reader is often left disoriented, forced to confront the same uncertainties the characters face. The very structure of the narrative (lack of clear resolution, opaque authority, shifting identities) becomes part of the philosophical argument. In that sense, Kafka’s writing goes beyond story­telling—it enacts its meaning.

In terms of influence, Kafka’s significance lies both in what he depicted (alienation, absurdity, system-power, identity crisis) and how he depicted it (precise, surreal, open, psychologically charged). Writers who followed him took one or more of these elements into their own work: the seamless mingling of real and unreal; the reduction of human subjectivity; the labyrinthine systems of modern life; the depiction of consciousness under stress.

Moreover, his work has influenced psychology and philosophy—not just as a subject of analysis, but as a mode of thinking about human existence: how we feel under authority; how we navigate meaninglessness; how we endure in the face of transformation.

It is also worth noting that Kafka’s influence is global: though he wrote in German in early-20th-century Prague, his themes cut across culture, language and society. The fact that his work resonates with writers from Vietnam to Latin America to Japan (as the articles cited show) underscores the universal quality of his insight into modern subjectivity. 

Concluding thoughts

In short: Franz Kafka’s literature brought into focus the psychological fractures of modern subjectivity, the philosophical dilemmas of meaning and agency, and the oppressive structures of modern systems. He did so with a style that combined precision, surrealism and existential intensity. The legacy of that work is vast: it influenced a generation of writers, infused literary technique with psychological and philosophical depth, and changed how we think about literature’s capability to mirror the human condition.

Kafka did not offer answers—he offered experiences, ambiguities, questions. That is perhaps his greatest gift: not resolution, but revelation. And it is this gift that countless authors and thinkers have taken up, reshaped and passed on.