What makes something 'Kafkaesque'? - Noah Tavlin

The term Kafkaesque has entered the vernacular to describe unnecessarily complicated and frustrating experiences, especially with bureaucracy. But does standing in a long line to fill out confusing paperwork really capture the richness of Kafka’s vision? Beyond the word’s casual use, what makes something "Kafkaesque"? Noah Tavlin explains.

Lesson by Noah Tavlin, animation by TED-Ed.

[steegosaurus]

"And we find our every word judged by people we can't see, by rules we don't know." Damn

[mrityunjoysen]

The creativity that went into the animation is at another level.

[Raptor]

I remember as a kid reading The Metamorphosis in school and being hopelessly confused about what the book was or why it was important. Aside from being a subpar English student, I simply don't think I had enough life experience to appreciate the abstract concepts my teacher (and the author) was trying to convey.

[tingtinglin]

'I gotta pay taxes now? That's messed up, yo. That's kafka-esque'

[grantbardsley]

Ted really outdid themselves with the visuals in this one.

[pastasam]

Ted and TedEd makes me learn things I didn't know I wanted to learn

[llzebub]

I read somewhere how the Trial spoke to Joseph’s denial of his own mortality and imperfect nature, thus his crime is the denial of being human. The ego doesn’t usually want to acknowledge its own wrongdoings or mistakes, holding itself above as something better than everyone else and refusing to admit fault. Put that on trial with endless bureaucratic pressure to admit guilt without proof and you’ve got an ego stuck like ouroboros in a judicial system that perpetuates itself as well.
Fun idea to chew on, don’t know if it’s even close to what Kafka intended either. But like this video mentioned, this take still brings together the cogs of today’s bureaucracy with the individual who is caught up in it. Tell me if you know where this take came from it’s driving me nuts.

[csy]

I had a Kafkaesque dream last week. I said goodbye to my friends and wanted to run to the train station to catch the train to the future. But in order to do so, I had to climb down the spiral stairs of the building was in. It felt never-ending. For every short flight of stairs, I was greeted with 1-2 doors that led to small rooms. The doors were always very heavy and absurd looking some I needed to squeeze through. The rooms were so small and filled with furniture and there was barely any space to walk to the other side of the room where another flight of stairs is.

I eventually got out and ran a short distance to the train station. I looked back before entering the train, woke up, and my entire body was aching from the ordeal.


The youtube algo is scary. I would have never searched for this.

[badgalnini]

I really wish that I could meet such artists who struggled and were only recognised posthumously, like Van Gogh and Franz Kafka, and tell them they made a difference.
That the world changed because of them.

[kryptgmd]

Kafkaesque is my favorite word in the dictionary. There’s something about the hopelessness of absurdity, the bottomless pit of schedules and control and manipulation, something about life in general that is so inherently nightmarish and illogical. And I’d say that the word Kafkaesque sums it all up as perfectly as you can ask for.

[KingPancat]

“Yeah that shit’s totally kafkaesque, yo”

[rraaiiyyaann]

the animation on these videos are just as amazing as the work they portray! great art all over!

[jakbar_vano]

I like that every few often, Youtube decides to educate us.

[ndrdst]

Graphically this video is a rather amazing piece of art. And the writing is superbly.
Can the whole internet please be like this.

[sleexs]

big props to the animator, they done a great job at illustrating what the narrator was saying

[johnnypt]

I thought it also related to the concept of boundaries in a way. In stoker it shocked me to see the Stoker tell the protagonist to lay on his bed. 2 people just met and the main character is already sitting in his bed. In the context it makes sense, there is no space available. But something about it really makes it itch lol. The first story I ever read from him is even more bizarre as the main character is talking about being on a swing etc, then goes home for supper, and the people outside "open the windows of his living room to have a better look at him and talk to him". This caught me so off guard I cannot even put it into words. I haven't read that much from him but it does seem like "personal space" is a concept that is constantly being subverted in his stuff.

[halcyonzenith]

This is the best time in history to appreciate the true meaning of "Kafkaesque"

[thehappyloaf]

This was recommended to me so many times and I'm finally here. Hope I won't be disappointed.

[jonathan]

There are 3 things I noticed about Kafka or Kafkaesque. 1) His life seems to be very similar to Vincent Van Gogh. 2) Morrissey seems to be the epitome of it. 3) Franz Kafka's life seems to have been very kafkaesque. Especially how he achieved fame and recognition after he died.

[dickJohnsonpeter]

The Trial is real. When I read it, I kept thinking how messed up it is that police and district attorneys don't care about about finding the person who committed the crime, all they care about is finding a person that they can most easily convict of the crime. It's scary because it's true and can happen to anyone at any time.