Sign language, 'high context' and unintelligible singing, Franz Kafka's Italy-experience in an intercultural perspective

Abstract

The paper deals with Franz Kafka's ambivalent perception of the Italian cultural sphere fluctuating between ethnocentrism and exoticism and examines the impact of directly made experience on his literary work. Based on motivic connections between autobiographical and literary writings it is demonstrated that Kafka's image of Italy was heavily influenced by stereotypes that are still spread in the German-speaking countries.

Keywords

• Kafka
• Italy
• stereotypes
• intercultural communication