Editing Franz Kafka (section)

=== Stories ===
<!-- Kafka was a prolific writer of short stories. Some of his published texts were named {{lang|de|Erzählung}} (literally: narrative), others {{lang|de|Geschichte}} (literally: story). Some stories are relatively long; others are a single paragraph. His oldest surviving story is "Der Unredliche in seinem Herzen" ("The Impure in His Heart"), translated as "[[Shamefaced Lanky and Impure in Heart]]". It was not published but was part of a [[Letters to Family, Friends, and Editors (Franz Kafka)|letter to his friend]] [[Oskar Pollak]] in 1902. -->Kafka's earliest published works were eight stories that appeared in 1908 in the first issue of the literary journal ''[[Hyperion (journal)|Hyperion]]'' under the title {{lang|de|[[Betrachtung]]}} (''Contemplation''). He wrote the story "{{lang|de|[[Beschreibung eines Kampfes]]|italic=no}}" ("Description of a Struggle"){{efn|"{{lang|de|Kampf|italic=no}}" also translates to "fight".}} in 1904; in 1905 he showed it to Brod, who advised him to continue writing and convinced him to submit it to ''Hyperion''. Kafka published a fragment in 1908{{sfn|Pawel|1985|pp=160–163}} and two sections in the spring of 1909, all in Munich.{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=388}}

In a creative outburst on the night of 22 September 1912, Kafka wrote the story "Das Urteil" ("The Judgment", literally: "The Verdict") and dedicated it to Felice Bauer. Brod noted the similarity in names of the main character and his fictional fiancée, Georg Bendemann and Frieda Brandenfeld, to Franz Kafka and Felice Bauer.{{sfn|Brod|1966|ps = 114f}} The story is often considered Kafka's breakthrough work. It deals with the troubled relationship of a son and his dominant father, facing a new situation after the son's engagement.{{sfn|Ernst|2010}}{{sfn|Hawes|2008|pp=159, 192}} Kafka later described writing it as "a complete opening of body and soul",{{sfn|Stach|2005|p=113}} a story that "evolved as a true birth, covered with filth and slime".{{sfn|Brod|1960|p=129}} The story was first published in Leipzig in 1912 and dedicated "to Miss Felice Bauer", and in subsequent editions "for F."{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=389}}

In 1912, Kafka wrote ''Die Verwandlung'' (''[[The Metamorphosis]]'', or ''The Transformation''),{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=113}} published in 1915 in Leipzig. The story begins with a travelling salesman waking to find himself transformed into an {{lang|de|ungeheures Ungeziefer|italic=yes}}, a monstrous [[vermin]], {{lang|de|Ungeziefer|italic=yes}} being a general term for unwanted and unclean pests, especially insects. Critics regard the work as one of the seminal works of fiction of the 20th century.{{sfn|Sokel|1956|pp=203–214}}{{sfn|Luke|1951|pp=232–245}}{{sfn|Dodd|1994|pp=165–168}} The story "[[In der Strafkolonie]]" ("In the Penal Colony"), dealing with an elaborate [[torture]] and execution device, was written in October 1914,{{sfn|Brod|1966|p=389}} revised in 1918, and published in Leipzig during October 1919. The story "[[Ein Hungerkünstler]]" ("A Hunger Artist"), published in the periodical {{lang|de|[[Die neue Rundschau]]}} in 1924, describes a victimized protagonist who experiences a decline in the appreciation of his strange craft of [[hunger artist|starving himself for extended periods]].{{sfn|Gray|2005|p=131}} His last story, "[[Josefine, die Sängerin oder Das Volk der Mäuse]]" ("Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk"), also deals with the relationship between an artist and his audience.{{sfn|Horstkotte|2009}}