Kafka goes to China
Kafka goes to China
- February 20, 2026
- Jeffrey Wasserstrom, history and Long Institute affiliate, Engelsberg Ideas, Feb. 20, 2026
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The journey of Franz Kafka’s works from Europe to Mao-era China shaped generations of writers. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, UC Irvine Chancellor’s Professor of history writes, “It is hard to quantify exactly how great the influence of any two writers is on a set of authors, but my sense from reading around on the topic is that there has been much more admiration for [Franz] Kafka than for [George] Orwell and a much more determined desire to learn from Kafka’s works than from Orwell’s among notable Chinese literary figures who grew up in Mao’s China.
For the full story, please visit https://engelsbergideas.com/essays/kafka-goes-to-china/.
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