this topic talks about the history of the German Literature and the most famous writer in Germany which is Franz Kafka

1. GERMAN
LITERATURE

3. German literature
•German literature embraced not only the literary
works from Germany but also from Austria, and
speaking parts of Switzerland. German literary writers
tried to adopt foreign concepts such as France. That is
why German literature (works written in German)
emerged only before the 17th century.

4. Brief History of German Literature
•Early and Medieval German Literature (800-1050)
There was a conflict between the heroic tradition of the Germanic
tribe (honor, bravery, nomadic, and fate) and Christianity (humility,
reconciliation, and love) The conversion of the Germans to
Christianity (largely accomplished by the end of the 5th century)
thus presented a great challenge: that of reeducating an entire
people and of adapting and translating the literature of Christianity
into a language that had no written tradition.

5. Brief History of German Literature
•Golden Age of German Literature (1050-1300)
It is in this period that the German literary history recorded its
peculiarity that the first abundant texts in the German language
reflect not mainstream culture and its secular manifestations but the
conservative religious reaction against it. One of the most
remarkable epic was written during this period 1200–10, that takes
the reader into a social and ethical world designed as the antithesis
to that of the civilized, refined courtesy of the romance. The
Nibelungenlied (“Song of the Nibelungs”) is a return to a more
primitive, pre-courtly, Germanic heroic world.

6. Brief History of German Literature
•Late Middle Ages (1300-1400)
Knighthood declined that paved way to
city burghers. Popular literature
flourished. Simple romantic verses were
widely-read, Martin Luther translated the
Bible into German.

7. Brief History of German Literature
•The 17th Century
Literature was characterized by the German
belief that their language was superior to the
other languages. Academies were founded to
improve their grammar. Dramas continued to be
popular. Poetry also preferred the sonnet and
the Alexandrian verses.

8. Brief History of German Literature
•18th and the 19th Centuries
There were two opposing movements that
concerns poetic theory – the French
classicist and the influences of religious
epics. Poetry of strong emotions emerged
and the romantic movement in Germany
started.

9. Brief History of German Literature
•20th Century Literature
Writers introduced
symbolism as a reaction
to naturalism.

10. “THE JUDGMENT” BY
FRANZ KAFKA FRANZ
KAFKA (1883 – 1924)