In this study, Sander Gilman unravels the strange tale of Kafka's relation to his body, to the specific "Jewishness" of his illness, and to his masculinity. Gilman's knowledge of Kafka's cultural and historical period, and specifically the cultural fears surrounding European Jews, opens the medical case of Kafka's famous body: the tall, gawky figure, wracked by deep anxieties about maleness, sickness and suffering. With access to Kafka's medical records, Gilman engages in an analysis of hyperchondria, anorexia, homosexuality, turn-of-the-century ritual slaughter, and myths about the relationship of body type to character.
- ISBN10 041591177X
- ISBN13 9780415911771
- Publish Date 28 December 1995 (first published 4 November 1995)
- Publish Status Transferred
- Out of Print 8 November 2009
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Imprint Routledge
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 272
- Language English