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Absurd. Illogical. Nightmarish. The word Kafkaesque describes events, experiences or situations that are absurdly complex, nightmarishly illogical, or oppressively bureaucratic. The word echoes the themes found in the written works of Franz Kafka, a 20th-century Czech-German author who depicted ordinary individuals trapped in illogical, nightmarish, or surreal circumstances, typically under inexplicable social forces or oppressive bureaucracies. It describes the experience of something excessively intricate, convoluted, or unnecessarily complicated to the point of being difficult to understand or manage. It refers to behaviors or situations that are bizarre, profoundly unreasonable, and frighteningly chaotic. It defines an administrative system that is burdensome, complex, and excessively rigid to the point of causing frustration, harm, or injustice to the individual it is supposed to serve.

Kafka’s most celebrated literary masterpieces include breakthrough novels that blend dreamlike scenes with reality to create absurd, bizarre, or irrational imagery to bypass logical thought in order to unlock creative, emotional, or subconscious possibilities. The Metamorphosis (1915) tells the harrowing experience of the main character (Gregor Samsa, an overworked, isolated traveling salesman) waking up one morning as a giant cockroach, thereby exploring themes of identity, isolation, guilt, and the alienation of an individual from his family, and, eventually, from society. The Trial (1925) depicts the main character (Joseph K, an ordinary bank chief clerk) waking up on his 30th birthday, dreadfully accused of a crime he is never aware of nor ever explained to him by an opaque and oppressive legal system. The Castle (1926) centers on K, a supposed land surveyor, who arrives in a village and struggles to gain access to the perplexing and mysterious authorities governing it from a nearby castle. Thus, the central theme of Kafka’s works is the alienation of the individual in an absurd, incomprehensible world, highlighted through the subthemes of dysfunctional family dynamics, debilitating bureaucracy, and profound isolation. His works influenced existential and absurdist writers (like Camus, Sartre, and Borges) as well as filmmakers (Lynch, Kubrick, Welles, and Scorsese). Kafkaesque is used today to describe the unsettling feeling of being a “cog in a machine” that one can neither understand nor control, applying to scenarios ranging from modern automated customer service to political authoritarianism.

Did the great physicist Albert Einstein get to experience Kafkaesque moments in his life? Apparently, he did experience Kafkaesque moments, particularly in Prague, Czech Republic, during a 16-month stay there between 1911 and 1912. The term is used to describe the atmosphere and personal challenges he faced while living in the same city as Kafka at that time. Although a brilliant physicist, Einstein felt isolated in Prague, surrounded by an unfamiliar, complex bureaucratic environment. He faced challenges balancing his intense theoretical work with his family life and the demands of his position in a German university. It was during this period that he deeply struggled to finalize his theory of general relativity to reconcile it with gravity. Thirty-two-year-old Einstein lived in Prague while working as a professor at the German section of Charles University, while 28-year-old Kafka was working (as an insurance agent) and writing in the city. While it is not fully documented in detail, direct journals and historical research indicate that Einstein and Kafka were part of the same small, vibrant intellectual scene in 1911-1912. The 2024 graphic novel “Einstein in Kafkaland” by Ken Krimstein explores both historically and creatively how Kafka’s and Einstein’s creative and intellectual processes were influenced by their experiences in this unique setting. Kafka and Einstein, geniuses of literature and science, shared common space and time. Their states got entangled in Prague between 1911 and 1912.

While Einstein’s theoretical work profoundly impacted modern technology (like the GPS, satellite, and navigation systems, photovoltaics, light sensors, lasers, optic/digital imaging, modern electronics, quantum computing, and nuclear energy), Kafka’s masterpieces have had an enduring impact on literature, philosophy, and popular culture (entertainment, fashion and style, sports, language, technology, daily habits).

Amidst the proliferation of nuclear technology and the threat of nuclear war, people experience contradictory emotions, ranging from intense terror and anxiety to numb denial and fatalism. The psychological impact of the massive destruction that modern technology brings is a mix of fear for immediate survival, guilt, and a deep sense of helplessness: KafkaEinstein.