Franz Kafka: Prague is ever present but never named

All this month Prague is hosting a fascinating international cultural event - a festival devoted to two of the great writers of the twentieth century, Franz Kafka and Jorge Luis Borges. The festival includes a wide variety of events, from readings and discussions to theatrical performances and art exhibitions. On Thursday a seminar took place at the Czech Culture Ministry, with scholars from around the world talking about aspects of the two writers' work, Kafka having been one of Borges' great inspirations. One participant was Leon Yudkin, an academic from London, who is a leading authority on Jewish and Hebrew literature, and an admirer of Kafka's work. David Vaughan invited him into the Radio Prague studio, and asked him about his love of Prague's most celebrated writer.

Franz Kafka: Prague is ever present but never named

"I'm interested in Kafka primarily through his intrinsic qualities. He managed to create a vibrant narrative, which is on the one hand extremely close to a recognizable reality, but on the other, touches on all sorts of unspoken and unrealized fears and perceptions. And he manages to combine these two elements - the real and the surreal, the actual and the grotesque."

Few writers are so closely identified in the public perception with a particular place as Kafka. Kafka and Prague seem to go together. To what extent can it be said that Kafka's writing is about Prague?

Leon Yudkin

"Directly not at all. He doesn't explicitly in his narrative writing articulate the presence of Prague. But it's of course an unspecified background figure through all his work. We are very much aware of the Prague atmosphere - the alleyways, the confusion, the complexity, the history of the sites and the context of the city. Of course, Kafka was a Prague man through and through. Although he travelled a little, he was always a Prague resident, born bred and very much associated with Prague. And he's very much a writer that absorbs the Prague atmosphere and refashions it in his own work without calling it by its name."

And do you feel that being in Prague this week gives you some further insight into Kafka or a different perspective on Kafka's writing?

"I have been to Prague many times before. I was here earlier in the year as a visiting professor to the Charles University, and I very much absorbed the atmosphere of Prague. Even on this brief visit I'm trying to move away from the favoured tourist spots, which are unfortunately to some degree slightly repellent! But you don't have to move very far to get away from this atmosphere of exploitation and cheapening of this cultural residue, and really enjoy the amazing Prague atmosphere."

You can find out more about the Kafka-Borges Festival at: www.franzkafka-soc.cz