Kafka - Nishioka Kyodai

The idea of illustrating Kafka or even turning  his work into a graphic or comic storytelling is not as strange as it might seem. I have a terrific edition of Robert Crumb's Kafka for Beginners and Peter Kuper's dark angular illustrations work also well in his adaptations of Kafka's stories. That goes for the most famous works that at least have a surreal and nightmarish quality, which along with terror of the authorities and the hell of faceless bureaucracy is practically a definition of Kafkasque as most people know it. The Japanese artist Nishioka Kyodai covers several of the most famous pieces but also ambitiously takes on some of Kafka's lesser known short works.

The artist(s) finds a way, for example, to illustrate the definition of the imaginary creature 'Odradek' in The Concerns of a Patriarch (otherwise known as Cares of a Family Man) as an angular and geometric abstraction, and there is a similar approach in he mixes that style with more traditional  representation. Metamorphosis might be a more narrative typical story to illustrate, but the approach is also unusual, the illustrations flat, almost cubist with no dimensions or relief. Nor do we see the transformation of the unfortunate Gregor Samsa into a cockroach (the translation here settles for "pest"), but rather the view is largely of his family and room sometimes from his perspective. Which, since Gregor tries to keep is hideous form hidden from his family in his shame at his appearance, is probably a good approach. A sympathetic one even.

Some of the less familiar stories show that there is considerable variety to the subjects and themes that Kafka explored in his unique stories. In The Bucket Knight a man flies to the coalman to beg to fill his scuttle, Jackals and Arabs explores the mysterious relationship between animals and humans. In the more familiar nightmarish world of The Country Doctor, the undervalued protagonist, abused by his own stable-hand and the family of a sick boy, reaches the end of his tether. The art approach is just as varied, yet has a consistent and distinct style of its own. The Hunger Artist, one of the most famous stories, experiments with page layout, placing the hunger artist at the centre throughout in a square circled by the crowd that eventually dissipates, as does the hunger artist. 

There is a fine selection of stories included here that complement each other well. In The Penal Colony, one of the most disturbing works ever written is essential here. The prisoner subjected to "the apparatus" is truly harrowing, which is a gift for any ambitious and distinctive artist. The focus however not on the prisoner or the apparatus, but the message. "Does the criminal know his sentence?" the visitor asks of the crime inscribed by the harrow on his body? "No. Informing him is needless", he is told, "The criminal will learn it with his body".

Kafka can be a difficult read, so illustrated or graphic versions of the work is actually a good way of helping visualise his world. The distinctive style of Nishioka Kyodai (actually a brother and sister team) truly adds another haunting dimension to the work, and the choices for this collection may even help expand the simplified idea that we have of Kafka, showing that there are many other ways to interpret his work. One such idea is laid out in Metamorphosis of the feeding off others. One dies so that another might thrive. You can find other variations on this theme in The Country Doctor, In The Penal Colony and The Hunger Artist. Or perhaps something else. What is certain is that the singular perspective of Kafka still resonates and still inspires others to bring their own interesting graphic interpretations.

Reading notes: First published in Japan in 2010,  Kafka, a manga adaptation by Nishioka Kyodai is published by Pushkin Press in paperback in October 2023. A PDF copy was provided by the publisher through NetGalley for review. It would appear that the book publication retains the Japanese reading format, reading pages, panels and text from right to left. Some of the text is turned sideways so that it can fit in the narrow text frame that would better suit Japanese downward script. This at least allows the original page to remain unaltered other than for English language translation. The translator notes that there is an attempt to retain a balance of original Kafka as well as the Japanese version of these stories.