Language German Media type book (hardcover) Originally published 1931 Published in The Great Wall of China | Genre(s) Short story Publication date 1931 Published in english 1933 | |
Original title "Zur Frage der Gesetze" | ||
"The Problem of Our Laws" (German: "Zur Frage der Gesetze") is a short parable by Franz Kafka was published posthumously in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer (Berlin, 1931). The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections (New York City: Schocken Books, 1946).
Plot
The story is actually a short narrative, where laws of the land are described as esoteric, created by the elite. Thus, being such they are out of the hands by the common people, yet binding. Nobility is seen as the authority, the creator and executor of laws, yet completely separate from those whom they apply to. Yet, these laws create a sense of security among those who follow them, an empty one, since they are in fact a type of cruel joke. Incidentally, the story echoes the labyrinthine system of law and regulations in place among the official in Kafka's masterpiece, The Castle (novel). This parable has also been translated by Michael Hofmann in the _London Review of Books_ July 6, 2015.