Religious traditions in F. Kafka’s stories “Gemeinschaft” and “Die prufung”

The article is devoted to the study of religious imagery in Franz Kafka’s stories “Gemeinschaft” (“The Fellowship”, 1920) and “Die Prufung” (“The Test”, 1920) as a key to their interpretation. The author reveals the sacred meanings lurking behind the “dark” and laconic plots that have puzzled literary historians and biographers of Kafka for decades by analyzing the historical and cultural context of the creation of these works, and taking into account the facts of the writer’s biography. “Gemeinschaft” is dedicated to the writer’s reflections on the Old Testament and Zionism: the pentagram (the Seal of Solomon) and the hexagram (the Star of David) act as characters in the allegorical discourse; they turn into living beings and fight for the status of the symbol of the Jewish people. The image of the Star of David, which is struggling to supplant the Seal of Solomon, symbolizes the extinction of the classical Jewish tradition and the triumph of Zionism. “Die Prufung” is replete with allusions to the Book of Job: the interrogator in the story is God, the main character is a righteous man and prophet, whom God did not call for a long time and with whom he finally entered into dialogue. God’s “injustice” turns out to be an exam - a test of suffering. The work reflects the writer’s inner conflict: feeling like “failing the exam” in secular life, Kafka reflects on what it means to “pass the exam” / “pass the test of suffering” from a religious point of view. Thus, “Die Prufung” is a modernist version of the Job legend and Kafka’s solution to his existential crisis: glorifying humility.