Expressionism

To understand better certain aspects from Franz Kafka’s novel, The Trial, we should look at the concept of expressionism which cannot really be defined by a specific, firmly fixed ideological and literary program or by a uniform art form. The movement is a departure from the realistic representation of naturalism and from the exaggeration of symbolism. The focus is on the representation of inner subjectivity, combined with open social criticism. Expressionism lasted from 1910 to 1925 and included painting, fine arts, architecture, and literature. The essence of expressionism can be derived from the social conditions that dominated this period. 

Historical background 

Between 1910 and 1918, the world was under a lot of tension and was characterized by the imperialist aspirations of the great European powers. Ultimately, this led to the collapse of the empires in the First World War. For the German Reich, the main origin of Expressionism, three major events are of elementary importance in this context: the First World War (1914-1918), the November Revolution in Germany (1918), and German inflation (1914-1923). They cannot really be separated from each other and are mutually dependent. 

The First World War, triggered by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, sent the German population into a kind of "war euphoria" and upset the balance in Europe. However, the prolonged course of the war, the bloody front-line battles during the trench war, and the famines in Germany quickly caused the initial euphoria to turn into depression. In 1918, Germany lost the war. 

The November Revolution of 1918 was closely linked to the disappointing development of the war. This could ...