Metamorphosis
© Ivan Cangelosi, 2013
107X86 cm
Ink on paper
Technique – Handwriting of the whole novel of Franz Kafka – German
Material – Pens and paper
Category–Allegory
Private collection
About the novel – “Metamorphosis” (German, “Die Verwandlung”) is a story written by the Bohemian writer Franz Kafka and published for the first time in 1915.
One morning, upon awakening, the book’s protagonist (Gregor Samsa) finds himself transformed into a sort of cockroach. The rest of the story tells of the attempts made by the young Gregor to try to adjust his life to this new condition, especially in regard to his own family.
Through the filthy condition of the protagonist and the substantial inability of the family to establish a human relationship with him, the author wants to represent the marginalization to which the “different” is tragically condemned by the society. The insect symbolizes nothing else than “the different”. The metaphor of the insect represents the dependence of Kafka from his family and the denial of his artistic freedom in literature.
Description of the painting – In this painting, the beginning of Franz Kafka’s metamorphosis.