PRAGMATIC LINGUISTIC MARKERS FOR SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL THEMES IN KAFKA’S METAMORPHOSIS: (HOW KAFKA CONVEYS MEANING THROUGH HIS CHARACTERS CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURE, HAPTICS, PROXEMICS AND PARA LINGUISTICS)

Abstract

The purpose of this research article is to identify linguistic markers and expressions that have underlying social and psychological themes. Hannah Arendt wrote about Kafka coming to share Marx’s fate: “Though during his lifetime he could not make a decent living, he will now keep generations of intellectuals both gainfully employed and well-fed” Kafka’s ability to condense the gloomiest and most twisted depths of the human mind and the collective mind-set within his characters has had a profound impact on many generations of novelists. Regarding himself the writer comments: “All I possess are certain powers that merge into literature at a depth almost inaccessible under normal circumstances. Complete indifference and dullness. A dried-up well, water in unreachable depths and uncertain even there.” Through research on his writing style, biography, and a close reading of his metamorphosis. This has been accomplished by extensive reviewing of research Journals and an overview of the illnesses and demons that plagued the writer. The books and journal articles used as reference material were retrieved using an assortment of modern techniques; a large section of the information was also accessed via internet archives and published text a qualitative analysis of the reference material led to recognition of socio-psychological themes such as isolation, alienation, pressure of a familial circle and separation. This paper will analyze linguistic markers in the short story “the metamorphosis” that indicate the presence of these themes. The paper affirms that Kafka has had a weighty influence on the generations of authors that will contribute to society when they speak of similar themes of isolation, loneliness and melancholy.