Which literary movement is Franz Kafka commonly associated with?

The story behind the answer

Modernism is correct because Kafka’s works—like The Metamorphosis, The Trial, and The Castle—embody core modernist traits: formal experimentation, ambiguity, psychological interiority, and a focus on alienation in an impersonal, rapidly modernizing world. His “Kafkaesque” bureaucratic labyrinths and fractured identities reflect the modernist break with traditional storytelling to capture the disorienting feel of modern life.

While Kafka strongly influenced existentialist and surrealist thinkers, he predated and stood apart from those movements as a German-language writer in early 20th-century Prague. Remember it this way: think “modern city, modern bureaucracy, modern anxiety”—that’s Modernism. Kafka’s signature style helped shape the modern