Wittgenstein and Kafka

The author attempts to conceptualize Ludwig Wittgenstein''s philosophy of language and to present it by analyzing and interpreting Franz Kafka''s story Building the Great Wall of China. The characteristic of language which according to Wittgenstein consists in the identity of meanings that can be traced back to the intersubjective validity of rules can be said to be suitable for an analysis of the social relations of the Chinese world in this work namely according to the logical atomism of image theory as well as according to the pragmatic language game theory of the philosopher. Furthermore it is discussed to what extent Wittgenstein''s repeated emphasis on the connection between language and the form of life can lead to the truth and to the knowledge on both the subjective and social levels. In the form of society narrated by Kafka the power of language in the form of the imperial command and the mythical legend proves to be an insurmountable and unchangeable dynamic.