We are all probably familiar with this term, but I still have no idea what does it really mean. I’ve read two books by the author Franz Kafka, the guy who was the origin of this very term. I tried looking online, searching for definitions and stuff, but I still have no idea what was that all about, nobody explained it clearly. I wanted to find a simple definiton with an example, but I found pile of text. Maybe they need all that “extra” stuff to explain it because it is not very simple, I guess. Can it be explained in a few words, if so please do it and if not, I will go through the long version, too. Thank you.
Edit: Thank you, I went through your comments, they were really helpful.
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I think there are two distinct uses.
Some people use it mostly in reference to Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis (the plot is described already in these comments so I’ll spare you). In that sense they describe the bizarre, surreal, and disgusting feeling of a situation.
There’s a distinct use in reference to political or bureaucratic situations that more references books like The Trial. This sense refers more specifically to organizations, governments or procedures being nightmarishly complex and unfriendly or illogical to navigate.
The two uses sort of bleed together sometimes with fuzzy boundaries of use.
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