| "In the Penal Colony" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Franz Kafka | |
.jpg) In the Penal Colony | |
| Original title | In der Strafkolonie |
| Translator | Eugene Jolas (1941) |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
| Genre(s) | Short story |
| Publication | |
| Publisher | Kurt Wolff Verlag |
| Media type | book (hardcover) |
| Publication date | October 1919 |
| Published in English | 1941 |
"In the Penal Colony" ("In der Strafkolonie") (also translated as "In the Penal Settlement") is a short story by Franz Kafka written in German in October 1914, revised in November 1918, and first published in October 1919. As in some of Kafka's other writings, the narrator in this story seems detached from, or perhaps numbed by, events that one would normally expect to be registered with horror. Internal clues and the setting on an island suggest Octave Mirbeau's The Torture Garden as an influence.[1] The story is set in an unnamed penal colony and describes the last use of an elaborate torture and execution device that carves the commandment that the condemned prisoner has transgressed on his skin as he slowly dies over the course of twelve hours. As the plot unfolds, the reader learns more and more about the machine, including its origin and original justification.[2]
- ^ Corngold, Stanley (2007). Kafka's Selected Stories. New York: Norton. p. 44 n.8. ISBN 978-0-393-92479-4.
- ^ For a study of the story in relation to the British penal colony Port Arthur, Tasmania, see Frow, John (2000). "In The Penal Colony" (PDF). Journal of Australian Studies. 24 (64): 1–13. doi:10.1080/14443050009387551. S2CID 143000602.