Works

The Trial

Citation Formats

General Reference

Literature Atlas. "The Trial." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-literature.interactiveatlas.org/works/the-trial.

APA Style

Literature Atlas. (n.d.). The Trial. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-literature.interactiveatlas.org/works/the-trial

BibTeX

@misc{literatureatlas-the-trial,
  author = {Literature Atlas},
  title = {The Trial},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-literature.interactiveatlas.org/works/the-trial},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The Trial, published in German as Der Prozess, is a German-language novel written by Czech writer Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best-known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a bank official arrested and prosecuted by an inaccessible authority whose nature of the crime he is accused of is revealed neither to him nor to the reader, as he tries to navigate an absurdly bureaucratic legal system while attempting to clear his name. Like Kafka's two other novels, The Castle and Amerika, The Trial was never completed, though it includes a chapter that appears to bring the story to an intentionally abrupt ending; his friend and literary executor Max Brod edited the text for posthumous publication.

Facts

Composed, From (Year)

from 1914 1

Composed, To (Year)

to 1915 1

Written 1914-1915; published posthumously 26 April 1925.

Cross-Tradition Connections

Authored By

Franz Kafka

Source The Trial (Wikipedia)

In Genre

Absurdist Fiction

Source The Trial (Wikipedia)

Utopian and Dystopian Fiction

Source The Trial (Wikipedia)

Sources

1. The Trial (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia FoundationLead section

Quote, Lead section

The Trial (German: Der Prozess) is a German-language novel written by Czech writer Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925.

View the Source

1. The Trial (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia FoundationAuthored By: Franz Kafka, Lead section, authorship

Quote, Authored By: Franz Kafka, Lead section, authorship