SOURCE: "The Development of A Criticism: Edwin Muir and Franz Kafka," in Comparative Literature, Vol. 16, No. 3, Fall, 1964, pp. 310-21.

In the following essay, Mellown traces Muir's influence as a translator and critic of the works of Franz Kafka.

The Growth of Franz Kafka's reputation in England and America has been studied by several writers,¹ yet only passing attention has been given to Edwin and Willa Muir, the translators who brought his works before the English-reading public. They not only translated Kafka's major writings, but also found publishers for them in England, while Muir's criticism helped to advance the reputation of the novelist. This essay is an examination of his criticism in order to show how its changes and developments afford an insight into Kafka criticism in general.

Edwin Muir, born in the Orkney Islands in 1887, left school at the age of fourteen and, until 1919, worked as a clerk...