The New Semantics of the Kafkaesque

In conversation with a friend who is well versed in neologism, the discussion often returns to Franz Kafka. Trace the roots of any word back far enough and you’ll find historical context largely removed from contemporary meaning, but Franz Kafka and the evolution of the term Kafkaesque specifically, my friend suggests, provides an unusually vivid, precise, and whiplash-speed example of how a reference turns from the signified to the signifier, how this is happening more and faster than ever, how there is much to be lost and much to be gained.