I can't find a specific community for German literature so I will try my luck here. My guess is this community is populated by lovers of German language and German books :)

So, I came across a list of German authors and mentioned it on Twitter. A good friend caught the tweet and corrected me saying that Kafka wasn't German. My perception however, is that because Kafka wrote in German in my non-European eyes his works are German literature. I understand because I am not European the sociopolitical distinction between German - Czech - Austrian - Hungarian together with changing national boundaries during Kafka's entire lifetime are pretty lost on me.

My question is: how do you define German literature? Does the writer have to be a German citizen for their work to qualify as German literature, or merely sharing some cultural similarities across borders and writing in German enough?

Thanks in advance!

I can't find a specific community for German literature so I will try my luck here. My guess is this community is populated by lovers of German language and German books :)

So, I came across a list of German authors and mentioned it on Twitter. A good friend caught the tweet and corrected me saying that Kafka wasn't German. My perception however, is that because Kafka wrote in German in my non-European eyes his works are German literature. I understand because I am not European the sociopolitical distinction between German - Czech - Austrian - Hungarian together with changing national boundaries during Kafka's entire lifetime are pretty lost on me.

My question is: how is German literature defined? What qualifies as German literature? Does the writer have to be a German citizen for their work to qualify as German literature, or merely sharing some cultural similarities across borders and writing in German enough?

I am asking as someone who has never been learning German in a formal setting.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: changed the phrasing to please some contributors. I do try…

I can't find a specific community for German literature so I will try my luck here. My guess is this community is populated by lovers of German language and German books :)

So, I came across a list of German authors and mentioned it on Twitter. A good friend caught the tweet and corrected me saying that Kafka wasn't German. My perception however, is that because Kafka wrote in German in my non-European eyes his works are German literature. I understand because I am not European the sociopolitical distinction between German - Czech - Austrian - Hungarian together with changing national boundaries during Kafka's entire lifetime are pretty lost on me.

My question is: how do you define German literature? Does the writer have to be a German citizen for their work to qualify as German literature, or merely sharing a similar culture across borders and writing in German enough?

Thanks in advance!

I can't find a specific community for German literature so I will try my luck here. My guess is this community is populated by lovers of German language and German books :)

So, I came across a list of German authors and mentioned it on Twitter. A good friend caught the tweet and corrected me saying that Kafka wasn't German. My perception however, is that because Kafka wrote in German in my non-European eyes his works are German literature. I understand because I am not European the sociopolitical distinction between German - Czech - Austrian - Hungarian together with changing national boundaries during Kafka's entire lifetime are pretty lost on me.

My question is: how do you define German literature? Does the writer have to be a German citizen for their work to qualify as German literature, or merely sharing some cultural similarities across borders and writing in German enough?

Thanks in advance!