Marcatori linguistici della modalità epistemica nella voce narrante di Die Verwandlung

Abstract

The present study aims to examine the linguistic means by which uncertainty is denoted in Franz Kafka’s story Die Verwandlung, with a particular focus on the narrative voice created by the Bohemian author. The initial section of the essay delineates the theoretical framework surrounding Kafka’s function as a narrator and the narratological elements inherent within his literary compositions. The second part of the text illustrates the concept of epistemic modality as a means of expressing the writer’s greater or lesser certainty about what is being stated or described. The third part of the essay identifies the most frequent linguistic means of uncertainty in the text of Die Verwandlung, with an eye to the narrative attitudes that the author adopts throughout the text. The work concludes with brief considerations on the potential of the analysis conducted therein.