From K to the C: Chaplin and Kafka, Unlikely Twins of Commodification

Two artists on opposite sides of the world crafted searing portrayals of the alienating effects the socioeconomic transformation of excess commodification was having on the human condition.

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In the early 20th century, as industrialization and capitalism were radically reshaping societies across the globe, two artists on opposite sides of the world crafted searing portrayals of the alienating effects this socioeconomic transformation was having on the human condition.Though working in different mediums - Franz Kafka through haunting literary parables, Charlie Chaplin through visceral cinematic satire - both gave profound creative expression to the existential plight of the individual reduced to a mere commodity, valued only for their economic utility. Their respective artistic visions converged in diagnosing the twin paradoxes at the heart of the modern capitalist experience:The first paradox was the alienation of the individual from their fundamental humanity, creative essence, and any sense of existential authenticity or belonging. The second was the alienation of the worker from the products of their labor, the act of production itself, and any authentic purpose or self-actualization.