ibz Mar 8, 2019:

Alison provided the source ...

Björn Vrooman Mar 8, 2019:

Also agree with Alison "...the animal should be 'Käfer'..."

This seems to be only partially true:
"Erstaunlich ist auch der Artikel in Kindlers Literaturlexikon, dessen Zusatz darlegt, dass Kafka eine Bettwanze vor Augen gehabt habe, während der Hauptteil von einem Käfer spricht."
https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article244224/Es-war-die-Wanz...

"...as this is related to one of his most famous works..."

No offense, but this is pretty much irrelevant. As Alison pointed out, Adorno is the one saying that about Kafka. See also:
https://autonomie-und-chaos.de/images/stories/pdf/auc-80-ado...

Page 51. The document is titled "Adorno-Zitate," not Kafka-Zitate.

This should be a no-brainer. Alison provided the link. The original book is in German. Case closed.

@Alison
Considering we're talking about Bettwanzen (see above), they're "blutsaugende Insekten," also shortened to "Blutsauger"--and I'm sure businesspeople have heard that one before. So, while you may not find any other sources for this, it's entirely possible there used to be a saying like the one Kafka supposedly overheard.

Best

Silke Walter Mar 7, 2019:

Käfer Independent from which answer you are going to chose: the animal should be "Käfer" as this is related to one of his most famous works "Die Verwandlung" which is/was part of the curriculum before the Abitur.

Alison MacG Mar 7, 2019:

@Julia Yes, the book posted by motuihe states "Prisms Theodor W Adorno Translated from the German by Samuel and Shierry Weber"
However, I can't find any non-Adorno references to this Redensart

Julia Burgess Mar 7, 2019:

Agree with Alison Looks like that's the same book, but in the (original?) German. It must be a phrase that he heard used.

philgoddard Mar 7, 2019:

That works!

Alison MacG Mar 7, 2019:

Diese Reisenden sind wie Wanzen Kulturkritik und Gesellschaft: Prismen. Ohne Leitbild - Theodor W. Adorno
In der >Verwandlung< läßt sich die Bahn der Erfahrung an der Wörtlichkeit rekonstruieren, als Verlängerung der Linien. »Diese Reisenden sind wie Wanzen«, heißt die Redensart, die Kafka aufgegriffen haben muß, aufgespießt wie ein Insekt. Wanzen, nicht wie die Wanzen.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VjrXAAAAMAAJ&q="Diese Re...

philgoddard Mar 7, 2019:

I'm not sure what they mean by "the German expression that Kafka picked up". Presumably this is not a quote from the book, just a derogatory description of travelling salesmen that he heard, in which case you just need a translation of this phrase.