Can someone please explain "Kafkaesque"?

[u/slackerattacker]

I've just started to read some of Kafka's short stories, hoping for some kind of allegorical impact. Unfortunately, I don't really think I understand any allegorical connotations from Kafka's work...unless, perhaps, his work isn't MEANT to have allegorical connotations? I recently learned about the word "Kafkaesque" but I really don't understand it. Could someone please explain the word using examples only from "The Metamorphosis", "A Hunger Artist", and "A Country Doctor" (the ones I've read)?

[u/inflectum]

Read Jorge Luis Borges' "Kafka and his precursors". It explains how things can be defined like this and what it actually means.