A Hunger Artist
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"A Hunger Artist" (Ein Hungerkünstler), also translated as "A Fasting Artist", is a short story by Franz Kafka published in Die Neue Rundschau in 1922. The protagonist is an archetypical creation of Kafka, an individual marginalised and victimised by society at large.
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[edit] Plot
The story opens with a description of the old-fashioned hunger or fasting-artist, who spends his time on public display, a caged spectacle starving for a cause or for art. He lives his life there, with ribs protruding, allowing young children to look, poke, and fear his awe, strength, and courage. However, there has been a large decline in these fasting-artists in recent decades. The fasting-artists used to persist in a little cage, watched almost constantly by "butcher" night watchmen who look over him at all hours to make sure he does not escape to find food or eat any droppings left by spectators. The manager of the fasting-artist even watched over him to justify his artistry. Women are amazed at the fasting-artist's ability to sing and starve at the same time. When the spectacle is brought to full effect, after forty days of fasting, the artist is brought to a ring in which crowds of people - especially women - pay to watch him. They even bring him food in order to make him say no. Eventually, a young woman leads him out of his cage to a meager meal. However, why would he accept food after such a long fast when he can make it longer? Eventually, the manager spoon feeds the fasting-artist with food, after he had reached his forty days, and the crowd would cheer and disperse. The fasting-artist then remains the only person left alone. However, as this world declines, so does the respect and admiration for the fasting-artist, and he no longer persists in such a miraculous spectacle.[1]
Years later, the fasting-artist is placed in a circus, with the animals and far from the grand spectacle of decades earlier. Children still stop and look at him, but do not understand the pain and diligence of the art of the fasting-artist.[1]
The manager does not take care of him as he used to, nor do the people. At the circus, parents of children recall their fond memories of witnessing such amazing feats of the fasting-artist, and soon move on to other spectacles in the circus.[1]
The previous days of glory did fulfill the artist; he had little rest between his fasts and looked forward to the excitement of the exhaustion and weakness. But, now, that time is over.[1]
- "Just try to explain to someone what the art of fasting is. No one who does not feel it can be made to grasp what it means. The beautiful placards became dirty and illegible, they were ripped down, no one thought of replacing them; the little board showing the tally of days fasted, which at first had been scrupulously changed each day, had now long stayed unaltered, for after the first few weeks the staff had grown weary of even this little task; and so the fasting-artist did indeed go fasting on, as he had once dreamed of doing, but no one counted the days, no one, not even the fasting-artist himself, knew how great his achievement was, and his hearty grew heavy. And once in a while some casual passer-by should stop, ridicule the outdated number of the board and talk about fraudulence, that in its way the stupidest lie that ever indifference and inborn malice could invent, for it was not the fasting-artist who was cheating, he was working honestly, but the world was cheating him out of his reward."[1]
Years later even, the people stop looking at the fasting-artist and cease to admire his work. His cage looks empty and the circus overseer wonders what became of it. Upon closer look, he sees the weak fasting-artist below the leaves in the cage, barely alive. The overseer tells him he no longer has to fast. However, the fasting-artist claims that he must fast; he has no other choice. He would eat happily like the rest of the people if he could only find nourishment that satisfies him. Nothing has ever satisfied him, so he starved out of necessity. Upon proclaiming these words, he dies. The circus buries him and places a young panther in his cage.[1]
[edit] Adaptations
- A comics adaptation of the story, illustrated by Peter Kuper, is included in Give It Up!.
- A short American film based on the story was made in 2002.
- Introducing Kafka, a graphic novel that examined Kafka's life and work, included a retelling of "A Hunger Artist". The story was written by David Zane Mairowitz and illustrated by R. Crumb.
- The Hunger Artists Theatre Company staged an adaptation of the story entitled "The Pledge Drive: Ruminations On The Hunger Artist", written by Jason Lindner. In the play, The Hunger Artist was the host of a pledge drive in which the guests were other people who were bound by their identities.[2]
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Kafka, Franz (1996). The Metamorphosis and Other Stories, trans. Donna Freed. New York: Barnes & Noble. ISBN 1-56619-969-7.
[edit] External links
- Amy Pearce - Anorexics and Angels Essay on "A Hunger Artist".
- Efraim Sicher - "The Semiotics of Hunger" Essay on "A Hunger Artist" and the concept of artistic hunger.
| The Works of Franz Kafka |
|---|
| Novels
The Metamorphosis • The Trial • The Castle • Amerika Short Stories 1904-1912: Description of a Struggle • Wedding Preparations in the Country • The Judgment • Contemplation • The Stoker 1914-1917: In the Penal Colony • The Village Schoolmaster (The Giant Mole) • Before the Law • Blumfeld, an Elderly Bachelor • The Warden of the Tomb • A Country Doctor • The Hunter Gracchus • The Great Wall of China• A Message from the Emperor • A Report to an Academy • A Dream • Up in the Gallery • A Fratricide • The Next Village • A Visit to a Mine • Jackals and Arabs • The Bridge • The Bucket Rider • The New Advocate • An Old Manuscript • The Knock at the Manor Gate • Eleven Sons • My Neighbor • A Crossbreed (A Sport) • The Cares of a Family Man 1917-1923: The Refusal • A Hunger Artist • Investigations of a Dog • A Little Woman • The Burrow • Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk • A Common Confusion • The Truth about Sancho Panza • The Silence of the Sirens • Prometheus • The City Coat of Arms • Poseidon • Fellowship • At Night • The Problem of Our Laws • The Conscription of Troops • The Test • The Vulture • The Helmsman • The Top • A Little Fable • Home-Coming • First Sorrow • The Departure • Advocates • The Married Couple • Give it Up! • On Parables Diaries, Notebooks and Essays The Diaries 1910-1923 • The Blue Octavo Notebooks • The First Long Train Journey (with Max Brod) • The Aeroplanes at Brescia Letters Letter to His Father • Letters to Felice • Letters to Ottla • Letters to Milena • Letters to Family, Friends, and Editors Collections The Complete Stories • The Sons • The Penal Colony • Parables and Paradoxes • The Great Wall of China • Dearest Father |
