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    Hunger Artist PPR

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    The document provides a comparison of Franz Kafka's short story "A Hunger Artist" and Robert D. Crumb and David Z. Mairowitz's graphic novel adaptation. It summarizes that while the graphic novel uses visuals to convey the horror and sadness of the story, it loses some of the imagination, details, and perspectives present in the original text. Specifically, the graphic novel shows the story mainly from the narrator's perspective, reducing the depiction of the artist's complex thoughts and frustrations expressed through Kafka's language. However, the document also notes that the graphic novel version can help the story reach a wider audience and help readers remember it.

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    Hunger Artist PPR

    Uploaded by

    api-356639406
    350 views4 pages
    The document provides a comparison of Franz Kafka's short story "A Hunger Artist" and Robert D. Crumb and David Z. Mairowitz's graphic novel adaptation. It summarizes that while the graphic novel uses visuals to convey the horror and sadness of the story, it loses some of the imagination, details, and perspectives present in the original text. Specifically, the graphic novel shows the story mainly from the narrator's perspective, reducing the depiction of the artist's complex thoughts and frustrations expressed through Kafka's language. However, the document also notes that the graphic novel version can help the story reach a wider audience and help readers remember it.

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    hunger artist ppr

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    The document provides a comparison of Franz Kafka's short story "A Hunger Artist" and Robert D. Crumb and David Z. Mairowitz's graphic novel adaptation. It summarizes that while the graphic novel uses visuals to convey the horror and sadness of the story, it loses some of the imagination, details, and perspectives present in the original text. Specifically, the graphic novel shows the story mainly from the narrator's perspective, reducing the depiction of the artist's complex thoughts and frustrations expressed through Kafka's language. However, the document also notes that the graphic novel version can help the story reach a wider audience and help readers remember it.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    350 views4 pages

    Hunger Artist PPR

    Uploaded by

    api-356639406
    The document provides a comparison of Franz Kafka's short story "A Hunger Artist" and Robert D. Crumb and David Z. Mairowitz's graphic novel adaptation. It summarizes that while the graphic novel uses visuals to convey the horror and sadness of the story, it loses some of the imagination, details, and perspectives present in the original text. Specifically, the graphic novel shows the story mainly from the narrator's perspective, reducing the depiction of the artist's complex thoughts and frustrations expressed through Kafka's language. However, the document also notes that the graphic novel version can help the story reach a wider audience and help readers remember it.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 4

    Alvarado 1

    Griselda Alvarado

    Professor Angie Kirk

    English 305

    9 October 2015

    A Hunger Artist: Short story vs. Graphic Novel

    Franz Kafkas short novel A Hungry Artist is such a remarkable story that many

    adaptations have been made including a short stop motion animated film by Tom Gibbons and a

    theatrical play by Jason Lindner. Each adaptation has been made from the artists interpretation

    of the original story. One can compare and contrast ideas and themes speculated to be perceived

    by Kafka. However, a closer comparison pertaining to literature would be that of Robert D.

    Crumb and David Z. Mairowitzs graphic novel interpretation. In both the original and the

    graphic novel rendition of A Hungry Artist, the main character is the artist himself whose pride

    and passion for recognition lead to a very sad and dissatisfied life. There are many gains and

    losses in the graphic novel compared to the original story. Although there exists many

    similarities in theme, main character, and emotional impact, the difference in style and language

    provide the reader with a distinct experience that influences the readers interpretation of the

    story.

    Crumb and Mairowitzs graphic novel offer the reader visuals that convey horror and

    sadness. The black and white only illustrations create a sense of horror to the reader. If visual art

    can be Kafkaesque, Crumb and Mairowitz have accomplished it(Snow). Subtle symbols also

    help express emotion such as the artists feet facing inward as he is being carried out of the cage

    suggest shame. Another symbol is the woman with her hand on her mouth expressing fear as the

    artist rattles his cage. Furthermore, the light and dark hue place focus on specific characters
    Alvarado 2

    faces as they express emotion with the use of emanata. The setting and extra characters are

    established in a way that portray the times and feelings about hunger artists. In addition to

    creating a mood and setting, the graphic novel version is able to reach out to a younger audience.

    Its simple language and helpful visuals help the reader follow the story with ease. The style in

    which the wording was placed also helps the reader. The narrators voiceover boxes are very

    different in font and style from the speech bubbles in order to differentiate and make the story

    easier to follow. Most of the story is told from the narrators perspective although there are few

    speech bubbles for characters.

    The graphic novel is short and to the point, but simplicity comes with a big price.

    Although visuals are the main attribution in a graphic novel, they are also the reason why

    imagination is lost. Pictures are received information we need no formal education to get the

    message. The message is instantaneous. Writing is perceived information. It takes time and

    specialized knowledge to decode the abstract symbols of language(McCloud 49). The details in

    the short story help the reader create an original setting in their mind. In the illustrated version,

    the reader relies on what Crumb and Mairowitz thought was important to extract from the

    original story and recreate it. Furthermore, by retelling the story from mainly the narrators

    perspective, the main characters thoughts are decimated. The Artists thoughts and feelings are

    at the core of many interpretations of the original story. The main character conveys horror and

    passion while showing signs intelligence and insanity. Kafka expresses the artists frustrations

    and dissatisfactions with the irresponsible guards with exaggerated language because nothing

    was more tormenting to the hunger artist than such watchmen; they made him miserable; they

    made his fasting seem terribly difficult (Kafka 323). Similar wording is use to show his

    frustrations with his selfish manager and what he believes to be an ignorant public. The artists
    Alvarado 3

    desperation for recognition and realization of his life situation also noted through his actions

    when he decided to sign with the circus, but in order to spare his own feelings, he avoided

    reading the terms of his contract(Kafka 326). These actions allure to the readers sympathy for

    the artist. The language and style used by Kafka give the main character more than one

    dimension and the reader more than one theme.

    Crumb and Mairowitzs graphic novel is an excellent tribute to Franz Kafka. They were

    able to illustrate the essence of the story and provide the reader with a platform for greater

    understanding using a different mode of art. Although imagination, detail, and perspectives were

    lost from a literary standpoint, the graphic novels lasting images will help the story reach a

    wider public and help the public remember it.


    Alvarado 4

    Works Cited

    Charters, Ann., and Charters Samuel, eds. Literature and its writers: An Introduction to Fiction,

    Poetry, and Drama. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. Print.

    Crumb, Robert Dennis., Mairowitz, David Zane. A Hunger Artist. Charters and Charters 330-

    339.

    Kafka, Franz. A Hunger Artist. Trans. Ann Charters. Charters and Charters 322-328.

    McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics. Ed. Mark Martin.1993. New York: Harper Collins

    Publishers Inc., 1994. Print.

    n.p. Graphic Novel/ Comics Terms and Concepts. International Reading Association/ NCTE,

    2008. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.

    Philpot, Brad. Graphic Novel. In Thinking, n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.

    Snow, Sarah [sosnowy]. A Writers Reading Room; A library of reflections and musings.

    Wordpress. Wordpress. 9 January 2010. Web. 9 October 2015.

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