hunger

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hunger is a lack of food . Hunger also describes a subjectively perceived, mostly unpleasant physical sensation . Hunger is a physical, social, socio-political, historical, psychological, but also an economic phenomenon that can be presented differently depending on the perspective.

The biological function of hunger stimulus is to ensure that the organism is adequately supplied with nutrients and energy. The feeling of hunger is regulated, among other things, by neurotransmitters that are produced in the hypothalamus .

term

Hunger is an everyday sensation that is characterized by the need for food. The term can also include the constant situation of starvation or a life in which one does not have what is necessary to feed oneself. In addition, hunger can also be understood as the objective, physiological state of hunger of the body in the event of a lack of food or malnutrition.

Physiological processes

The regulation of hunger and satiety is a very complex process in humans, in which numerous factors are involved. Many of them are still not fully explored. This is especially true of the hormones involved .

The amount of stomach contents is not decisive for the development of the hunger stimulus. The contractions of the stomach walls increase as the stomach becomes emptier . These contractions cause the stomach to growl , which is understood as an acoustic hunger signal.

According to the current state of research, a major trigger of hunger is the glucose level in the blood; this value is by receptors in liver and stomach to the hypothalamus in the diencephalon reported, in which a is the hunger center and a satiety center located. With hypoglycemia , hunger stimuli are triggered. In addition, the insulin level plays an important role, which is also constantly checked. The brain also takes into account the fat reserves stored in the body in the fat cells ; these permanently release the hormone leptin . The less leptin there is in the blood, the more often people feel very hungry. However, this only applies to people of normal weight; if you are obese, there is always a large amount of leptin in the blood, but this does not have the expected satiating effect, as leptin resistance is present in this case. How strongly the appetite is determined here by the psyche is still unclear. When dieting , the leptin concentration generally drops significantly, which explains subsequent cravings. The hormone ghrelin was only discovered a few years ago . Its concentration decreases after eating and then gradually increases again. Its effect on the hunger and satiety centers have been proven. In addition to these physiological processes, a number of external influences, such as the smell, taste or appearance of the food, trigger hunger or satiety.

The mechanoreceptors in the stomach react to the start of food intake, which send the first signals of saturation to the brain when the stomach walls are filled and the stomach walls stretch. However, the messages from the chemoreceptors in the intestines and liver, which determine the nutritional content of the food ingested, are more decisive for the development of feelings of satiety . If the nutrient content of a meal is too low, feelings of hunger will reappear as soon as this deficit has been registered in the hypothalamus.

A distinction must be made between hunger and appetite , which is not a physiological but a psychological phenomenon. It can ensure that people continue to eat despite clear signals of satiety; the limit of receptivity is signaled by nausea . Conversely, loss of appetite can lead to a situation in which no food is consumed despite hunger.

Hunger can be artificially “switched off” or at least dampened by increasing the serotonin level . This is how some appetite suppressants work . However, since hunger is triggered and influenced by a large number of factors, it can only be partially suppressed by intervening in a control system.

Cravings

Cravings differ from normal feelings of hunger in that they suddenly have an extreme urge to eat immediately, with physical symptoms such as tremors and sweating. Often there is a strong craving for sweets or certain foods, which can be equated with appetite rather than hunger. Doctors differentiate between three forms of food cravings: the physical, the psychological and a mixed form.

The physically induced cravings can act as a signal for acute hypoglycaemia , i.e. a sharp drop in the blood sugar level, which can not only occur in diabetes mellitus . The fastest way to increase blood sugar is through quickly absorbable carbohydrates such as dextrose , as this type of sugar is absorbed into the blood particularly quickly. Cravings can be increased by frequent eating of easily absorbable carbohydrates such as simple sugars and white flour products. Whole grain products and foods rich in fat or protein delay the rise in blood sugar and keep the sugar level constant for a long time after a meal. After dieting, cravings can occur as the body tries to compensate for the loss of calories. There are also hormonal cravings during pregnancy and, in some women, at a certain stage of the monthly menstrual cycle .

The cravings for certain foods can be interpreted in different cultures. If a woman has a craving for pickles, this is understood in Germany as an indication of a possible pregnancy. In France, on the other hand, if you crave strawberries, pregnancy is suspected. Due to their ingredients, both foods are particularly suitable for consumption during pregnancy.

Mentally induced cravings are not triggered by a physical need, but often by stress and negative emotions , whereby the cravings become a habit. Feelings of satiety are accompanied by an increased release of serotonin through the hypothalamus (serotonin is regarded as mood- enhancing ). Many cravings are mixed. Regular binge eating is an eating disorder and occurs in obesity patients as well as bulimia and binge eating . In these cases, control over food intake is completely lost during a seizure.

Starving and Fasting

Up to the present day people in some regions of the world have to reckon with famine and starvation for lack of food. There is therefore the scientific theory that the human brain was genetically programmed in the course of evolution in such a way that eating behavior corresponds to the creation of energy reserves for times of need. Accordingly, the preference for high-calorie foods and overeating would be innate when there is an abundant supply of food. Some other scientific explanations contradict this thesis.

If the food intake is greatly reduced or food is completely withdrawn, the body switches to hunger metabolism after just one day . This also applies to low calorie diets . This means that the body greatly reduces its energy consumption, which among other things means that the blood circulation works more slowly and the body temperature drops slightly. It gains the necessary energy first from the available glycogen reserve and then from the fat in the fat cells, after a few days also increasingly from the body's own protein , whereby there are no deposits for this, but the muscle mass decreases. With long-term food deprivation, even when fasting , u. a. the heart muscle will be damaged. In addition, after the fat tissue , other body tissue is gradually broken down as well. The starvation metabolism leads to ketosis . Long-term abstinence from food or long-term hunger states ultimately lead to starvation.

consequences

When hunger persists, the brain releases a number of stress hormones, which leads to psychological stress and inner restlessness. At the same time, however, mood-enhancing hormones are produced, especially serotonin . Although fasting has the same physiological effects on the body as starvation, in this case there is no psychological stress, as the abstinence from food is voluntary and planned. This leads to the fact that significantly more endorphins are formed than stress hormones, which remain in the blood for a long time due to the slowed metabolism . These act as the body's own opioids and can create a mild state of intoxication that can range to euphoric states. However, the strain on the body increases if fasting is carried out during everyday work, which is why the fasting person should withdraw from everyday life. Doctors therefore also consider long-term fasts to be addictive. This high state also plays a role in anorexia . A hunger strike as a voluntary food waiver is psychologically comparable to fasting.

The best-known scientific study of the physical and psychological effects of involuntary food deprivation is the Minnesota study from 1944. Participants were 36 healthy soldiers who had to get by on half the normal calorie intake in a camp for six months. They were followed for three months thereafter. The men lost an average of 25 percent of their body weight, their basal metabolic rate decreased by 40 percent. During the hunger phase, eating became the central topic of the test subjects, which they also dealt with constantly outside of meals. On the psychological level, there were strong mood swings, aggression , depression , a decline in sex drive and sleep disorders. After the end of the hunger phase, many participants developed cravings, the regulation of satiety was disturbed, so that in some cases satiety was no longer perceived, and the fixation on food remained for a long time.

A study presented in 2011 showed that one year after a low-energy diet of 2300  kJ / day (550  kcal / day) for 10 weeks and a mean weight loss of 13.5 kg, the hormones that increase appetite and weight gain remain pathologically changed . The feeling of hunger was also increased.

If a child already suffers from malnutrition in the womb, it has little chance of catching up on its development deficit. It often has a weakened immune system, making it more susceptible to infectious diseases. The physical and mental development of the child is restricted, it is less able to concentrate and it does not perform well in school. In addition, a malnourished child is also more prone to developing chronic diseases in adulthood. Both of these tend to result in the child having reduced physical and mental performance even in adulthood.

Long-term consequences

See malnutrition , starvation metabolism .

Table of the forms of hunger

Individually collective
Voluntary Fast Religious fasting
Hunger artist
diet
Sports
Forced torture
poverty poverty
Mental illness Neglect in homes / institutions
Hunger as a weapon
Extermination camp
Death marches
Rationing
Hunger in the post-war period
Forced or Voluntary Starving to overcome hunger Famines
Waiver for someone else
Hunger strike Hunger strike
Drugs

Social science research context

Early modern age

In the classic explanation of hunger, hunger crises in the early modern period are only attributed to poor harvests and lack of food in the respective region or society. The classic interpretation approach according to Abel and Labrousse sees hunger as the main type of a comprehensive socio-economic crisis in pre-industrial-capitalist society that recurred at irregular intervals until the first half of the 19th century. The main focus is on the failure of the harvest, which leads to over- or starvation mortality. Wars, crises and practices of sovereign-state levy are to be regarded as secondary causes. In the more recent interpretation approach, the weather- and climate-related decline in yields in agricultural production still plays an important role in the search for the causes of hunger crises in the early modern period. However, specific inequalities and inequalities for certain groups and strata of a society, i.e. the social conditions, are seen as just as decisive - if not more important. Above all, the effects of political and dominant factors come to the fore as factors that cause or intensify crises, but also those that control and mitigate crises.

Structural, long-term factors, such as persistent lack of food, causing poverty and impoverishment, contribute to the exacerbation of hunger crises. These are the result of political and lordly practices, such as lordly skimming of food and taxes, or long-term undernourishment and / or malnutrition .

Hunger, hunger politics and hunger experiences in the crises of the early 19th century must be seen in a historical context. The analysis of this connection includes natural-climatic, economic and structural causes as well as forms, practices and symbols of hunger policy and experiences of the hungry.

Modern times

In contrast to today's global hunger problem, which is determined by chronic malnutrition, the hunger crises of the 20th century can be seen as a political explosive. Even authoritarian regimes did not hide hunger crises, but political leaders tried to prevent acute famine and to seek international help and publicity in emergencies. Famines of the 20th century can be understood as complex processes resulting from social interactions. In these processes, the overall supply, market functioning and market participants as well as state and other political action are interrelated.

In historical depictions of hunger in the 20th century, victim narratives are often created in order to brand foreign rule , but many aspects that contributed to or went with the hunger crises are ignored. Agricultural production, markets and politics have to be seen in connection in order to find causal explanations.

According to James Vernon, there are three regiments for the perception of hunger in different times, the last of which can be found in modern times:

  1. Divine Regiment: Hunger is part of the inevitable divine plan.
  2. Moral Regiment: Hunger as a result of individual failure. Inability to learn a proper job, liberalism .
  3. Social regiment (from 1840): Hunger as a collective and social problem in which hungry people are victims of failing political and economic systems over which they themselves have no control.

Contemporary history

When it comes to the perception of hunger today, one has to speak of a spectrum . This spectrum ranges from endemic malnutrition to excessive mortality and the diseases that go with it. In addition, today in the developed world it is assumed that hunger crises can be prevented. That is why the demand for global humanity is widely spread, hunger is the focus of activism and is an effective means of creating awareness of global poverty.

Global hunger crises are less common today and, given the right conditions, less likely in the future. Nonetheless, they persist today, although where crop failure is the greatest threat, a combination of public relations, market forces and food aid could reduce mortality rates during substantial crises.

FAD - Food Availability Decline

FAD refers to neo-Darwinist positions and derives hunger and starvation from the physical lack of food as a result of poor harvests with simultaneous population pressure and resource degradation.

FED - Food Entitlement Decline

With the Entitlement Theory, Amartya Sen was able to prove that the devastating famine in Bengal was not caused by the lack of food (FAD). Millions of people in Bengal starved to death, even though more food was produced overall than in previous years. Rather, the critical weak point between production and consumption resulted from a deterioration in exchange entitlements for numerous rural poor groups. Since food had become a commodity in the colonial economy of India and at the same time the collapse of the “moral economy” had weakened the traditional security systems, millions of people were at the mercy of starvation despite full granaries. The causes of the famine thus lie in the expiry of the rights of disposal (FED). Entitlement theory can be seen as the basis of the social science vulnerability discussion.

Periphery-center model

The periphery-center model can also be used to analyze the development of hunger. This is used to analyze economic, political, social or cultural relationships between states or regions. In economic theory, fundamental structural differences between the regions are assumed. The development in the centers and the peripheral areas (periphery) is uneven. As a result, no spatial equilibrium is reached. The center is economically more active, relatively well developed, produces v. a. Industrial goods and is considered innovative and progressive (cities, metropolitan areas). The periphery, which can also be referred to as a rural area, is characterized by agriculture and raw material extraction. The center and the periphery are in a dependent relationship in which the center can exert influence (power) on the periphery.

The center-periphery model is used in development policy to record global, regional and domestic relationships of dependency. The basic assumption is the hierarchical structure of world society, which has historically emerged from the expanding capitalist world economy with multinational companies as main actors and the international division of labor. According to this, the capitalist countries form the center and the developing countries the periphery. Economic development is characterized by growing prosperity in the industrialized countries and worsening poverty and underdevelopment in the developing countries, mainly because the center has the power to shift the costs of development to the periphery (e.g. low raw material prices) . This limits the growth opportunities of the periphery. This can lead to hunger, for example.

With this derivation it is assumed that the underdevelopment in the developing countries was caused externally and the continuing external dependency is the essential factor for the situation of the developing countries and the intensification of the North-South conflict. Applied to the domestic situation of developing countries, the center-periphery model leads to an explanation of the contrasting development of traditional rural regions and modern urban regions as well as of highly developed urban centers and impoverished urban peripheries.

Vulnerability concept

The vulnerability concept is intended to bridge the gap between a scientific understanding and a sociological understanding of vulnerability to disasters (e.g. famine). The concepts developed in the respective research fields should be brought closer together and, above all, their mutual influence should be recognized.

In the social sciences which is vulnerability or vulnerability, which builds on the basis of Entitlement theory and extends them, based on purely social conditions. In the natural sciences , it is generally described as a sensitivity of previously defined risk elements to a natural hazard. Thus, the focus on holistic social systems (social sciences) contrasts with the focus on quantifiable consequences (natural sciences). Both the physical phenomena (spatial, temporal) and the social effects and consequences of the physical event decide whether natural events and natural hazards become catastrophes, i.e. whether a hunger crisis occurs.

In many cases, social vulnerability can influence disaster damage more than the natural hazard itself, and the relative disaster potential of a society is largely determined by the dynamics and the social and spatial differentiation of social conditions. In addition, there is a dynamic duality of societal vulnerability, as there is a permanent field of tension between human activities that generate risks and human efforts to avoid the risks. This concept bridges the gap between action-oriented and actor-oriented social science vulnerability research and risk-related scientific hazard research. While in the social sciences the social systems in their multi-layered, often unforeseen interconnection determine and strongly influence the vulnerability of individual persons or groups of actors, in the natural sciences the focus is on quantifying the vulnerability of individual risk elements to an event magnitude.

Hunger in the media

Hunger in his work . A Modern History shows James Vernon how the perception of hunger changed through new forms of reporting. Through journalistic work, the individual fates behind the hunger were worked out and the innocence of the victims was the focus.

Whether and in what form the media becomes aware of a famine or another humanitarian problem and reports on it depends on various actors: On the one hand, there are political actors who either draw the media's attention to the problem for propaganda purposes or for financial reasons want to steer. On the other hand, governments can try to hide the need and keep media attention away. Other actors are the humanitarian organizations. These are dependent on close ties with the media. This is referred to as a feedback loop: employees of international organizations provide the media with information that, via the press and television, finds an audience whose donations enable the relief effort (and those who help) to survive.

One example of this is the organization “ Doctors Without Borders / Médecins sans frontières”, which is run by various Western news agencies as a reliable source in crisis areas.

The former president of Doctors Without Borders, Rony Brauman, summarized four basic conditions for a successful campaign in his book about his work at the organization:

  • Permanent flow of images
  • No competition from other disasters
  • Mediation person in the form of a helper who promises the prospect of relief
  • Victim innocence

Pictures have a special effect in the media. Research by David Campbell or Valérie Gorin has shown that in the hunger discourse, images became symbols of hunger or suffering. They go beyond the picture as an image of the situation and structure the perception of reality. The depicted people are portrayed as innocent victims in need of help, but also torn from their context of life and thus become icons of suffering. In the hunger discourse, this is often expressed in stereotypical representations of starving children and mothers.

David Campbell points out in his work that individual suffering elicits stronger reactions in addressees than the suffering of a group, as socio-psychological studies have shown. Postcolonial research criticizes the fact that the persistence of images of victims, especially from Africa, leads to the perpetuation of colonial power symmetries in people's minds. There is a lack of positive counter-images to Africa and humanitarian disasters. Studies after the Live Aid concerts showed that over 80% of the British associate developing countries with hunger, disasters and Western aid. These stereotypes are also supported by marginalizing or omitting the context of the crises and images.

Lukas Zürcher examines the mediatization of hunger in Africa using sources from the church organization of the “ White Fathers ”, who missioned in Africa from the second half of the 19th century. He worked out the Christian imagery in the context of hunger. The connection between hunger for bread and hunger for God is often made in the Bible. The person who is starving is in a state of distance from God. The lack of food as well as the lack of faith, love and hope make people susceptible to the temptation of the devil and threaten their very existence.

In his work, Zürcher has worked out three ways of talking about hunger from the missionary writings of the order:

  • The hunger of the missionaries themselves
  • Emphasis on the contrast between starving Christians and starving pagans (Christians can endure hunger on the basis of spiritual nourishment, while hunger for pagans becomes violent)
  • African hunger for the word of God

In their white robes, the “White Fathers” almost portrayed themselves as saints and evoked biblical associations, such as the legend of the Good Samaritan .

After the Second World War as a result of the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965, at which a declaration of religious freedom and a tolerant attitude towards non-Christian religions was decided, Zürcher saw a change in the Catholic understanding of mission, and so also in the writings of the order of the “White Fathers " firmly. Since missionary work in the traditional sense was no longer possible due to the resolution of the church, the focus of the scriptures shifted from a hunger for God's Word to physical hunger, which could be combated with the help of food donations. One had to confirm the legitimacy for missions by church organizations, but also generally by all western organizations in Africa. The development of global development communities in the 1960s also played a role.

The psychologist Christiane Eichenberg creates a completely different connection between hunger and the media in her essay Hunger online about eating disorders. She conducted research into the causes of this type of mental illness. These can be divided into two areas: The psychological determinants and the sociocultural determinants: In addition to families and peer groups, the sociocultural determinants also include gender norms and role expectations in society, in which the media plays an important role. But this role is ambivalent: On the one hand, raising the issue of mental disorders in public can help to overcome these problems. On the other hand, the media are suspected of being part of the problem themselves, as they act as mediators of social models and as a source of role models and body ideals. Eichenberg is particularly critical of the pro-ana movements on the Internet. This can be characterized as an association of those affected who do not want to overcome their illness, but rather maintain and cultivate it. The focus is on exchanging ideas with like-minded people in forums or tips and tricks on losing weight and the so-called "thinspiration" in the form of pictures, films, songs or poems by thin people about starvation.

Hunger in art

The subject of hunger is treated and processed in various ways in art. What and how hunger is dealt with in art depends on many factors. The change in the perception of hunger in a society can also be identified in art. In addition to depicting, depicting and describing hunger, there are also artists who stage hunger themselves (hunger artists ).

Hunger in literature

The problem with hunger is that it is ambiguous and context-dependent and is also subjectively experienced and processed by each person. What hunger is and how it is perceived depends to a large extent on its context. Literature reflects this problem. Herta Müller writes in her novel Atemschaukel that there are no suitable words for hunger, but one must try to give hunger a language through literature. Flecht assumes that it is precisely the absence of such words that makes hunger a creative principle in literature: “The starving body does not speak for itself; it needs stories in order to be readable. ”Hunger can appear as a poetological function that explores how literature is composed. For example, the novel Sult (in German: Hunger) by Knut Hamsun is not only about starvation in terms of content, but also shows a high degree of self-reflexivity: through hunger, the novel reflects its own linguistic constitution. In addition, through the motif of hunger, literature can take up and work on various cultural phenomena and discourses, such as Christianity (being tempted by hunger), medicine (change, ethical problems), the emergence of a consumer society or social injustice. Basically, the consideration of hunger in the literature must always take place in relation to the historical context, as this is the only way to work out cultural phenomena.

Motives of hunger in literature:

  • Hunger and captivity (labor and extermination camps, prison)
  • Physical decline
  • Despair
  • Connection between artistic creation and hunger
  • Hunger for meaning, answers, meaning
  • Christianity (closeness to or distant from God through hunger, gluttony )
  • Hunger in the medical discourse / medical history (development of clinical pictures)
  • Reflection on the (emerging) consumer society
  • Starting point for political radicalization and revolts
  • Hunger and poverty
  • Hunger and drugs

In literary studies, Maud Ellmann examined various cultural phenomena that she associates with starvation, writing and imprisonment. The Germanist Christoph Steier sees hunger as a medium for self-reflection in literature. Hunger becomes the motif and formal principle of literature in order to test one's own limits and possibilities. He speaks of "show hunger", an exhibited starvation. With a perspective on the sexes, the Germanist Nina Diezmann worked out that in the medical discourse around 1900 women who did not eat were primarily seen as patients, while men who were starving were often characterized as strong-willed (e.g. hunger artists).

See also

Web links

Wikiquote: Hunger  Quotes
Wiktionary: Hunger  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Joseph Meyer (Ed.): Meyers Enziklopädisches Lexikon . 9th edition. tape 12 , 1976, p. 350 .
  2. ↑ Jakob Grimm: German Dictionary . tape 10 , 1877, p. 1944 .
  3. ↑ Welt.de: Eating when hunger gnaws is the best diet
  4. ↑ DGE: Molecules regulate weight
  5. ↑ Everyday Life: Strawberries and Pickles ( Memento from October 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) , Karambolage 281
  6. ↑ Information on the causes of cravings, ( Memento from December 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ^ Vox article: Cravings
  8. ↑ Article Diets , in: Udo Pollmer / Susanne Warmuth, Lexicon of popular nutritional errors, Munich 2006, p. 91 f.
  9. ↑ Focus: The program of evolution
  10. ↑ Heike Schmoll: Fasting instead of starving, in: Tabula 01/1999
  11. ↑ Results of the Minnesota Study ( Memento of October 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ↑ Abstract: Long-Term Persistence of Hormonal Adaptations to Weight Loss , NEJM 2001, accessed January 1, 2012
  13. ↑ Child malnutrition. Retrieved September 6, 2017 .
  14. ^ A b c d e Hans Medick: "Hunger crises" in historical research. Examples from Central Europe from 17.-19. Century . In: Social science information for teaching and studying . Ernst Klett, 1985, ISSN  0340-2304 , p. 97-101 .
  15. ^ A b Christian Gerlach: Hunger in the history of the 20th century. Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb) , November 27, 2015, accessed on April 29, 2019 .
  16. ↑ James Vernon: Hunger. A Modern History . Cambridge-London 2007, p. 1-33 .
  17. ^ Cormac O Grada: Famine: A short History . Ed .: Princeton University Press. Princeton 2009.
  18. ↑ a b c d Hans-Georg Bohle, Thomas Gale: Vulnerability Concepts in Social and Natural Sciences . In: Felgentreff, C. Glade, T. (Ed.): Natural risks and social catastrophes . Berlin, Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8274-1571-4 , pp. 99-109 ( Article online [PDF; 1.4 MB ; accessed on April 29, 2019]).
  19. ^ Center-periphery model. In: deacademic.com. Retrieved April 29, 2019 .
  20. ↑ a b c Angela Müller, Felix Rauh: Perception and media staging of hunger in the 20th century . In: Swiss Society for History (ed.): Itinera . No. 37 . Schwabe, Basel 2014, ISBN 978-3-7965-3354-9 , pp. 10-12 .
  21. ^ Rony Braumann, Réne Beckmann: Les médias et l'humanitaire. Ethique de l'information ou charitéspectacle . Paris 1996, p. 48-50 .
  22. ^ David Campell: The Iconography of Famine . In: Geoffrey Batchen, Mick Gidley, Nancy K. Miller, Jay Prosser (Eds.): Picturing Atrocity: Reading Photographs in Crisis . Reaction Books, London 2011, p. 89 .
  23. ↑ Lukas Zürcher: "The bread of life" Biblical imagery and the mediatization of hunger (1900–1970) . In: Swiss Society for History (ed.): Itinera . Perception and media staging of hunger in the 20th century, No. 37 . Schwabe, Basel 2014, ISBN 978-3-7965-3354-9 .
  24. ↑ Christiane Eigenlebiger: Hunger on the Net. From Politics and Contemporary History APUZ, 2015, accessed on July 30, 2016 .
  25. ↑ a b Frederike Flecht: Hunger as a literary experiment. In: From Politics and Contemporary History APUZ. 2015, accessed June 30, 2016 .
  26. ^ Maud Ellmann: The Hunger Artists. Starving, Writing and Imprisonment . London 1993.
  27. ↑ Christoph Steier: Hunger / writing. Poetologies of hunger from the time of Goethe to the present. Wuerzburg 2014.
  28. ↑ Nina Diezemann: The art of hunger. Anorexia in literary and medical texts around 1900. Hamburg 2005.