Metaphorical Representations of Hunger and Labor in Herta
METAPHORICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF HUNGER AND LABOR IN HERTA MÜLLER'S ATEMSCHAUKEL by BETHANY AMATO MORGAN (Under the Direction of Dr. Martin Kagel) ABSTRACT My thesis offers a reading of Herta Müller's novel, Atemschaukel, published in the same year that the author won the Nobel Prize for Literature. I explore Müller's use of metaphors and demonstrate how Müller not only uses metaphor, symbol and allegory to overcome linguistic limitations of expressing suffering, but also how she uses these poetic devices to accurately describe one inmate's daily reality of systematic starvation, to represent more than just hunger or labor. My thesis focuses on Müller's style and the aesthetics of the novel. I address her use of metaphors and how they function. Specifically, I address Müller's metaphors of hunger and labor in the camp and what they represent for the protagonist Leo Auberg. INDEX WORDS: metaphor theory, labor camp, Herta Müller, Oskar Pastior, hunger, chronic hunger, chronic desire, agency, totalitarianism, labor, heart shovel, hunger angel, Atemschaukel METAPHORICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF HUNGER AND LABOR IN HERTA MÜLLER'S ATEMSCHAUKEL by BETHANY AMATO MORGAN B.A., Creative Writing, Bob Jones University, 2005 M.A., English, Clemson University, 2007 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS ATHENS, GEORGIA 2013 © 2013 Bethany Amato Morgan All Rights Reserved METAPHORICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF HUNGER AND LABOR IN HERTA MÜLLER'S ATEMSCHAUKEL by BETHANY AMATO MORGAN Major Professor: Martin Kagel Committee: Brigitte Rossbacher Alexander Sager Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2013 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost I would like to thank my husband, Brian Morgan, for supporting me in this long-distance endeavor.
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