A LINGUISTIC-STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF PHONOLOGICAL AND SEMANTIC FEATURES IN FRANZ KAFKA'S A HUNGER ARTIST

Abstract

This study examined the linguistic stylistic features in Franz Kafka’s short story A Hunger Artist, focusing on the phonological (assonance and alliteration) and semantic aspects (metaphor and personification) that contribute to the construction of meaning and existential absurdity in the narrative. This study was a library research with a qualitative descriptive analytical approach. The primary data source was Franz Kafka’s short story A Hunger Artist. Data were collected through close reading and analyzed by identifying, classifying, and interpreting instances of assonance, alliteration, metaphor, and personification found in the text. The results revealed that the phonological aspect consists of six instances of assonance and five instances of alliteration. These sound patterns contributed to the rhythmic quality of the narrative and reinforce the atmosphere of monotony, suffering, and existential isolation experienced by the hunger artist. In the semantic aspect, six instances of metaphor and six instances of personification were identified. In conclusion, Kafka’s used of sound devices and figurative language functions not only as an aesthetic element but also as a significant stylistic strategy for expressing themes of absurdity, alienation, suffering, and the search for meaning. The study demonstrated that linguistic stylistic analysis provides a deeper understanding of the relationship between language form and literary meaning in A Hunger Artist. The findings contribute to stylistic studies by demonstrating how sound patterns and figurative language function as meaning-making devices in modernist literature.