Een Honger Jamal Ouariachi

The world of literature::

In Ouariachi's story, one can find, among other things, transpositions of fragments from the "Bible" and the "Koran". For example, the author quotes the "Song of Songs", but with a difference, as the roles are reversed. The main character, Alexander, speaks the lines that are originally spoken by the Bride, not the Bridegroom. The protagonist recites a fragment of the work to his beloved, Aurélie.

Ouariachi's concept of "Een Honger" is largely based on the work of Vladimir Nabokov "Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle".". It is a passionate story of forbidden love between Van and Ada. The two main characters fall in love, but are separated for many years. When fate brings them together again, Van decides to write their story in the book "Ada or Ardor". Nabokov filled his novel with allusions to art, cinema, literature, and philosophy. Moreover, "Ada or Ardor" is full of word games and plays with literary genres. Many consider this story to be one of Nabokov's most ambitious works. "Een Honger" by Ouariachi follows a similar structure. In his novel, one can also find many intertextual references and wordplays..

In "Een Honger", there are also references to:

• William Shakespeare,
• Edgar Allan Poe,
• Ernest Hemingway,
• James Joyce,
• John Barth,
• Joseph Roth,
• Paul Auster,
• Arnon Grunberg,
• Virginia Woolf,
• Michael Ondaatje.

The author directly quotes some works, such as "American Psycho" by Bret Easton Ellis and "A Farewell to Arms" by George Peele. When Alexander meets Aurélie after many years, he analyzes his situation and quotes a fragment of Peele's poem, saying "His golden locks time hath to silver turn'd...". Ouariachi also paraphrases many works, inserting dialogues from other texts into the mouths of his characters. He also attributes authorship of existing poems to his protagonists.

The World of Media::

When describing the main character's workplace, Ouariachi drew inspiration from the highly popular Dutch TV program "De Wereld Draait Door"", which aired from 2005 to 2020. The main presenter of the show wasMatthijs van Nieuwkerk. This evening talk show featured guests including politicians, artists, celebrities, and various social activists, who would all sit together at a shared table and have discussions. In addition to interesting debates and information about the latest events, the program also had entertainment features. Each episode would feature a musical band and a segment parodying typical television news

In the case of the character Søren Kok, the author may have been inspired by Dutch journalist Sven Kokkelmansand the magazine "Brenda" where Aurélie worked for a while was likely modeled after the Dutch women's magazine „Linda”.

The World of Cinema:

"Taxi Driver" (1976)>

In the novel, Ouariachi uses the screenplay of the film "Taxi Driver", written by Paul Schrader. This film, directed by Martin Scorsese, tells the story of a Vietnam War veteran suffering from insomnia, who works as a taxi driver in New York City. In his work he encounters the brutal face of the city and takes on a mission to cleanse it of evil. The main roles in the film were played by Robert de Niro and Jodie Foster. In "Een Honger" the narrative of the novel transforms into the screenplay of the film at one point. This happens when Aurélie and Alexander, during their journey through New York, get into a taxi driven by the main character of Scorsese's film.

"The English Patient" (1996)>

The film directed by Anthony Minghella, which won nine Oscars, is an adaptation of the novel by Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje. It tells the story of the love between Count László de Almásy and Katharine Clifton against the backdrop of the ongoing war. The characters in Ouariachi's book speak in dialogues using the words of the film's characters, played by Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas..

The world of music::

Alexander Laszlo, the main character of "Een Honger", is compared to Bob Geldof, an Irish rock musician and co-organizer of the charity event "Live Aid"", which consisted of two parallel rock concerts. They took place on July 13, 1985 at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. Their goal was to raise funds for the famine-stricken victims in Ethiopia. Both concerts gathered a massive number of fans, both in person and watching on TV worldwide.

In "Een Honger", after the famine in Ethiopia, Alexander founded the charitable organization Future Leaders of Ethiopia. Among various forms of help, the main character also decided to organize in 1987 the largest charity concert in the history of the Netherlands called "Together Against Hunger", which involved many national stars. Since then, Alexander has been considered the Dutch Bob Geldof.

Before Geldof's historic concerts, the musicians formed "Band Aid"like Bono, Sting, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, George Michael, Phil Collins, and bands such as Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet andBananarama. In the autumn of 1984, they recorded a song titled Do They Know It's Christmas? ,with Geldof writing the lyrics. The proceeds from the single were all dedicated to helping the starving people.

In response to this, USA For Africa initiative was formed in the United States – a joint effort by artists to help Africa. On January 28, 1985, after the American Music Awards ceremony, over forty singers gathered in a music studio overnight to record Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie’s song titled "We Are The World"". Attendees included Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Rogers, Tina Turner, Paul Simon i Stevie Wonder, and Geldof himself. However, Prince was absent, as mentioned by Alexander in his conversation with Aurélie in the book, explaining the artist's absence.

The Hallelujah Ballad

The characters in "Een Honger" refer to each other with the lyrics from the song Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, originally released on the album "Various Positions" in 1984. The ballad contains references to biblical stories of King David and Queen Bathsheba, as well as Samson and Delilah. In Ouariachi's novel, the lovers argue about whose performance is better: Cohen's or Jeff Buckley's from 1994, which – unlike numerous versions of Cohen's – has an unequivocally erotic tone..

Vladimir Nabokov– in Jamal Ouariachi's work, a strong fascination with Nabokov can be observed. The author frequently mentions this great Russian writer, for example in his newsletter "Writing with Ouariachi". Nabokov's influence can be found not only in the storyline of "Een Honger", but also in its form and narrative techniques. When writing "Een Honger", Ouariachi drew inspiration from novels such as "Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle". This novel is filled with games with the reader and wordplays. An important element of Nabokov's novel are names, which are carefully thought out and have important meaning for the entire story. Ouariachi does something similar, for example, by assigning names to characters, he immediately defines their roles in the plot. Furthermore, Nabokov combines known facts with an invented reality in his book. Such techniques also appear in "Een Honger", for example, when the author puts into the protagonist's life story a charity action inspired by the Live Aid initiative. Thanks to those kinds of actions, the boundary between fiction and reality becomes blurred.

Significant names – names that Ouariachi invents in his book have meaning and are not random. For example, at one point in his novel, the main character Alexander Laszlo is accused of pedophilia by one of the boys he has adopted, Demissie. This Ethiopian name in the Amharic language means "my destroyer," "the one who destroys," "the one who wreaks havoc."

Code – one of the chapters of "Een Honger" has been encrypted by the author. The reader is thus faced with the task of deciphering this fragment based on clues that the author included in the further part of the novel. The reader of Ouariachi's work becomes a detective, simultaneously becoming an active participant in the whole story.

The scientist was awarded with the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for his groundbreaking research on the kuru disease, which was found to be caused by cannibalism. He conducted his studies in Papua New Guinea, where he spent most of his time with members of the Kuku Kuku tribe.

Gajdusek would select young boys from the tribe and send them to the United States, providing them with a home and education. He referred to the boys as his family, supported them and appeared to have healthy relationships with them.

In 1996 he was accused of pedophilia. The scientist eventually admitted to having sexual relations with 300-400 boys, although he claimed that everything was with their consent.

Ouariachi had the opportunity to meet Gajdusek in person. Based on their conversations, he created the character of Alexander Laszlo, a Hungarian-born Dutch employee of humanitarian organizations, who adopted boys from Ethiopia and then brought them to the Netherlands, where he raised them and referred to them as his "kids". Similar to Gajdusek, Alexander Laszlo was accused of pedophilia by one of the adopted boys, Demissie..

The author drew inspiration for creating "Een Honger" not only from Gajdusek's life. Ouariachi was born in the Netherlands but his father is Moroccan. The author lived at the crossroads of two continents' cultures – Europe and Africa. The situation of his characters is similar. Children taken by Alexander, the main character of the novel, from Ethiopia to the Netherlands had difficulty finding their place in a country with different customs. They were assimilated into a new culture but never fully felt at home in it. At the same time, they couldn't find their place in the country they came from, as they had already partially adopted European customs..

The author drew inspiration for creating "Een Honger" not only from Gajdusek's life. Ouariachi was born in the Netherlands but his father is Moroccan. The author lived at the crossroads of two continents' cultures – Europe and Africa. The situation of his characters is similar. Children taken by Alexander, the main character of the novel, from Ethiopia to the Netherlands had difficulty finding their place in a country with different customs. They were assimilated into a new culture but never fully felt at home in it. At the same time, they couldn't find their place in the country they came from, as they had already partially adopted European customs. humanitarian aid. Ouariachi in the novel refers to the work of organizations such as UNICEF or Save the Children, which help children from developing countries. Furthermore, in one of the conversations, the main characters discuss the Live Aid campaign..