Abstract
The contemporary phenomenon of pro-ana (or, more accurately, ana-mia ) websites, focussing on anorexia nervosa and on other eating disorders, problematizes the notions of body, presence, and performativity. Throughout their texts, videos, and pictures, bloggers and online forum members document their daily activities, their aesthetic sensibilities. Stigmatized by public opinion, they adopt radical stances, describe themselves as heroic fighters and express themselves by a terminology of citizenship - choice, freedom, right to be anorexic or bulimic... The relationship between the performers and their online audience is mainly driven by a quest for political support and autonomy. The art of fasting, outlined in Kafka's seminal story Ein Hungerkunstler, turns into a collective effort of vigilance and negotiation of the limits of bodily performativity in digital environments, and in the broader context of public life.
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