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February 16.2009

Sixth Week

At the centennial of Hemingway's birth, noted Linda Wagner-Martin,the editor

Ernest Hemingway: Seven Decades of Criticism,

the question was“

why

his writings last so well. … [What] else besides nostalgia does it providethe reader here at the very end of that twentieth century?” She noted thatover the past seventy years, as views of heroism have changed, so too havecritics' views of Hemingway. Rather than writing about “the code hero” muchcelebrated in the 1950s and 1960s, critics have become interested in the fullvariety of characters portrayed by Hemingway, including in his femalecharacters. Contemporary critics are now exploring Hemingway'srepresentation of nature, identity, and sense of place, as well as his handlingof issues of race, gender, and sexual identity. The legacy of ErnestHemingway is going to be forever in the minds of his readers.February 23,2009

Seventh Week

In Our Time

is the piece of writing that made Ernest Hemingway famous. He publishedthis collection of short stories for the first time in 1925, to much praise. The collection revealedHemingway's writing style, which was completely different from the florid, extravagant style of writing than preceded him.

In Our Time,

like all of Hemingway's writing, uses simple,declarative sentences with little or no description of emotion. Yet, through this spare style,Hemingway was able to weave powerful and moving stories. This new use of language countedas one of the major developments in modernist literature. The themes that Hemingwayhighlighted finally captured the spirit of the Great War. In the collection, he writes aboutmasculinity (often in connection with battling and sport), relationships between men and women, bonding between members of the same sex, love, development and adaptation, maturity, andresponsibility

March 2. 2009

Eight Week

Another result of this enduring interest is that many new aspects of Hemingway’s life andworks that were previously obscured by his public image have now emerged into the light. Onthe other hand, posthumously published novels, such as

Islands in the Stream

in nineteen seventyand

The Garden of Eden

in nineteen eighty six, have disappointed many of the old Hemingwayreaders. However, rather than bearing witness to declining literary power, (which, consideringthe author’s declining health would, indeed, be a rather trivial observation even if it were true)the late works confront us with a reappraisal and reconsideration of basic values. They alsodisplay an unbiased seeking and experimentation, as if the author was losing both his directionand his footing, or was becoming unrestrained in a new way. Just as modern Hemingwayscholarship has added immensely to the depth of our understanding of Hemingway.March 8, 2009

Ninth Week

Ernest Hemingway’s background as a wounded veteran of World War I, as an engagedcombatant in the fight against Fascism/Nazism, and as a “he-man” with a passion for outdoor adventures and other manly pursuits reinforce this association. But this identification of Hemingway as a uniquely American genius is problematic. Although three of his major novelsare told by and/or through American men, Hemingway’s protagonists are expatriates, and hisfictional settings are in France, Italy, Spain, and later Cuba, rather than America itself. WhileHemingway’s early career benefited from his connections with Fitzgerald and (more so) withAmerican novelist Sherwood Anderson, his aesthetic is actually closer to that shared by thetransplanted American poets that he met in Paris during the 1920s; T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and,most crucially, Gertrude Stein.March 16,2009

Tenth Week

"Cat in the rain", written by Ernest Hemingway, presents a couple who lost their lastspark of love. I will show the loneliness of the woman, her attraction for another man, and try tointerpret her desires. From the beginning of the text, a lot of spatial boundaries are drawn. These boundaries ultimately evoke a claustrophobic sense of isolation, especially for the American