美国文学选读--Lecture 10

• During the Spanish Civil War, Hemingway served as a correspondent on the loyalist side. • He fought in World War II and then settled in Cuba in 1945. • In 1954, Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. • In 1961, he committed suicide by shooting himself because of ill health and mental problems.
• How to live with pain? • How human being live gracefully under pressure?
Hemingway’s Hero
• Code Hero — tough guy
• The Hemingway hero is an average man who lives correctly, following the idea of honor, courage and endurance, in the world that sometimes chaotic, often stressful and always painful. • The spirit of Code Hero: • 1. dignity • 2. courage • 3. persistence • 4. endurance
• Story Collections: • In Our Time (1925) 《在我们的时代里》 • Men without Women (1927) 《没有女人的男人》 • Winner Take Nothing (1933) 《胜利者什么都得不 到》
Hemingway and the Lost Generation
• American poetess Gertrude Stein actually coined the expression “lost generation”. Speaking to Hemingway, she said, “you are all a lost generation.” • This term applied to the disillusioned intellectuals of the years following the WWI, who rebelled against former ideals and values, but could replaced them only by despair or a cynical hedonism. • Hemingway is regarded as the spokesman for the Lost Generation.
Hemingway’s Themes
• Grace under pressure • War and influence of war on people, with scenes connected with hunting, bull fighting which demand stamina and courage, and with the questions:
Works
• Novels:
• • • • The Sun Also Rises (1926) 《太阳照常升起》 A Farewell to Arms (1929) 《永别了，武器》 For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) 《丧钟为谁而鸣》 The Old Man and the Sea (1952) 《老人与海》
The Old Man and The Sea
• One of the themes of the novel is about the honor in struggle, defeat and death. The novel highlights the theme that man can be destroyed but not defeated. It is a representation of life as a struggle against forces in which only a partial victory is possible. • The other theme is about pride as the source of greatness and determination. Santiago embodies Hemingway’s definition of courage as “grFra Baidu bibliotekce under pressure”. He never loses dignity in the face of death. The glory and honor comes not from his battle itself but from his pride and determination to fight.
The Old Man and The Sea
The Old Man and The Sea
old man Santiago no fruit in 84 days the marlin takes the bait 3 days struggle sharks skeleton of the marlin Santiago tough guy grace under pressure destroyed failure the marlin’s skeleton (outer material) • victory not defeated earns the respect (inner spiritual) endurance, determination, confidence, bravery • • • • •
Hemingway’s Style
• • • • simple and natural direct, clear and fresh lean and economical simple, conversational, common found, fundamental words. • e. simple sentences • f. symbolism a. b. c. d.
Hemingway’s Style
• Iceberg principle
• concise language and words deep and complicated thought • Seemingly simple and natural, Hemingway’s style is actually polished and tightly controlled, but highly suggestive and connotative. • While rendering vividly the outward physical events and sensations, Hemingway expresses the meaning of the story and conveys the complex emotions of his characters with a considerable range and astonishing intensity of feeling.
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway（1899-1961） （ ）
• Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois, son of a successful physician. • He worked as a reporter for the Kansas City Star after graduating from high school in 1917. • During World War I he served as an ambulance driver in Italy and in 1918 he was severely wounded in both legs. • After the war, he went to Paris as a foreign reporter, employed by The Toronto Star.