English 382 Hemingway and His Heirs

T 3-4:50

Dean Flower

The poweful influence of Ernest Hemingway's fiction on contemporary writers prompts the inquiry of this seminar. What is there about Hemingway's innovative style or obsessive themes or mythologized persona that generates such a strong, sometimes hostile but always productive reactions? In the first eight weeks we will study Hemingway's early achievement: the emergence of his style, problems of masculinity and gender, obsessions with war, love and death, and his treatment of marriage and identity. Biographical interpretation will come into play as the discussion moves into Hemingway's later career, when the "Papa Hemingway" persona emerged. In the latter stages of the seminar we will read a series of contemporary works - by such writers as Raymond Carver, Annie Proulx, Cormac McCarthy and Ann Beattie - who have been deeply influenced by Hemingway. The final essay will be an exploration of some facet of the seminar's theme, involving one recent writer's work.

Probable works: Hemingway

In Our Time

The Sun also Rises

A Farewell to Arms

The Complete Short Stories

The Old Man and the Sea

By-Line Ernest Hemingway: Articles and Dispatches

The Garden of Eden

Heirs:

Raymond Carver

Cormac McCarthy

Ann Beattie

Annie Proulx