DREAMS AND REALITY IN EARLY SHORT FICTION BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY: GENDER ASPECT

Nurieva N.S.; Savina T.T.; Chebotareva E.S.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18454/RULB.2020.23.3.34

МЕЧТЫ И РЕАЛЬНОСТЬ В РАННИХ РАССКАЗАХ ЭРНЕСТА ХЕМИНГУЭЯ: ГЕНДЕРНЫЙ АСПЕКТ

Научная статья

Нуриева Н.С.1 *, Савина Т.Т.2, Чеботарева Е.С.3

1 2. 3 МГТУ им. Н. Э. Баумана, Москва, Россия

* Корреспондирующий автор (nsnurieva[at]bmstu.ru)

Аннотация

В данной статье рассматриваются социальные вопросы, затронутые в раннем творчестве американского писателя Эрнеста Хемингуэя. Основу анализа составляют рассказы "Кошка под дождем" и "Белые слоны". Целью работы является лингво-стилистический анализ художественной экспликации гендерных отношений. Изучение подтекста, как основного авторского приема, показало, что гендерные отношения характеризуются неравенством партнеров, которое негативно сказывается на существовании семьи как социальной основы общества.

Ключевые слова: короткий рассказ, подтекст, художественная экспликация, гендер, семья.

DREAMS AND REALITY IN EARLY SHORT FICTION BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY: GENDER ASPECT

Research article

Nurieva N.S.1 *, Savina T.T.2, Chebotareva E.S.3

1 2 3 N.E. Bauman Moscow state Technical University, Moscow, Russia

* Corresponding author (nsnurieva[at]bmstu.ru)

Abstract

The article is devoted to social aspects touched by Ernest Hemingway in his early works. The basis of the literary analysis is made by the short stories Cat in the Rain and Hills Like White Elephants. The purpose of the paper is to study an artistic explication of gender relationships. The discussion of the understatement technique used by the writer has shown that these relations are characterized by inequality of partners, thus negatively affecting the conversion of loose ties into a family as the basic unit of a society.

Keywords: short story, understatement, artistic explication, gender, family.

Introduction

The appearance of this article can be explained by the sustainable interest in the personality of Ernest Hemingway (18991961) and his literary heritage. There are many studies of Russian and foreign researchers (M. Chertanov, I. L. Finkelstein, B. T. Gribanov, I. A. Kashkin, J. De Falco, S. Donaldson, J. Sherrod, N.W. Sindelar, K. Singer, E. F. Stanton, D. E. Wylder) that discuss issues of certain historical and social aspects of the writer's fiction. The unquenchable interest in the issue of gender relations is shown in various fields of knowledge, such as literature, philosophy, sociology and gender linguistics.

Today, an urgent topic of research is the study of texts that demonstrate various approaches to gender analysis to detect gender stereotypes and asymmetries. A large layer of text sources is presented by fiction literature, which is regarded as the source for determining the elements of conceptualization of the gender component in the artistic picture of the world, since a text is a significant translator of a particular linguistic culture being studied [6], [9], [11], [12], [13]. The material of the characters' image is used to analyze the gender mental organization and the behavior of male and female representatives from the point of view of the cultural approach.

The purpose of the paper is to study the artistic expression of gender relations in the author's early fiction discourse, which presents a communicative phenomenon formed by language means in its transfer of social context. The paper is based upon the theory of stylistic and text analysis by such outstanding Russian scholars as I.V. Arnold, I.R. Gal'perin, A.N. Vasil'eva, Yu. M. Lotman, and K.R. Novozhilova. The work was motivated by an effort to develop a comprehensive and universal approach to integrate the findings of the above-mentioned literary critics and linguists so that we might build up the linguo-psychological portraits as an applied way of text interpretation.

The research dwells on Hemingway's method of revealing the context of relationships between a man and a woman as a condition for their further positive or negative conversion into a family union. The empirical material of the study is made of two stories, written in an early period of the author's literary background. Those stories are Cat in the Rain (1925) and Hills Like White Elephants (1927). The gender issues will be considered in the novelist's worldview perspective in regards to their relation to other concepts that are important for humanity, in general.

Discussion

Most of the story plots are drawn by the author from a series of life pictures of real prototypes [8]. Finkelstein asserts that "Hemingway repeatedly argued that the most important duty of a writer is to tell the truth...he thought a contributor should keep to the highest truth and create fiction based on facts" (here and moving forward, the quotes are translated by the research authors) [5, P. 57]. The life, as the novelist saw it, was later embodied in his prose, as was exposing social challenges and romance relations.

Gender themes defined an internal dynamic of different meanings in the litterateur's early works, which helped to create new images [7]. The techniques of a careful character depiction used in early prose influenced the work of a mature litterateur. That development was manifested in his later novels, The Sun Also Rises (Fiesta) and A Farewell to Arms, which describe Hemingway's vision of a lost generation destiny.

The textbook story, Cat in the Rain, was first published in the In our Time (1925) collection. It tells about a married couple staying in an Italian hotel. A long passage at the beginning of the story is abundant in the lexemes and word phrases of the rain theme, as seen from the following passage:

Italians came from a long way off to look up at the war monument. It was made of bronze and glistened in the rain. It was raining. The rain dripped _ from the palm trees. Water stood in pools on the gravel paths. The sea_ broke in a long line in the rain and slipped back down the beach to come up and break again in a long line in the rain [10, P. 345].

This description, being an example of E. Hemingway's ring frame way of writing, symbolizes the brewing crisis in the relationship of the couple and emphasizes the growing hopelessness of their feelings. Through this technique, as well as with other images (like the metonymy under one of the dripping green tables), the writer "addresses the external manifestations of complex psychological states through the understatement or hint of a key phrase" [2, P. 64].

The artistic repetition of the grammatical core of a sentence is of great importance for transmitting the understatement; i.e., the subtext of the literature works. Numerous repetitions of the subject-predicate I want throughout the story reveal implicit information about the discrepancy between the wife's dreams and reality.

'Oh, I wanted it so much,' she said. 'I don't know why I wanted it so much. I wanted that poor kitty' [10, P. 347].

'I want to pull my hair back tight and smooth..., " she said. "I want to have a kitty to sit on my lap... ' [10, P. 347].

'And I want to eat at a table with my own silver and I want candles. And I want it to be spring and I want to brush my hair... and I want a kitty and I want some new clothes' [10, P. 348].

Thus, K. R. Novozhilova accentuates that the repetition of a word or an expression in a new section of the text "creates an increment of meaning...of that word and expression...and serves to form implicit subject-logical information" [3, P. 83]. The American wife is waiting for a conversation with her husband, but he is not ready for it. The cat might have been the symbol of the woman's loneliness caused by the fact that her partner was incapable of understanding her feelings.

It is notable that the heroine had no name, but the author gave the name George to the male hero. This means that he was superior in that family. At the beginning of the narration, the man was rather polite, and he held the dialogue with his wife. Later on, he disguised himself and became more indifferent and even somewhat rude toward her. While the husband was nonchalant, the wife had a lot of wishes for their future and wanted to make some changes in order to have their own home with all the necessary things.

The reader could deduce that the author had a concern because of the lack of communication between these two people. Due to this fact, the couple misunderstood each other, as they were not as spiritually close a couple should be. This could be a result of the war, which affected human communication.

Other images of the narration can be considered as symbols that define certain shades of meaning transmitted by the author. The monument is a reminder of the war that ended. This image also creates a certain emotional atmosphere, and the reader can understand that the characters of the story are harbingers of the lost generation. The owner of the hotel is a stranger, but the description of his sentiment gives an additional stylistic function in understanding the woman's feelings.

The wife liked him. She likes the deadly serious way he received any complaints. She liked his dignity. She liked the way he wanted to serve her. She liked the way he felt about being a hotel-keeper. She liked his old, heavy face and big hands [10, P.346].

The parallel construction, in combination with the climax, increases the importance of the character drawing and makes a contrast between the husband and the hotel owner. This example conveys the writer's condemnation. It shows the negative nature of the heroine's situation, the disorder in her private life.

Hemingway puts a key phrase in the title that encapsulates the meaning of the work. The name is symbolic, because the woman feels as if she were a cat in the rain. Like a kitten, she is defenseless and weak. She dreams of everything that is associated with home: warmth, comfort, a sense of security and well-being.

The story, Hills Like White Elephants, was one of the best in the collection called Men Without Women (1927). It is outwardly static with no events, but it is a deep psychological drama. A young man and a woman are waiting for the train from Barcelona to Madrid at a small station near the mouth of the Ebro River. The station happens to be a crossroads between the present and the future for the heroes. The subject of a psychologically complex conversation between the heroine, Jig, and her companion is the termination of pregnancy. A woman's desire for happiness collides with the selfishness of man. Phraseology used by the author for the heading encapsulates the characters' worldview. The idiom transmits the meaning of the prose and personifies the antithesis of the inner desires of men and women.

The antithesis "intensifies emotionally-psychological impact on a reader by creating an opposition which leads to information increment" [4, P. 65]. Thus, for Jig, a dream of a child is a dream of happiness, home, love, family ties, and all that is the main value for a woman. For her companion, a child is an undesirable matter, something that violates his routine life, a possible rejection of his personal plans. A multi-faceted image of hills resembling white elephants reveals a fine line of Jig's receptive nature, which is incomprehensible to her lover. The critical irony of the author is that the alleged child cannot be a reason to restrict the man's freedom, but on the contrary, it may become their wealth.

I. V. Arnold paid great attention to the study of the author's speech, which allows the reader to establish the author's vision of reality and the assessment of the problems stated in the fiction work [1, P.240]. The analysis of the author's speech in this story shows what features the characters possess. The majority of his descriptions show tension, tiredness, despair; i.e., the girl's inner discomfort during the conversation: the girl was looking off at the line of hills [10, P. 403]; the girl looked at the bead curtain (P.403); the girl looked across at the hills (P.404); the girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on (P.404); the girl looked at the bead curtain, put her hand and took hold of two of the strings of beads (P.404); the girl didn't say anything (P.404).

The description of negative connotation in the girl's way of handling the conversation with her partner is contrasted by the positive connotation in nature's description.

The girl stood up and walked to the end of the station. Across, on the other side, were fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro. Far away, beyond the river, were mountains. The shadow of a cloud moved across the field of grain and she saw the river through the trees [10, P. 405].

This example of the author's speech may be considered as the climax point of the story. It conveys the transition in the girls' feelings, her positive decision to have a baby and become really happy. Thus, the author's speech gives us evidence to realize that the main characters have a conflict that cannot be settled.

Now, we will turn to the character's direct speech, in which we can also observe the conflict growing between the characters. Their phrases are abrupt and non-emotional. The conversation at the start of the story circles around the non-important subject (drinks) and suddenly comes to the turning point.

'It tastes like liquorice,' the girl said and put the glass down.

'That's the way with everything.'

'Yes,' said the girl. 'Everything tastes with liquorice. Especially all the things you've waited so long for, like absinthe.'

'Oh, cut it out.' [10, P.403].

The transposition of meaning of bitter herbs into the girl's current situation shows its bitterness and the girl's pain, but this only irritates her partner. The man is indifferent. He is mostly concerned with persuading the girl into the action she doesn't want: wouldn't mind it; it's really not anything; I know lots of people that have done it [10, P.404]. He makes an effort to be considerate and loving, which is transferred by the repetition of the words happy, fine afterward, all right [10, P.404]. Their controversy about a future happy life expressed by the repetition of we can have everything on the part of the man and we can't on the part of the girl [10, P.404] leads her to the breakdown:

'Would you please please please please please please please stop talking' [10, P.406].

The unwillingness of the girl's partner to understand the advantages of natural life processes is regarded by the writer as an egocentricity that has not been awakened to its present awareness. In the art mode of the author, an individual whose ego has not gone beyond its lowest level is characterized as a person who possesses a certainly adolescent way of thinking, and their egoism is explained by emotional and spiritual damage. Hemingway sympathizes with the girl, he and supports her decision to separate from the man to become really happy.

'I feel fine,' she said. 'There's nothing wrong with me. I feel fine' [10, p.407].

Results

The given analysis helps show the gender-relevant male characters who exhibit negative sides of behavior, such as irresponsibility and indifference. The male heroes are immersed in vanity for having subordinated their lives to the insignificant goals of transitory meaning. The paradox of the situation is that, in trying to assert their identity, they actually lose it, falling into the power of stereotyped false values. This quality of their experience becomes apparent, and the reader comes to understand that they are incapable of experiencing feelings caused by the real world. Being "a man of courage" himself, the author condemns such attitudes and explains it as a result of internal ego-maturity deficit, which interferes with synchronicity between an individual and a social context [14].

Conclusion

In the works by Ernest Hemingway, we observe the universal principle of interaction of several semantic contexts. Short fiction by the world-famous writer is vital for literary tradition because of the author's fragmentary style of writing. Thus, the description of the love-family affairs is combined with structures that convey deep emotional issues and that demonstrate that Hemingway remains a novelist of a tragic worldview. The author's message is to show the priority of family values both for private happiness of an individual and for the prosperity of society. The depiction of love due to its humanistic and artistic significance in the writer's early fiction, no less than in his later works, is characterized by the challenge to create psychological and romantic prose.

Конфликт интересов Conflict of Interest

Не указан. None declared.

Список литературы / References

1. Арнольд И.В. Стилистика современного английского языка / И.В. Арнольд. - Л.: «Просвещение», 1973. - 300

с.

2. Кашкин И.А. Эрнест Хемингуэй: критико-биографический очерк / И.А. Кашкин. - М.: Художественная литература, 1966. - 297 p.

3. Новожилова К.Р. Стилистика повествовательного текста: теоретические и исторические основы / К.Р. Новожилова. - Санкт-Петербург: изд-во СПбГУ, 2007. - 100 с.

4. Нуриева Н.С. Экспрессия художественной речи в гендерном аспекте на материале американской короткой прозы / Н.С. Нуриева //Вестник Пятигорского государственного университета. - 2018. - №1. - С. 63-67.

5. Финкельштейн И.Л. Хемингуэй - романист. Годы 20-е и 30-е. / И.Л. Финкельштейн. - М.: ИФ «Унисерв», 2018. 224с.

6. Al-Ajmi N. Choice and Fate in 'Fellow-Townsmen' and 'an Imaginative Woman'// International Journal of Language and Literature. № 6(2). P. 157-162.

7. Combey, N.R. Hemingway's Genders: Rereading the Hemingway text / N.R. Combey, R. Scholes. - London: New Haven, 1994. - 159 p.

8. DeFalco, J. The hero in Hemingway's short stories / J. DeFalco. - New York: University of Pittsburgh press, 1963. -226 p.

9. Hamendi N. Virtue between Gender and Monetary Perceptions: A Study of Henry James' Daisy Miller and Dreiser's Sister Carrie / N. Hamendi // International Journal of Language and Literature. - 2019. - № 7(1). - P. 108-113.

10. Hemingway E. The essential Hemingway / E. Hemingway. - London: Arrow Books, 2004. - 506 p.

11. Imtiaz M. Marriage and the Exploitation of Women: A Case-Study of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath / M. Imtiaz , M. Asif Khan, A. Shaheen // International Journal of Language and Literature. - 2019. - 7(2). - P. 50-54.

12. Ogunyemi С. The Configuration of Gender and Identity in Nigerian Literature / C. Ogunyemi // International Journal of Gender and Women's Studies. - 2014. - 2(2). - P. 43-59.

13. Shaikh M.S. Constructing Gender Identities in Discourse: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Two Short Stories / M.S. Shaikh, U. Khan // American International Journal of Contemporary Research. - 2012. - 2(3). - P. 153-160.

14. Singer K. Earnest Hemingway, Man of Courage / K. Singer, J. Sherrod. - Minneapolis: Denison, 1963. - 200 p.

Список литературы на английском / References in English

1. Arnold I.V. Stilistika sovremennogo anglijskogo yazyka [Stylistics of modern English] / I.V.Arnold. - Leningrad: Prosveshhenie, 1973. - 300 p. [In Russian]

2. Kashkin I.A. Jernest Hemingujej: kritiko-biograficheskij ocherk [Earnest Hemingway: critical and biographical sketch] / I. A. Kashkin. - Moscow: Hudozhestvennaja literatura, 1966. - 297 p. [In Russian]

3. Novozhilova K.R. Stilistika povestvovatel'nogo teksta: teoreticheskie i istoricheskie osnovy [Stylistics of the narrative text: theoretical and historical basics] / K. R. Novozhilova. - St. Petersburg: SPbGU, 2007. - 100 p. [In Russian]

4. Nurieva N.S. Jekspressija hudozhestvennoj rechi v gendernom aspekte na materiale amerikanskoj korotkoj prozy [Language expressiveness for gender identity in the American short prose] / N. S. Nurieva // Vestnik Pjatigorskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Pjatigorsk Federal University Bulletin] - 2018. - №1. - P. 63-67. [In Russian]

5. Finkel'shtejn I.L. Hemingujej - romanist. Gody 20-e i 30-e [Hemingway - a novelist. The years of 20-s and 30-s] / I. L. Finkel'shtejn. - Moscow: IF "Uniserv", 2018. - 224 p. [In Russian]