Hemingway once put forward in Death in the Afternoon: "If an essayist knows what he wants to write, then he can omit what he wants to write."
What readers know, as long as the author writes it truly, will strongly feel what he has missed, as if the author has written it already. Iceberg in
The movement in the sea is spectacular, because only one-eighth is on the water. [1](P79) This is Hemingway's famous iceberg theory.
With regard to Hemingway's iceberg theory, researchers have noticed Hemingway's literary style and think that Hemingway worked as a journalist in his early years.
After practicing concise and capable writing style, he advocated concise telegraph writing style after writing novels. Hemingway's use of novels
The most commonly used words and everyday expressions have abandoned function words. Hemingway's Nobel Prize acceptance speech is "because he is proficient in modern narrative art,
Outstanding performance in his recent work "The Old Man and the Sea" is also due to his influence on modern style. In this way, Hemingway's "iceberg theory" also
It becomes a theory about stylistics. When explaining the iceberg theory, people pay more attention to Hemingway's stylistic features called "telegraph style"
Point to demonstrate. Therefore, "telegraph" and "iceberg theory" are often confused.
The famous British critic Herr O Bates gave Hemingway a unique and accurate evaluation. He thinks Hemingway is a man with an axe.
Try to cut off all obstacles that block the reader's sight, cut off leaves that do not represent the tree itself, and give the reader a refreshing face of basic branches. such
We can shorten the distance between the author, the reader and the object of description to the minimum, and think that this style "caused a literary revolution" [2](P 1
32)。 The author believes that Hemingway's "iceberg theory" caused the literary revolution, or the most important contribution to novel creation, is not in his works.
Style, but because he boldly hid the most important part of the original novel underwater, that is, the "July 8" part. This text
Mainly from Hemingway's short story creation, to talk about what Hemingway is hiding.
First, Hemingway hides the rich emotional world of the characters.
The primary task of literary works is to express the emotional world of characters. It should be said that the whole history of western literature is a history of spiritual development.
Writers have always regarded revealing the rich inner world of the protagonist and expressing the thoughts and feelings of the characters as their primary task. 19th century, writer
Scientists pay more attention to revealing the emotional fluctuations in the characters. Writers often use long strokes to describe the feelings of characters and make psychological descriptions. It can be said,
The main line of Red and Black is Julien's ideological struggle during the restoration of monarchy. The core of Resurrection is nothing more than the expression of Nekhludoff's spiritual confession.
The process of regret; John Christophe is a story about the development of Christophe's soul. It should be said that this is a main theme of literature. And in
In Hemingway's novels, we can see that all this has been reduced to a minimum and even omitted. In Hemingway's creation, it often contains richness.
Subtext, the feelings of the characters, whether they are excited, disappointed, sad, contemptuous, etc. , never exaggerated, almost no psychological description of the reader.
Have the biggest feeling space. The inner feelings of his characters are not spoken by the author, but felt by the readers themselves. This is exactly what Hemingway advocated.
Aesthetic principle: "The function of any literary work lies in arousing some emotion of readers."
Hemingway's works provide readers with a specific environment, thus arousing their "specific emotions" in this environment. So, the sea
Wei Ming's novels often only show the activities of the characters, but not the feelings of the characters in detail. The most important feeling is to let the readers experience it themselves.
In Hemingway's short story The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, Mr. Macomber took his wife to Africa to hunt and hired him.
I bought a local white hunter Wilson to hunt with. When he met a lion, marcom turned and fled, and was captured by his wife and Wilson.
Laughing, and his wife openly cheating Wilson in the evening, made Ma Kangbo suffer great insults, and he tried to prove himself as a "man".
Power. For this psychological process, the author did not make a detailed psychological description, but let his hero suddenly in the hunting activities of the next three people.
There is a kind of confidence.
The wounded bison entered the forest (the most dangerous moment). "Can we go in and get rid of it now?" Ma Kangbo asked eagerly. Wilson
Look at him cautiously. Wilson thought, this is not a strange guy with ghosts. Yesterday, he was frightened; Today, he has become a fearless man.
People who are not afraid of the earth ...
His wife also noticed his change. "You become very brave, and suddenly you become very brave." His wife said contemptuously, but her contempt
Not sure. Ma Kangbo smiled, which is a very natural heartfelt smile. "You know I've changed." He said, "I've really changed." "
Is it a little late? "Margo said regretfully. Because she has done her best in recent years; Now the relationship between them has become
This is not the fault of one person. "It's not too late for me." Ma Kangbo said. [3] (page 42)
Here, the author omits marcom's great pain and the whole struggle process, but every reader is in the relationship between his wife and Will.
After Johnson had an affair, he went through hardships and struggled with him. It was not until Ma Kangbo smiled-a very natural and heartfelt smile-that readers could have fun.
Take a deep breath. The author didn't write the whole process, but the reader did feel it.
Look at The Snow of Kilimanjaro, an excellent short story written by Hemingway in 1930s, which is also the author's most satisfactory. American writer, huh?
Accompanied by his very rich wife, Li went hunting in Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa, and was dying because of accidental injury and infection.
They are waiting for a rescue plane. The whole novel mainly expresses Harry's memories and inner feelings, and adopts the technique of stream of consciousness to combine reality with reality. works
Before the end, Harry's consciousness was flying towards Kilimanjaro. The reader is most concerned about whether Harry is alive or dead, and the author has no truth.
Write, also did not hand over to treat, just shows the feelings of Harry's wife:
..... and then the howling of hyenas woke her up. At that time, she didn't know where she was and was afraid. Then she picked up the flashlight and shone it on another person.
Canvas bed After Harry fell asleep, they moved the bed in. His body was faintly visible under the slats of the mosquito net, but he seemed to stretch his legs.
Come out, she can't bear to see this scene again.
"Moreau," she cried, "Moreau! Moro! "
Then she said, "Harry, Harry!" " "Then she raised her voice." Harry! Please wake up, ah, Harry! "
Without answering, he couldn't hear his breathing.
Outside the tent, the hyenas were still making that strange noise, which woke her up. But because her heart was pounding, she wouldn't listen.
Look at the howling of hyenas.
In fact, Hemingway meant to imply that Harry was dead through the reaction of Harry's wife. However, we didn't see a world map of Where Are You Going?
Tragedy, even we didn't see Harry's wife's sadness. This is exactly what Hemingway has been advocating, and the author omits what readers can perceive.
As we know, the couple came to Africa all the way, healthy and happy, but at this time only Harry's wife stayed in Yuan Ye, Africa.
Then her sadness and pain should be self-evident to the reader. But in the works, Harry's wife's inner feelings are not described, so
Can't readers feel it? Harry's wife's pounding heartbeat drowned out the hyena's howl, and at the same time aroused the reader's perception of the characters' emotions, that is,
It is "arousing readers' specific emotions". This will leave readers a lot of room for imagination and re-creation, and even a lot of regrets, but
This is the charm for whom the bell tolls.
Secondly, Hemingway hides the complex themes in his works.
As a realistic writer in the 20th century, Hemingway has both realistic writers' true descriptions of19th century life and modernist writers in the 20th century.
A tortuous reflection of reality. Therefore, in Hemingway's works, not only the rich emotional world of characters is hidden, but also complex themes are hidden.
Topic ideas.
Some themes in Hemingway's novels are well grasped, such as the snow in Kilimanjaro and the short happy life of Francis Macombo.
Live ",as well as" Indian Camp "and" Undefeated Man ",the theme is relatively distinct; There is also a theme that is relatively hidden and difficult to grasp, such as
Cat in the Rain, Light on Earth, Mountain like a White Elephant, etc. The latter kind of works embodies the iceberg principle advocated by Hemingway from another side.
"。
Cat in the Rain tells the story of an American couple in a hotel. There is almost nothing happening between them and the hotel owner and maid.
Things. Only through a cat can these unrelated people be connected. The couple were bored in the hotel. The husband is reading a book and the wife is looking out of the window.
Looking out, she saw a cat under the window in the rain and tried to catch it, but she didn't catch it and was laughed at by the hotel waiter. After returning to my room, I started chatting with my husband.
The husband kept saying this and that, and the husband finally got impatient. Finally, the hotel owner asked the maid to bring the cat.
There is almost no plot in the novel, and the characters are not typical, so the theme cannot be understood according to the traditional typical understanding. Ours is indeed
There is really no distinct theme in the novel. The uniqueness of Hemingway's creation lies in putting the thoughts and frank contents that should have been expressed by the author,
Omit it, and let the readers experience it for themselves.
At first glance, Hemingway left us nothing in this novel, but he felt that some boring people did a very boring thing.
Chatting and chatting, some stories happened that nothing happened. However, if we look at the background reflected in the novel-Europe after World War I,
Zhou-to think about this problem, especially in combination with Hemingway's main thoughts and emotions in this period, we can realize the problems still existing in the works.
It shows a basic theme of this period: chaotic thoughts and emotions.
We have noticed that Hemingway, who always cherishes ink like gold, used hundreds of words to describe the environment in this novel of less than 3,000 words:
Only two American guests stayed in the hotel. They went in and out of the room, and when they passed the stairs, they didn't know anyone they met along the way.
. Their room is on the second floor facing the sea. The room also faces the park and the war memorial. There are big palm trees and green benches in the park. When the weather is good
You can often see artists with easels. Artists like the growth of palm trees and hotels facing the park and the sea.
A little bright color. Italians came all the way to visit the war memorial. The monument is made of bronze and shines in the rain. It is raining.
Rain dripped from palm trees. There are pools of water on the gravel road. The heavy rain rolled in. The steam stopped in the square next to the monument.
The cars have all left. Opposite the square, a waiter stood at the door of the restaurant and looked at the empty square.
This description seems irrelevant to the story, but it provides us with a very important environment. This special description of the environment is a little understanding.
Said a key. This novel was written in Paris after the First World War. We came all the way from the bronze monument in the park to watch the war.
Italians in the monument can feel the specific atmosphere after the war.
In the novel, we see that there are only two American guests in the hotel. They live in a room facing the beautiful sea. From the room, we can not only
When you see the sea, you can also see the park and see the big palm trees growing well in the park. We can feel the beautiful scenery that artists also like.
And bright colors. In this environmental description, the author provides a pleasing natural environment for readers. However, it really makes people
Is it so relaxed and happy? When we returned to human society, we felt another scene: they bumped into the room "in and out" and stumbled along the way.
They don't know anyone. This makes us feel the real loneliness-the real loneliness is the loneliness in the sea of people.
It is in this lonely atmosphere that we enter the novel. Everyone we see is unhappy. replace
Looking at the waiter in the empty square in front of the restaurant, looking at the cat wife in the rain outside the window, lying on two pillows with high cushions and looking at her husband, there are
An old hotel owner with a dull face, a maid who may be sullen at any time. This series of characters is irrelevant. The wife is in charge of this work.
The incident of catching cats in the rain linked several people together. But we found that there seems to be a communication between the characters in the story by catching cats.
In the past, they were, but in fact, there was a gap between them and they couldn't communicate at all.
When the husband heard that his wife was going to catch the cat, he first offered to go instead of his wife, and then he lay on the "two pillows" and read his book.
. The innkeeper, judging from "his wife likes him", looks fine, but his old and dull face is always "unable to hear any complaints"
When the very serious attitude ",the result is also a professional fallacy. The maid smiled at first, caring for her wife not to get wet in the rain. while
When she heard that his wife was going to catch a cat in the rain, she was very funny, and then she tightened her face. Actually, my wife doesn't have to have a cat. It's here.
Just doing something in the chat. But no one understands her, and she will only feel bored and embarrassed in this behavior. In desperation, she began to talk.
Talking eventually aroused her husband's dissatisfaction and told her to "shut up and find something to see."
The background of this novel is Europe after the First World War. Hemingway has an idea of the thoughts and feelings of American and European youth at this time.
The basic understanding is the "lost" emotion. At the beginning of the war, they listened to the propaganda of "holiness" and "glory", with the passion of young people and
Dream and go to war. However, the war made them see bloody killings, and their beautiful dreams were shattered by reality.
These young people generally realize that they have been cheated in this war, and their life ideals and moral values have been shattered. They are tired of war and appear everywhere.
"Confused" mood. This "confusion" is not because he hates war and becomes conscious anti-war, but because he is depressed, bored and empty.
What to do? Just like Henry in A Farewell to Arms, his basic emotion is not against war, but "nothing to do with me", war.
China people are brave, calm and wise, "but it's none of my business."
Cat in the Rain shows such an idea and emotion. People are in a state of indifference. Everything has nothing to do with me. What happened around them?
It's none of my business. In the work, the wife wants a cat in the rain, but in fact, she is the only person in the work who has hopes for life. However, it is precisely because
Because of her hope, she is a bit out of place in the confused crowd and indifferent environment. Everyone else is watching her out of step coldly.
Because, put her in an awkward position. Especially her husband, doesn't seem to object to her wanting this cat in the rain. From the beginning, he was going to replace it.
You can see it from the plot of the wife catching the cat. But the problem is that the cat-catching incident itself is not important. The important thing is that "it has nothing to do with me now", and my wife is willing to go.
Catch, catch or not, that's her business. The important thing is not to disturb me. So when his wife bothers him, he will tell his wife to "shut up"
"。
In the faint story, the novel shows us the great harm caused by the war to people's hearts, and makes readers deeply feel hidden underwater.
The profound connotation of seven eights.
In Hemingway's other short stories, there are often hidden themes. The Mountain Like a White Elephant mentioned above is a good example.
Introduced the "iceberg principle". The novel tells the story of a couple's conversation while waiting for the bus at the station bar. At first, from their conversation
We can see that there is no gap between young men and women, and they are even friendly. The girl said she wanted to drink beer, and the man immediately asked for two large glasses;
The girl wanted to try fennel mixed with water, and the man immediately asked the bartender to do it. In the following dialogue, we seem to feel the difference between men and women: women always
Looking into the distance, I saw the mountains in the distance like a group of white elephants; Men are more concerned about letting women have surgery. This disagreement only occurs in plain areas.
There seems to be no real contradiction. But after carefully studying the hidden thoughts and feelings between men and women and the hidden themes of the author.
You will find that this kind of conflict is not only a general contradiction, but also a spiritual collision between characters. When a woman looks at the distant mountains, it is actually her heart.
Looking forward to a better life, she has mentioned the mountain like a white elephant to men many times, but men only care about getting rid of the child in a woman's stomach as soon as possible, and don't want to do so.
Children who come into this world in the future take responsibility. Finally, the woman finally understood, "We could have enjoyed all this" and "We could have relaxed".
Comfortable and enjoy everything in life ",but" the world is no longer ours. " Finally, the woman woke up, "'I feel great.
She said,' I have no problem. I feel great. At this time, the reader really feels the theme omitted by the author.
It reveals the despair of young people in life after the war and adopts the attitude of eating, drinking and having fun. This attitude towards life is first reflected in young people.
Yes, but with the "awakening" of young women, this attitude of eating, drinking and enjoying life has been spread and the theme has been further deepened.
Only by finding out the "one-eighth underwater" in Hemingway's literary creation can we deeply understand and grasp the "iceberg principle", not just
It is in the analysis of the writing form that this understanding stopped.