Ernest Hemingway
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Based On (A Work By) Ernest Hemingway: The Author as Fictionalized Celebrity By Timothy Penner A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba In partial fulfilment of the requirements of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of English, Theatre, Film & Media University of Manitoba Winnipeg Copyright © 2020 by Timothy Penner ii ABSTRACT Ernest Hemingway – bestselling author, journalist, winner of the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes for literature – is a famous person; however, like so many famous people, Hemingway’s celebrity allure is derived from much more than his work. It is for this reason that today Hemingway is better known for his associations with macho pursuits like fishing, big game hunting, bullfighting, war, and womanizing, and as a spokesperson for an amorphous lifestyle brand based on authenticity and nostalgia for some imagined golden age of masculinity. The aim of this dissertation is to trace the influence cinema, and later television, have had on the development of Hemingway’s celebrity persona as it changed from scrappy literary modernist to near-mythological figure. By employing the insights of celebrity studies, this study explores the ways Hollywood continually drew from both Hemingway’s work and life as it attempted to translate something of his charismatic personal appeal to the screen. As the twentieth century progressed, adaptations became central to what Richard Dyer would call Hemingway’s “structured polysemy.” Films like The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man, for instance, saw a blurring of the lines between Hemingway’s literature and his life that meant that the narratives were as much about him as they were adaptations of his stories. In the years since his death, a number of movies and TV series have dramatized Hemingway as a character. In these media texts, Hemingway appears as a pugnacious, and adventurous exemplar of masculinity rather than as a hard-working creative writer. Midnight in Paris (2011) has, in particular, established an influential image of Hemingway, one that is part of a continuum of characterizations. The result of these characterizations is that over time, Hemingway has become a fictionalized celebrity, what I call a fictocel. Aided by the processes of cinema and television appropriation and adaptation, the Hemingway fictocel, I argue, eventually replaces the historical person and author in the popular imagination. iii Acknowledgements Although this project has only my name as author, its completion would have been impossible without the generous support of a number of people. First and foremost, I must thank my advisor Dr. Brenda Austin-Smith whose wise advice, academic guidance, seemingly bottomless well of patience through many, many, many drafts, and impeccable ability to encourage and challenge my ideas are the reason this dissertation exists today. I would also like to thank Dr. George Toles for his honesty when my work needed improvement, and for the generous encouragement that drove me to make it better. As well, I want to thank Dr. Sarah Elvins and Dr. Michael Nowlin for their insightful and constructive recommendations, and for the challenging questions that pushed me to think in different ways. I would also like to acknowledge the support staff and faculty of the Department of English, Theatre, Film & Media, especially Ms. Anita King, who never failed to offer advice and solve problems related to the everyday challenges of graduate school, for myself and countless others; and to Dr. Lucas Tromly whose encouragement through each phase of the PhD program, and his friendship has meant so much. See you at IKEA, Luke! I also want to thank FGS, GSA, the Faculty of Arts, The Affect Project, and The Hemingway Society for their generous financial support. Thanks, as well, to my friends and family for their support and encouragement, and for actually listening and caring when I would reply to that not always welcomed inquiry: “How’s your thesis going?” Finally, none of this would be possible without the love and support of Katherine Penner, my partner in every sense of the word. Her dedication to our family has meant that she has done more than her fair share in raising our children these past few years, even as she has continued to do great things in her own career. iv For Atticus and Rosalita A man alone ain’t got no chance v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ v List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ vi Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Selling Hemingway on Screen ...................................................................................................... 29 Chapter 2: Cinematic Constructions of the Hemingway Persona .................................................................. 91 Chapter 3: Putting the Prestige in the Pictures ............................................................................................. 130 Chapter 4: The Rise of the Fictocel .............................................................................................................. 176 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 235 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................ 244 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 ...................................................................................................................................... 29 Figure 1.2 Figure 1.3 ...... .….. ........................................................................................................................ 36 Figure 1.4 ...................................................................................................................................... 71 Figure 1.5 ...................................................................................................................................... 78 Figure 1.6 Figure 1.7 Figure 1.8 ...... …. .......................................................................................................................... 81 Figure 1.9 ...................................................................................................................................... 82 Figure 1.10 .................................................................................................................................... 83 Figure 3.1 .................................................................................................................................... 164 Figure 3.2 Figure 3.3 ...... … ......................................................................................................................... 166 Figure 3.4 .................................................................................................................................... 171 Figure 4.1 Figure 4.2 ...... … ......................................................................................................................... 227 1 Introduction In March of 1957 Ernest Hemingway sat to have his portrait taken by famed photographer Yousuf Karsh. The stunning photograph that resulted remains, in a perfect monochromatic luminosity, the definitive image of the author in late middle age. The lower half of his weathered face – liver spotted, wrinkled, and on full display via the perfectly placed lighting and the unerring lens – is framed by the white tufts of his Moses-like beard. A knitted pattern runs along the thick collar of the Christian Dior turtleneck sweater that has become a nearly metonymic item for the author. Below his thinning hair, carefully combed over the bald patches, we can see a protruding mound near his hairline, a lipoma that developed after an unfortunate run in with a skylight some thirty years prior. The lines in Hemingway’s forehead run deep and seem to bow toward his broken nose, directing our view down to his eyes. It is these eyes – pitch black save the slightest glimmer of light in the upper corners, looking past the camera to some unknown horizon, appearing as weary as they are searching – that force a continual re-consideration of this image. Is this face, as the tightly closed lips would attest, the face of resolute genius, firm in his footing no matter the situation? Is this face, as the weathered skin would tell us, the face of an exhausted old man, his body run down by a life lived too hard? Or is this the face, as his enigmatic gaze would suggest, the face of a sojourner, aware that the end of his journey is nearing, but resolute in his desire to see more, know more, and tell more? The inscrutability is part of the reason this photograph remains iconic and emblematic of its subject. This photograph is fundamental to the Hemingway myth, the legacy that has been passed down through various stakeholders – both well-wishers and vicious