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{{DISPLAYTITLE:<span style="font-size:22px;">{{BASEPAGENAME}}/</span>Looking at the Past: Nostalgia as Technique in ''The Naked and the Dead'' and ''For Whom the Bell Tolls''}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:<span style="font-size:22px;">{{BASEPAGENAME}}/</span>Looking at the Past: Nostalgia as Technique in ''The Naked and the Dead'' and ''For Whom the Bell Tolls''}}
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{{byline|last=Batchelor|first=Bob|abstract=An examination of nostalgia as technique in ''The Naked and the Dead'' and ''For Whom the Bell Tolls|For Whom the Bell Tolls]]''. |url=http://prmlr.us/mr04bat}}
{{byline|last=Batchelor|first=Bob|abstract=Nostalgia is a contested word that evokes numerous, often conflicting, definitions, but most often implies a simplistic, romantic look at the past. Nostalgia is a central component in enabling individuals to create worldviews, while also discovering ways to maneuver within society. From this viewpoint, nostalgia can enlighten and provide nuance as one interprets the past. Norman Mailer and Ernest Hemingway use nostalgia in ''The Naked and the Dead'' and ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' as a literary technique to add additional interpretive layers to their fiction. These authors expand on the term and demonstrate its potential in advancing historical insight. |url=http://prmlr.us/mr04bat}}
{{cquote|A great writer always goes to the root, he is always coming up with the contradictions, the impasses, the insoluble dilemmas of the particular time he lives in. The result is not to cement society but to question it and destroy it.|author=Norman Mailer{{sfn|Breit|1951|p=20}} }}
{{dc|dc=B|reit quotes Mailer in ''The New York Times'' in 1951}}: “A great writer always goes to the root, he is always coming up with the contradictions, the impasses, the insoluble dilemmas of the particular time he lives in. The result is not to cement society but to question it and destroy it.”{{sfn|Breit|1951|p=20}}
{{dc|dc=B|reit quotes Mailer in ''The New York Times'' in 1951}}: “A great writer always goes to the root, he is always coming up with the contradictions, the impasses, the insoluble dilemmas of the particular time he lives in. The result is not to cement society but to question it and destroy it.”{{sfn|Breit|1951|p=20}}


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nostalgia as a silly distraction, particularly in contrast to the more difficult work of understanding the authentic past. Yet, what Mailer and Hemingway demonstrate is that nostalgia can be used, even with a touch of sentimentality, to add additional interpretive layers to fiction. Taking nostalgia seriously, the authors expand on the term and demonstrate its potential in advancing historical insight.
nostalgia as a silly distraction, particularly in contrast to the more difficult work of understanding the authentic past. Yet, what Mailer and Hemingway demonstrate is that nostalgia can be used, even with a touch of sentimentality, to add additional interpretive layers to fiction. Taking nostalgia seriously, the authors expand on the term and demonstrate its potential in advancing historical insight.


=Mailer Enters “The Time Machine”=
==Mailer Enters “The Time Machine”==
Boldly declared “the best novel yet about World War II” by Time magazine,
Boldly declared “the best novel yet about World War II” by ''Time'' magazine,
The Naked and the Dead launched Mailer’s career.{{sfn|"War"|1948|}} At twenty-five, the author stood atop the literary world, with fame and wealth at his side. The enduring power of the book, however, is its exploration beyond the traditional scope of the war novel. Rather than cast the battle as simply one of good versus evil, Mailer penetrates deeply into issues at humanity’s core. He showcases both the horror and humor of war, wadding it into a single existential romp through the jungles of tiny Pacific island Anopopei.
''The Naked and the Dead'' launched Mailer’s career.{{sfn|War|1948|}} At twenty-five, the author stood atop the literary world, with fame and wealth at his side. The enduring power of the book, however, is its exploration beyond the traditional scope of the war novel. Rather than cast the battle as simply one of good versus evil, Mailer penetrates deeply into issues at humanity’s core. He showcases both the horror and humor of war, wadding it into a single existential romp through the jungles of tiny Pacific island Anopopei.


One of the interesting techniques Mailer uses in exploring the lives of the men fighting on the island is a device he calls “The Time Machine,” which takes the reader to events in the men’s lives before their service. While ''Time'' off handedly labeled these simply “flashbacks” and likened them to John Dos Passos’ use of realistic snapshots in the U.S.A. trilogy, Mailer’s portraits are not toss-off pieces, but instead provide information central to the overall tone and interpretation of the novel.{{sfn|"War"|1948|}}
One of the interesting techniques Mailer uses in exploring the lives of the men fighting on the island is a device he calls “The Time Machine,” which takes the reader to events in the men’s lives before their service. While ''Time'' off handedly labeled these simply “flashbacks” and likened them to John Dos Passos’ use of realistic snapshots in the U.S.A. trilogy, Mailer’s portraits are not toss-off pieces, but instead provide information central to the overall tone and interpretation of the novel.{{sfn|War|1948|}}


In the ten stories that comprise “The Time Machine,” Mailer offers the
In the ten stories that comprise “The Time Machine,” Mailer offers the
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weaker and the things still stood.”{{sfn|Mailer|1948|p=353}} A scion of the Midwest with unlimited resources, he is nonetheless beaten. In his defeat, he becomes part of the institution that he flailed against.
weaker and the things still stood.”{{sfn|Mailer|1948|p=353}} A scion of the Midwest with unlimited resources, he is nonetheless beaten. In his defeat, he becomes part of the institution that he flailed against.


=Authenticity Versus Nostalgia in Hemingway=
==Authenticity Versus Nostalgia in Hemingway==
''For Whom the Bell Tolls'', Hemingway’s tale of guerrilla warfare in the Spanish mountains as seen through the eyes of American professor Robert Jordan, according to Michael K. Solow, “can be read as an indictment of war, corrupt politics, and flawed humanity.”{{sfn|Solow|2009|p=1166}} The novel is also a study in details, as Jordan lives among Pablo’s bandits, falls in love with Maria/Rabbit, and prepares to blow up the bridge, which he concedes is a suicide mission.
''For Whom the Bell Tolls'', Hemingway’s tale of guerrilla warfare in the Spanish mountains as seen through the eyes of American professor Robert Jordan, according to Michael K. Solow, “can be read as an indictment of war, corrupt politics, and flawed humanity.”{{sfn|Solow|2009|p=1166}} The novel is also a study in details, as Jordan lives among Pablo’s bandits, falls in love with Maria/Rabbit, and prepares to blow up the bridge, which he concedes is a suicide mission.


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* {{cite journal |last=Solow |first=Michael |date=2009 |title=A Clash of Certainties, Old and New: ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' and the Inner War of Ernest Hemingway| | journal=Journal of American Studies |volume='''29''''' |issue=1 |pages=103–122. Print. }}
* {{cite journal |last=Solow |first=Michael |date=2009 |title=A Clash of Certainties, Old and New: ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' and the Inner War of Ernest Hemingway| | journal=Journal of American Studies |volume='''29''''' |issue=1 |pages=103–122. Print. }}
* {{cite book |last=Sprengler |first=Christine |date=2009 |title=Screening Nostalgia: Populuxe Props and Technicolor Aesthetics in Contemporary American Film. ''New York: Berghahn Books.  |location=Print }}
* {{cite book |last=Sprengler |first=Christine |date=2009 |title=Screening Nostalgia: Populuxe Props and Technicolor Aesthetics in Contemporary American Film. ''New York: Berghahn Books.  |location=Print }}
* {{cite journal |date= |title=War & No Peace | journal=''Rev. of'' The Naked and The Dead, ''by Norman Mailer. Time. ''Time Inc.'', 10 May 1948. Web. 30 March 2010. www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,804699,00. }}
* {{cite magazine |author=<!--staff--> |date={{date|1948-05-10}} |title=War & No Peace. ''Rev. of'' The Naked and The Dead, ''by Norman Mailer |url=https://normanmailer.us/war-no-peace-8ab28be074b2 |magazine=Time |pages= |access-date=2025-04-12 |ref={{SfnRef|War|1948}} }}
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{{Review}}
{{Review}}
[[Category:Articles (MR)]]
[[Category:Articles (MR)]]
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