The Mailer Review/Volume 4, 2010/Looking at the Past: Nostalgia as Technique in The Naked and the Dead and For Whom the Bell Tolls: Difference between revisions
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What I call the “nostalgic attraction” or the desire to examine the past through rose-colored lenses has become a vital component of popular culture. The general craving for nostalgia has transformed the idea into a commodity used to advertise, market, and sell products by invoking a return to “the good ole’ days.” The nostalgic idea also drives mass culture. There are | What I call the “nostalgic attraction” or the desire to examine the past through rose-colored lenses has become a vital component of popular culture. The general craving for nostalgia has transformed the idea into a commodity used to advertise, market, and sell products by invoking a return to “the good ole’ days.” The nostalgic idea also drives mass culture. There are | ||
numerous examples of nostalgia assuming a kind of starring role across mediums, from blockbuster films, such as ''Forrest Gump'' or ''Titanic,'' to popular television shows, music, books, and fashion. Nostalgia is also closely associated with certain presidents, such as Ronald Reagan, or with presidential eras, like John F. Kennedy’s Camelot. | numerous examples of nostalgia assuming a kind of starring role across mediums, from blockbuster films, such as ''Forrest Gump'' or ''Titanic,'' to popular television shows, music, books, and fashion. Nostalgia is also closely{{pg|303|304}}associated with certain presidents, such as Ronald Reagan, or with presidential eras, like John F. Kennedy’s Camelot. | ||
Much of nostalgia’s allure is in providing people with a way to explain the past in favorable terms, a kind of self-persuasion or possibly even delusion. According to Linda Charnes, “We cannot, nor would we want to, abandon the important project of understanding how people lived in times before ours—what they experienced in their own cultural present.”{{sfn|Charnes|2009|p=73}} She contends, however, that scholars also need to “acknowledge the inherent limitations of the cognitive framework that continues to organize our ideological relationship to time.”{{sfn|Charnes|2009|p=73}} Since life unfolds in chronological terms, taking measure of past milestones or events seems logical. Yet, when given a fanciful spin, nostalgia is less history and more fairytale. | Much of nostalgia’s allure is in providing people with a way to explain the past in favorable terms, a kind of self-persuasion or possibly even delusion. According to Linda Charnes, “We cannot, nor would we want to, abandon the important project of understanding how people lived in times before ours—what they experienced in their own cultural present.”{{sfn|Charnes|2009|p=73}} She contends, however, that scholars also need to “acknowledge the inherent limitations of the cognitive framework that continues to organize our ideological relationship to time.”{{sfn|Charnes|2009|p=73}} Since life unfolds in chronological terms, taking measure of past milestones or events seems logical. Yet, when given a fanciful spin, nostalgia is less history and more fairytale. | ||
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It may be challenging to break from the common notion of interpreting | It may be challenging to break from the common notion of interpreting | ||
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{{pg|304|305}}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”== | ||
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For example, Mailer shows Red Valsen’s duality, almost lovingly describing him as having “an expression of concentrated contempt” and “tired eyes, a rather painful blue . . . quiet.”{{sfn|Mailer|1948|p=222}} With deft writing, Mailer also creates the suffocating Montana mines of the man’s youth, as well as the open road | For example, Mailer shows Red Valsen’s duality, almost lovingly describing him as having “an expression of concentrated contempt” and “tired eyes, a rather painful blue . . . quiet.”{{sfn|Mailer|1948|p=222}} With deft writing, Mailer also creates the suffocating Montana mines of the man’s youth, as well as the open road | ||
he craves, with the unnamed narrator explaining, “To a kid from a mining | he craves, with the unnamed narrator explaining, “To a kid from a mining | ||
town, getting drunk in a flatcar on Saturday night is still fun. The horizon extends for a million miles over the silver cornfields.”{{sfn|Mailer|1948|p=226}} Without resorting to the fake sentimentality that marks the contemporary definition of nostalgia, Mailer uses the great American myth/nostalgic view of the open road | town, getting drunk in a flatcar on Saturday night is still fun. The horizon extends for a million miles over the silver cornfields.”{{sfn|Mailer|1948|p=226}} Without resorting{{pg|305|306}}to the fake sentimentality that marks the contemporary definition of nostalgia, Mailer uses the great American myth/nostalgic view of the open road | ||
as a tool to elicit a specific feeling from the reader. His style—the “silver cornfields”—acts as an additional character as the reader travels through Valsen’s remembered past. | as a tool to elicit a specific feeling from the reader. His style—the “silver cornfields”—acts as an additional character as the reader travels through Valsen’s remembered past. | ||
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from San Francisco and looks back at the city lights. Hearn’s mind drifts to a nostalgic vision of the past, to his time as a younger man when the future still looked promising, “the power that leaped at you, invited you.”{{sfn|Mailer|1948|p=353}} But, | from San Francisco and looks back at the city lights. Hearn’s mind drifts to a nostalgic vision of the past, to his time as a younger man when the future still looked promising, “the power that leaped at you, invited you.”{{sfn|Mailer|1948|p=353}} But, | ||
when examining his generation, he concedes “all the bright young people of his youth had butted their heads, smashed against things until they got | when examining his generation, he concedes “all the bright young people of his youth had butted their heads, smashed against things until they got | ||
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.{{pg|306|307}} | ||
==Authenticity Versus Nostalgia in Hemingway== | ==Authenticity Versus Nostalgia in Hemingway== | ||
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The contrast between Jordan the thinker and Jordan the dreamer that | The contrast between Jordan the thinker and Jordan the dreamer that | ||
Hemingway creates really expands and deepens the reader’s interpretation of the character. Early in the novel, the reader watches as Jordan sketches the bridge in his ever-present notebook, a kind of lifeline he clings to throughout the story. Thus, one reads, “He sketched quickly and happily; glad at last to have the problem under his hand; glad at last actually to be engaged upon it,” and recognizes the orderly, rational side of Jordan that puts him on this task, despite the risk.{{sfn|Hemingway|1940|p=4}} | Hemingway creates really expands and deepens the reader’s interpretation of the character. Early in the novel, the reader watches as Jordan sketches the bridge in his ever-present notebook, a kind of lifeline he clings to throughout the story. Thus, one reads, “He sketched quickly and happily; glad at last to have the problem under his hand; glad at last actually to be engaged upon it,” and recognizes the orderly, rational side of Jordan that puts him on this task, despite the risk.{{sfn|Hemingway|1940|p=4}}{{pg|307|308}} | ||
Hemingway, though, does not create Jordan as a kind of robot, without | Hemingway, though, does not create Jordan as a kind of robot, without | ||
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Later, when Jordan reflects on Pilar’s story, he hopes that he can someday | Later, when Jordan reflects on Pilar’s story, he hopes that he can someday | ||
write about the episode as she told it. His desire to get at “[w]hat we did. Not what the others did to us,”{{sfn|Hemingway|1940|p=147}} points to balance Hemingway creates between the authentic history of the Spanish Civil War, which will be ultimately told by the winners, and the people of Spain: “You had to have | write about the episode as she told it. His desire to get at “[w]hat we did. Not what the others did to us,”{{sfn|Hemingway|1940|p=147}} points to balance Hemingway creates between the authentic history of the Spanish Civil War, which will be ultimately told by the winners, and the people of Spain: “You had to have | ||
known the people before. You had to know what they had been in the village.”{{sfn|Hemingway|1940|p=147}} The tension between authenticity and nostalgia creates a new way of looking at a world event witnessed by Hemingway and written about shortly after its end. With ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'', Hemingway forced his readers, just as Pilar forced Jordan, to confess “that damned woman made me see it as though I had been there.”{{sfn|Hemingway|1940|p=147}} The reader must address the relationship between authenticity and nostalgia, which Hemingway presents without overt sentimentality, giving nostalgia a prime place in how Jordan creates his powerful worldview. | known the people before. You had to know what they had been in the village.”{{sfn|Hemingway|1940|p=147}} The tension between authenticity and nostalgia creates a new way of looking at a world event witnessed by Hemingway and written about shortly after its end. With ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'', Hemingway forced his readers, just as Pilar forced Jordan, to confess “that damned woman made me see it as though I had been there.”{{sfn|Hemingway|1940|p=147}} The reader must address the relationship between authenticity and nostalgia, which Hemingway presents without{{pg|308|309}}overt sentimentality, giving nostalgia a prime place in how Jordan creates his powerful worldview. | ||
==Nostalgia as a Literary Technique== | ==Nostalgia as a Literary Technique== | ||
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Given that ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' and ''The Naked and the Dead'' were published a mere eight years apart, the use of nostalgia within the narratives and as a literary technique speaks to the role of nostalgia in that era dominated by war, its consequences, and its immediate aftermath. As Sprengler notes, the interpretation of nostalgia had gone through a transformation in the early years of the twentieth century “within modernity because of industrialization, technological modernization and urbanization.”{{sfn|Sprengler|2009|p=16}} Leigh, for example, then views The Time Machine sections of Mailer’s novel as fixing the characters “unalterably to their environments . . . to a reality that is shown to be static and unchanging.”{{sfn|Leigh|1987|p=427}} Looking into the past, then, for some guidance or grounding within the current environment would provide solace for people going through tremendous change, whether it is for the authors, the characters they create, or for their readers. | Given that ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' and ''The Naked and the Dead'' were published a mere eight years apart, the use of nostalgia within the narratives and as a literary technique speaks to the role of nostalgia in that era dominated by war, its consequences, and its immediate aftermath. As Sprengler notes, the interpretation of nostalgia had gone through a transformation in the early years of the twentieth century “within modernity because of industrialization, technological modernization and urbanization.”{{sfn|Sprengler|2009|p=16}} Leigh, for example, then views The Time Machine sections of Mailer’s novel as fixing the characters “unalterably to their environments . . . to a reality that is shown to be static and unchanging.”{{sfn|Leigh|1987|p=427}} Looking into the past, then, for some guidance or grounding within the current environment would provide solace for people going through tremendous change, whether it is for the authors, the characters they create, or for their readers. | ||
There remains a fine line between an authentic representation of the past and a nostalgic view. For Hemingway and Mailer, the use of nostalgia in war novels certainly softens the harshness of the place their characters exist in the current time. As Charnes notes, “As physical creatures who are born, grow, age, and die, our experience of time convinces us that it moves in only one direction: forward. [But] As creatures with highly developed cognition and memory, however, our experience of time is vastly more complicated.”{{sfn|Charnes|2009|pp=74-75}} Breaking out of the chronological view also adds density to the narratives by revealing that time is a complex experience. For both Hemingway and Mailer, providing a multi-dimensional view of a character’s past that includes nostalgic impulses creates richer characters, ones that readers, in turn, empathize with as they struggle through the atrocities of warfare. | There remains a fine line between an authentic representation of the past and a nostalgic view. For Hemingway and Mailer, the use of nostalgia in war novels certainly softens the harshness of the place their characters exist in the current time. As Charnes notes, “As physical creatures who are born, grow, age, and die, our experience of time convinces us that it moves in only one direction: forward. [But] As creatures with highly developed cognition and memory, however, our experience of time is vastly more complicated.”{{sfn|Charnes|2009|pp=74-75}} Breaking out of the chronological view also adds density to the narratives by revealing that time is a complex experience. For both Hemingway{{pg|309|310}}and Mailer, providing a multi-dimensional view of a character’s past that includes nostalgic impulses creates richer characters, ones that readers, in turn, empathize with as they struggle through the atrocities of warfare. | ||
==Citations== | ==Citations== | ||
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==Works Cited== | ==Works Cited== | ||
{{refbegin|20em|indent=yes}} | {{refbegin|20em|indent=yes}} | ||
* {{cite news |last=Breit |first=Harvey |date={{date|June 3, 1951}} |title=Talk with Norman Mailer |url=https://static01.nyt.com/packages/html/books/mailer-talk1951.pdf |work=The New York Times |edition=late |location=7:20 |page= |access-date=2025-04-18 |ref=harv }} | * {{cite news |last=Breit |first=Harvey |date={{date|June 3, 1951}} |title=Talk with Norman Mailer |url=https://static01.nyt.com/packages/html/books/mailer-talk1951.pdf |work=The New York Times |edition=late |location=sec 7:20 |page= |access-date=2025-04-18 |ref=harv }} | ||
* {{cite journal |last=Charnes |first=Linda |date=2009 |title=Anticipating Nostalgia: Finding Temporal Logic in a Textual Anomaly |journal=Textual Cultures: Text, Contexts, Interpretation |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=72–83 |ref=harv }} | * {{cite journal |last=Charnes |first=Linda |date=2009 |title=Anticipating Nostalgia: Finding Temporal Logic in a Textual Anomaly |journal=Textual Cultures: Text, Contexts, Interpretation |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=72–83 |ref=harv }} | ||
* {{cite book |last=Hemingway |first=Ernest |date=1940 |title=For Whom the Bell Tolls. |location=New York |publisher=Scribner's |ref=harv }} | * {{cite book |last=Hemingway |first=Ernest |date=1940 |title=For Whom the Bell Tolls. |location=New York |publisher=Scribner's |ref=harv }} | ||