Hemingway I s Creativity: A Process of Recuperative Writing

Abstract

<p>This thesis examines the writings of Ernest Hemingway (fiction and non-fiction) for the purpose of investigating what effect his creativity had on his life. To discover the latter, one must also discover what elements motivated Hemingway's creativity, and how those elements appear, in turn, as metaphorical images and symbols in his works. The forces motivating Hemingway to write are explored through an analysis of his life in the context of psychodynamic theory of object-relations. This life analysis from a psychodynamic standpoint is called 'psychobiography'. Through the psychobiography, Hemingway 's emotional losses surface and we discover that, for the most Part, frustrated parental attachment gives rise to a split-ego condition in Hemingway that he tries to unite. This thesis concludes that Hemingway's creativity is a process of recuperative writing, restoring a sense of self-worth and wholeness into an enormously talented but emotionally split human being. As a study in Humanities, this thesis attempts to explain that by understanding the forces motivating this skilled writer, we can have greater understanding of other artists and of our fellow human beings, in general. This thesis hopes to inspire appreciation for artists and not only the genius, but also the genesis, of their creativity.</p>