Fitzgerald and Hemingway

This year’s work on F. Scott Fitzgerald emphasizes influences on the writer as well as his engagement with socioeconomic theory, ethno-racial identities, and the other arts, including film, popular music, and theater. Several scholars expand on Fitzgerald’s Southern roots and writings (partially the result of the 12th International F. Scott Fitzgerald Society Conference in Montgomery, Alabama, in late 2013). As usual, The Great Gatsby receives the most attention, and the short stories feature more prominently than in years past. Scholarship on Ernest Hemingway also stresses influences on the writer and offers innovative perspectives on the Cuban and African works. Inquiry dedicated to reassessing Hemingway’s wartime biography and war writing predominates. In conjunction with the centennial of World War I scholars gravitate to the writer’s early war stories and A Farewell to Arms. But there is also a notable increase in critical engagement with Spanish Civil War texts, specifically For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Spanish Earth. In light of the vast amount of rich, engaging work on Fitzgerald and Hemingway, I must as always be selective in this commentary.