LESS IS MORE—OR SO THEY SAY: MINIMALISM DIMINISHED
LESS IS MORE—OR SO THEY SAY: MINIMALISM DIMINISHED
Author(s): Dragoș AvădaneiSubject(s): Fiction, Philology, Theory of Literature, American Literature
Published by: Editura Arhipelag XXI
Keywords: less/more; minimalism; experiment; reader role; Thoreau; Hemingway;
Summary/Abstract: “Less is more” seems to be the (age-old saying—it turns out) statement that has prompted the experiments described as minimalism in the first half of the past century: first in architecture and the arts, then in music and literature, gradually also becoming the description of a deliberately chosen life style. In literature—whose “building material” is language—things are more complex, mainly because of the relationship between words and meanings; so negative criticism soon joined in. The second part is an experiment in itself: Hemingway’s “Cat in the Rain,” accompanied by several abbreviated “versions,” that prove unconvincing as the meaning of “less is more” or the “iceberg theory of fiction.”
Journal: Journal of Romanian Literary Studies
- Issue Year: 2022
- Issue No: 28
- Page Range: 179-186
- Page Count: 8
- Language: English