On Minimalism Essay

927 Words4 Pages
Work on Minimalism Sandra Cravero, 4th Course Student, Traductorado Técnico-Científico y Literario de Inglés, ISP Nº 8 Alte. Brown, October 30, 2007 Introduction This paper intends to make a tight description on minimalism in order to introduce an overview of two of its most representative writers: Ernest Hemingway and Raymond Carver; and to make a tight reflection on a translator’s approach to minimalist short stories. On Minimalism In the analysis of minimalist short stories, Deron Bauman asserts that the term ‘minimalism’ refers to “the effect of a conscious effort to present written elements with the fewest words necessary to deliver the maximum readable impact.” Deron Bauman states as well that minimalism is “concerned with appropriate attention to detail at the sentence level more than with the length of the individual work.” In addition, Cynthia Hallet adds that it seems that many minimalist narratives appear internally disconnected –sentences turn out to be detached from one another; they end as much the same as they begin; but she says that when read closely, the indirect references and dim designs combine into a complex trope. “These fictions are but shells of story, fragile containers of compressed meaning.” Minimalist writer’s “conscious codes of omission are designed to make audiences feel more than they understand.” (Cynthia Hallet) Such sparse, literary style as Ernest Hemingway’s is said to be based on the “principle of iceberg”; that is to say, there is more hidden than is shown. His simple style makes his works easy to comprehend. (Mille, J. et al) For example, the following fragment displays Hemingway’s character’s whole life, Paco, in just one sentence: [...] He came from a village in a part of Extremadura where conditions were incredibly primitive, food scarce, and comforts unknown, and he had worked hard ever since he
Open Document