Language and the First World War

Hemingway: A Farewell to Arms

In this course, Professor Peter Messent explores Ernest Hemingway's 1929 novel, A Farewell to Arms. We begin in the first module by thinking about the way Hemingway reacts in his language to the sensationalism and empty sloganeering of Allied propaganda in the First World War. After that, in the second module, we explore Hemingway's prose style more generally, focusing in particular on his 'Iceberg Theory', which he outlined in another work – 'Death in the Afternoon' (1932). In the following two modules, we think about how Frederic Henry is represented in relation to the two central themes of the novel – first war and then love. And finally, in the fifth module, we think about what Frederic Henry might have learned by the end of the novel.

Language and the First World War

In this module, we think about Hemingway's use of language in the novel, focusing in particular on Hemingway's use of spare, minimalist dialogue in contrast to the sensationalism and empty sloganeering of war propaganda.