Building Communities through American Literatures: The Short Story Composite and Ernest Hemingway's "In Our Time"

Abstract

By questioning the most important works on the short story composite, this essay intends to widen and update the theoretical debate on this literary genre, stressing two important aspects. On the one hand, the great power the composite shows in collecting fragments of reality, useful to depict a contemporary world which escapes any totalizing description. On the other hand, the belief that these fragmentary works are always shaped by an inner order, which leads the reader to the overall meaning of the composite. Finally taking a closer look at Ernest Hemingway’s In Our Time, this paper wants to show how, through all the individual character’s voices, the short story composite builds a community with different times, ideas, sensibilities, and how it seeks for readers’ commitment.