Sun Also Rises: Annotated Bibliography Research Proposal

Its readability does not overcome this article's scholarly flaws.

Gay Wilentz. "(Re)Teaching Hemingway: Anti-Semitism as a Thematic Device in the Sun Also Rises." College English, Vol. 52, No. 2 (Feb., 1990), pp. 186-193.

Wilentz admittedly and explicitly applies a quasi-feminist reading to the novel by examining religion -- specifically, Judaism as represented by the villainous Robert Cohn. This also ties in to how the novel was received in its era, according to Wilentz's argument. She asserts that Hemingway meant to indict the Jewish race through this character, and that it is impossible to come way from the novel disliking Cohn without being slightly anti-Semitic. Much of this wrok, especially the rationale for such a reading, seems unnecessarily paranoid and unwarranted, though the biographical details Wilentz provides about Hemingway do make such a reading more plausible. All in all, however, this source seems rather too far -- fetched.

William Adair. "Cafes and Food: Allusions to the Great War in the Sun Also Rises." Journal of Modern Literature, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Autumn, 2001), pp. 127-133

Adair continues his reading of the novel as an allusion to and possible allegory of the Great War, World War I, in this more symbolic examination. Food and cafe place names, Adair asserts, serve as reminders throughout the novel that the real story is taking place in Barnes' past, during the War. He explicitly counters the notion that the novel was meant by Hemingway to be completely naturalistic, and rather sees of layers of symbolism and allusion throughout the firmly tie the novel to the war that immediately preceded its action and its real-world creation.Adair's style remains both pleasurable and authoritative; all in all this piece makes a brilliant addition to his earlier, broader work on the same general topic.

Ira Elliott. "Performance Art: Jake Barnes and 'Masculine' Signification in the Sun Also Rises." American Literature, Vol. 67, No. 1 (Mar., 1995), pp. 77-94.

The feminist perspective Elliott applies to the novel examines the concept of masculinity in the novel, specifically as it pertains to the narrator Jake Barnes. Elliott opens with a general overview of Hemingway's treatment of gender and sexuality in his full body of works, specifically in the time period that the Sun Also Rises was created in. After this cursory examination regarding the interchangeability of gender apparent with many of Hemingway's characters, Elliott narrows his focus to Barnes and the affects his genital wound had on his gender and sexual identity. Almost everything becomes evidence for many different interpretations of Barnes' masculinity, and Elliott does not provide very compelling arguments for any specific interpretation. Though full of examples, this article lacks a specific focus.

Thomas Strychacz. "Dramatizations of Manhood in Hemingway's in Our Time and the Sun Also Rises." American Literature, Vol. 61, No. 2 (May, 1989), pp. 245-260.

Strychacz takes a markedly different view of gender in the novel, viewing much of Barnes' and other male characters' personas as representations of the over-macho male that Hemingway either idolized or parodied, depending on the reading. The frustration with this piece is that Strychacz refers to too many works in too many disparate ways to settle on one interpretation of Hemingway's treatment of the mach.....