Hemingway and Agamben

Interprets Hemingway's fiction through the philosophical lens of Giorgio Agamben

Resolves debate over Hemingway's religious orientation
Brings Hemingway, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Giorgio Agamben into close conversation for an interdisciplinary study of political theology, existentialism, posthumanism, and modernist literature
Leverages Giorgio Agamben's analysis of secularization for an unprecedented reading of Hemingway's fiction
Reveals the Roman Catholic foundations of secular existentialism, as well as the existential underbelly of literary modernism
Presents the ritualistic killing of animals by human beings as the latter's semi-conscious attempt to reclaim the imago Dei
Builds upon the preceding points to level a posthumanist critique of moral absolutism

Marcos Antonio Norris implements Giorgio Agamben's notion of 'secularized theism' to resolve a critical disagreement among Hemingway scholars who have portrayed the writer as either a Roman Catholic or a secular existentialist. He argues that Hemingway is, properly speaking, neither a secularist nor a theist, but a 'secularised theist', whose 'religion' is practiced through sovereign decision making, which, in its most extreme form, includes the act of killing. This book resolves an important debate in Hemingway studies and uncovers fundamental similarities between theism and atheism, building upon the theoretical undertaking first introduced by Agamben and the Existentialists (EUP, 2021). Bringing Ernest Hemingway, Jean-Paul Sartre and Giorgio Agamben into close conversation, the author reconceptualises existentialism, issues a posthumanist critique of moral authoritarianism and advances an original interpretation of Hemingway as a secularised theist.