Going Home: Hemingway, Primitivism, and Identity

This article explores Hemingway's fascination with primitivism, specifically his cross-cultural and cross-racial identification with Native Americans and Africans. The primitive serves as a space of self-creation and exploration for Hemingway from his youthful association of the primitive with (re)creation and transgression to its role as a figurative home amidst the alienation of modern culture. Focusing on his African safaris, the article suggests that while his interest in primitivism reveals Hemingway's longing for authenticity and origins, his racechanges and intimate identification with the primitive ultimately create an awareness of the hybridity and performativity of identity.