The Fictionalization of Readers (and Hemingway!)

As both Barthe and Foucault discussed the roles of the author in writing, Walter Ong discusses the often underrepresented faction in literary theory and criticism: the readers. In this piece, Ong argues that successful narrative writers have the ability to "fictionalize" readers. In Ong's own words, "The writer must construct in his imagination, clearly or vaguely, and audience cast in some sort of role" (Ong 12).

When reading the opening pages of this piece on fictionalization, the first author that came to mind was Ernest Hemingway, and to my surprise (and satisfaction), Ong goes on to use Hemingway as an example of an author that has this practice down to a point. On the next page, a passage from Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms (#3 on my all time favorite pieces of literature list) to detail and discuss just how the author "fictionalizes," or creates a specific role, for his reader. What makes Hemingway one of the most beloved writers of the 20th century is that he writes as if he is composing a letter to an old friend of his. Hemingway fictionalizes the reader in doing so by purposefully addressing his audience in this particular manner. He writes with a sense of familiarity and openness that could convince any reader that he was writing to and for Gertrude Stein or F. Scott Fitzgerald, who were close acquaintances of the author. of Ong agrees, "The reader--every reader--is being cast in the role of a close companion" (13). Hemingway does this not only through how he treats his reader, but in his language as well. Ong refers to it as the "you-and-me relationship," and while Hemingway is certainly not the only author that utilizes this style and technique of fictionalization, he is surely one of the best.

The flip side of the coin in fictionalizing the reader is done by the reader himself. "The audience must correspondingly fictionalize itself. A reader has to play the role in which the author has cast him, which seldom coincides with his role in the rest of actual life" (12). A reader is not merely reading the details of an event or the thoughts and emotions of an author, but instead, plays far more of an involved role in literature, and especially narrative.