“Just Smell Them. Aren’t They Lovely?”: The Ecology of Smell and (Olfactory) Transspecies Imagination in Ernest Hemingway’s Works

Lay Sion NG, PhD

University of Tsukuba, Japan.

ABSTRACT

Ernest Hemingway, renowned for his minimalist prose and exploration of masculinity, may not be immediately considered an “olfactory artist.” However, a closer examination of his works reveals a profound connection to the world of scents and an underappreciated dimension of his artistry. In Green Hills of Africa, Hemingway describes his ability to detect the musky scent of bull elk during the rutting season before spotting them, highlighting his familiarity with the natural world’s olfactory palette. This heightened olfactory awareness extends beyond Hemingway’s literary endeavors. An anecdote from a 1950 issue of The New Yorker Magazine recounts him declining a cigarette, explaining that “[c]igarettes smell so awful to you when you have a nose that can truly smell.” Hemingway continued to cite various animal scents, showcasing his remarkable olfactory discernment. These anecdotes reveal his deliberate cultivation of a keen sense of smell, crucial for both his hunting and his writing.

Representing an inherently trans-corporeal sense, smell is integral in leading us to an understanding of our embodied experiences. For Hemingway, olfaction is essential for hunting and for surviving in war. A sense of smell allows him to (re)connect himself with nature and happiness, thereby reducing his existential anxiety. However, because olfaction is underappreciated in Western modernity, research on olfactory imaginations and smellscapes in Hemingway’s works remain largely unexplored. To begin rectifying this, my paper contextualizes the environmental significance of olfactory descriptions in Hemingway’s literature by analyzing how they operate in the text, pushing the reader not only to experience the physical, cultural, and symbolic implications of smell but also to defy the perception of viewing nature as a separate entity or at a distance from the human.

For Hemingway, smell is vital for memory, food, corporeality, and the environment. In this presentation, I first attempt to uncover the hidden meanings of scents around nostalgia and death in For Whom the Bell Tolls, showing how his olfactory descriptions invite us to delve into multisensory experiences with nature that shape human identity and lived experiences. Secondly, I explore the ecologies of smell and various aspects of olfactory-driven transspecies imagination in The Garden of Eden and The Old Man and the Sea, demonstrating how these narratives blur the boundaries between humans and nonhumans, further fostering moral and ethical reflections on humanity’s connection to the natural world. Finally, I examine the toxic environments in war zones in A Farewell to Arms, highlighting the significance of scent in portraying environmental risks and their impact on human and nonhuman well-being.

While Ernest Hemingway may not fit the traditional mold of an olfactory artist, his writings reveal a rich tapestry of olfactory experiences profoundly connected to the natural world. The author’s skillful use of scent as a literary device and his personal affinity for olfaction invite us to reconsider his role as an artist, encouraging us to explore the ecological implications and the transformative power of smell in his literature.