Editing Minimalism (section)

== Literature ==
{{anchor|Literary minimalism}}
{{See also|Concision}}
Literary minimalism is characterized by an economy with words and a focus on surface description. Minimalist writers eschew adverbs and prefer allowing context to dictate meaning. Readers are expected to take an active role in creating the story, to "choose sides" based on oblique hints and innuendo, rather than react to directions from the writer.{{sfn|Clark|2014|p=13}}{{sfn|Greene|2012|p=}}

Austrian architect and theorist Adolf Loos published early writings about minimalism in ''Ornament and Crime''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Loos |first=Adolf |title=Ornament and Crime |year=1913}}</ref>

The precursors to literary minimalism are famous novelists [[Stephen Crane]] and [[Ernest Hemingway]].{{sfn|Obendorf|2009|p=52}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davidow |first=Shelley |title=Playing with Words A Introduction to Creative Craft. |date=2016 |publisher=Macmillan Education UK |others=Paul Williams |isbn=978-1-137-53254-1 |location=London |pages=90 |oclc=1164505442}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Meyer |first=Michael J. |title=Literature and the Writer |date=2004 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-94-012-0134-6 |location=Boston |pages=213 |oclc=1239991574}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-04-09 |title=Ernest Hemingway is an example of minimalist writing that indicates flexibility in using relevant phrases shown in his book Research paper for students |url=https://campuscrosswalk.org/ernest-hemingway-is-an-example-of-minimalist-writing-that-indicates-flexibility-in-using-relevant-phrases-shown-in-his-book/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Campuscrosswalk |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325081550/https://campuscrosswalk.org/ernest-hemingway-is-an-example-of-minimalist-writing-that-indicates-flexibility-in-using-relevant-phrases-shown-in-his-book/ |url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |title=Less is More: American Short Story Minimalism in Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Carver and Frederick Barthelme |url=http://oro.open.ac.uk/59603/ |publisher=The Open University |date=2006 |degree=phd |first=Philip John |last=Greaney |access-date=25 March 2023 |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325081547/http://oro.open.ac.uk/59603/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Some 1940s-era crime fiction of writers such as [[James M. Cain]] and [[Jim Thompson (writer)|Jim Thompson]] adopted a stripped-down, matter-of-fact prose style to considerable effect; some{{who|date=November 2021}} classify this prose style as minimalism.

Another strand of literary minimalism arose in response to the [[metafiction]] trend of the 1960s and early 1970s ([[John Barth]], [[Robert Coover]], and [[William H. Gass]]). These writers were also sparse with prose and kept a psychological distance from their subject matter.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=Charles B. |title=The Anxiety of Influence: The John Barth/David Foster Wallace Connection |journal=Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction |date=15 March 2014 |volume=55 |issue=2 |page=104 |doi=10.1080/00111619.2013.771905}}</ref>

Minimalist writers, or those who are identified with minimalism during certain periods of their writing careers, include the following: [[Raymond Carver]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wiegand |first=David |date=2009-12-19 |title=Serendipitous stay led writer to Raymond Carver |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Serendipitous-stay-led-writer-to-Raymond-Carver-3278150.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331185651/https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Serendipitous-stay-led-writer-to-Raymond-Carver-3278150.php |archive-date=31 March 2022 |access-date=31 March 2022 |website=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref> [[Ann Beattie]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gale |first=Cengage Learning |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/956647072 |title=A Study Guide for Ann Beattie's ""Janus"" |date=2016 |publisher=Gale, Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-4103-5001-5 |location=Farmington Hills |oclc=956647072}}</ref> [[Bret Easton Ellis]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wagner |first=Katharina |url=https://www.grin.com/document/516751 |title=Simulacra and Nothingness in Bret Easton Ellis' "Less Than Zero" |date=2020-01-27 |publisher=GRIN Verlag |isbn=978-3-346-10821-0 |language=en |access-date=25 March 2023 |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325081027/https://www.grin.com/document/516751 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Obispo |first=Brian Anderson Gil, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis |date=2020-05-24 |title=Bret Easton Ellis Remains a Strong Example of a Brave Writer.
|url=https://studybreaks.com/culture/reads/bret-easton-ellis/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Study Breaks |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325081026/https://studybreaks.com/culture/reads/bret-easton-ellis/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Charles Bukowski]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Conway |first=Mark |date=2017-07-26 |title=Bukowski, Charles |url=https://oxfordre.com/literature/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.001.0001/acrefore-9780190201098-e-603 |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.013.603|isbn=978-0-19-020109-8 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dirty Realism |url=https://poemanalysis.com/movement/dirty-realism/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Poem Analysis |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325081158/https://poemanalysis.com/movement/dirty-realism/ |url-status=live}}</ref> [[K. J. Stevens]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-11-25 |title=K.J. Stevens |url=https://thecrookedsteeple.com/about/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=The Crooked Steeple |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325081958/https://thecrookedsteeple.com/about/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Amy Hempel]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Amy Hempel |url=https://www.beloit.edu/live/profiles/505-amy-hempel |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=www.beloit.edu |language=en |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325081959/https://www.beloit.edu/live/profiles/505-amy-hempel |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Franklin |first=Ruth |date=2019-03-19 |title=Amy Hempel Is the Master of the Minimalist Short Story |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/04/amy-hempel-sing-to-it/583231/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=The Atlantic |language=en |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325081959/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/04/amy-hempel-sing-to-it/583231/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mambrol |first=Nasrullah |date=2020-04-23 |title=Analysis of Amy Hempel's Stories |url=https://literariness.org/2020/04/23/analysis-of-amy-hempels-stories/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Literary Theory and Criticism |language=en-US |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325081958/https://literariness.org/2020/04/23/analysis-of-amy-hempels-stories/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Bobbie Ann Mason]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shiloh Writing Style |url=https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/shiloh-bobbie-ann-mason/analysis/writing-style |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=www.shmoop.com |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325081958/https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/shiloh-bobbie-ann-mason/analysis/writing-style |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marin |first=Candela Delgado |date=2016-12-01 |title=Bobbie Ann Mason Challenges the Myth of Southernness: Postmodern Identities, Blurring Borders and Literary Labels |url=https://journals.openedition.org/jsse/1808 |journal=Journal of the Short Story in English. Les Cahiers de la nouvelle |language=en |issue=67 |pages=223–242 |issn=0294-0442 |access-date=25 March 2023 |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325081957/https://journals.openedition.org/jsse/1808 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bobbie Ann Mason: Biography & Writing Style |url=https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english-literature/american-literature/bobbie-ann-mason/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=StudySmarter UK |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325081959/https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english-literature/american-literature/bobbie-ann-mason/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Tobias Wolff]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Guerrero-Strachan |first=Santiago Rodríguez |url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789401208390/B9789401208390-s015.xml |title=Realism and Narrators in Tobias Wolff's Short Stories |date=2012-01-01 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-94-012-0839-0 |language=en |access-date=25 March 2023 |archive-date=1 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601072610/https://brill.com/display/book/9789401208390/B9789401208390-s015.xml |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Literary Minimalism and Tobias Wolff |url=https://prezi.com/rars2uiigk_2/literary-minimalism-and-tobias-wolff/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=prezi.com |language=en |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325082430/https://prezi.com/rars2uiigk_2/literary-minimalism-and-tobias-wolff/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Wolff, Tobias |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/wolff-tobias |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=www.encyclopedia.com |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325082430/https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-magazines/wolff-tobias |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Grace Paley]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=النهار |first=عبد الاله |date=2018-10-01 |title=غريس بالي: کاتبة اختزالية معاصرة |url=https://aafu.journals.ekb.eg/article_48113.html |journal=حوليات أداب عين شمس |volume=46 |issue=أکتوبر – دیسمبر (ج) |pages=375–384 |doi=10.21608/aafu.2018.48113 |s2cid=204619942 |issn=1110-7227 |doi-access=free |access-date=25 March 2023 |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325082432/https://aafu.journals.ekb.eg/article_48113.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-03-21 |title=Grace Paley, Master of Minimalist Writing |website=A Women's Thing |url=https://awomensthing.org/blog/grace-paley-master-minimalist-writing/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |language=en-US |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325082430/https://awomensthing.org/blog/grace-paley-master-minimalist-writing/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Sandra Cisneros]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bloom |first=Harold |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/649939109 |title=Sandra Cisneros's The house on Mango Street |date=2010 |publisher=Bloom's Literature |isbn=978-1604138122 |edition=New |location=New York City, NY, USA |language=en |oclc=401141774 |ol=24478421M}}</ref> [[Mary Robison]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=Sophie A. |date=22 May 2020 |title=Minimalism's Attention Deficit: Distraction, Description, and Mary Robison's Why Did I Ever |url=https://academic.oup.com/alh/article/32/2/301/5842132 |journal=American Literary History |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |publication-place=England |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=301–327 |doi=10.1093/alh/ajaa004 |pmc=7446296 |pmid=32863576 |access-date=25 March 2023 |doi-access=free |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325200045/https://academic.oup.com/alh/article/32/2/301/5842132 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Frederick Barthelme]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Academic Book: Novels and Short Stories of Frederick Barthelme. A Literary Critical Analysis |url=https://mellenpress.com/book/Novels-and-Short-Stories-of-Frederick-Barthelme-A-Literary-Critical-Analysis/6247/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=mellenpress.com |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325083034/https://mellenpress.com/book/Novels-and-Short-Stories-of-Frederick-Barthelme-A-Literary-Critical-Analysis/6247/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Richard Ford]], [[Patrick Holland (author)|Patrick Holland]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Patrick Holland – The Hong Kong International Literary Festival |url=https://www.festival.org.hk/writer/patrick-holland/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |language=en-US |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325083034/https://www.festival.org.hk/writer/patrick-holland/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Cormac McCarthy]],<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Bailey |first=Jeremy R. |date=December 2010 |title=Mining for meaning: A study of minimalism in American literature |type=PhD dissertation |publisher=Texas Tech University |url=https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/handle/2346/ETD-TTU-2010-12-1149 |hdl=2346/ETD-TTU-2010-12-1149 |access-date=25 March 2023 |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325083047/https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/handle/2346/ETD-TTU-2010-12-1149 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Greenwood |first=Willard P. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/615600400 |title=Reading Cormac McCarthy |date=2009 |isbn=978-0-313-35665-0 |location=Santa Barbara, Ca |oclc=615600400}}</ref> [[David Leavitt]], and [[Alicia Erian]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}}

American poets such as [[William Carlos Williams]], early [[Ezra Pound]], [[Robert Creeley]], [[Robert Grenier (poet)|Robert Grenier]], [[Aram Saroyan]],<ref>Gabbert, E., [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/books/review/jane-gregory-yeah-no-poems.html "Making the Language Strange, as Only Poetry Can Do"], ''The New York Times'', June 21, 2018.</ref> [[bpNichol]], and Geof Huth are sometimes identified with their ''minimalist'' style.{{sfn|Greene|2012|p=}} Aram Saroyan, specifically, is famous for his one-word poem "lighght", which was selected for ''The American Literary Anthology'' and received a $750 cash award from the [[National Endowment for the Arts]], which drew outrage from certain conservative American politicians, such as [[Jesse Helms]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=You Call That Poetry?! |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/68913/you-call-that-poetry |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=The Poetry Foundation}}</ref> bpNichol, a Canadian poet, is famous for such minimalist poems as "st*r", "em ty", and "groww". These minimalist poems were collected into an anthology of bpNichol's works, entitled ''The Alphabet Game'', edited by [[Darren Wershler|Darren Werschler-Henry]] and [[Lori Emerson]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-04-21 |title=The Alphabet Game: A bpNichol Reader |url=https://loriemerson.net/books/the-alphabet-game-a-bpnichol-reader/ |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=loriemerson |language=en}}</ref> Geof Huth also creates minimalist poetry, and he may be best known for his concept of the pwoermd, the term he uses to describe a poem made up of only a single word.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Basinski’s Interview with Geof Huth |url=https://dbqp.blogspot.com/2006/11/michael-basinskis-interview-with-geof.html |access-date=2025-02-24 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Essential Vocabulary 3.0 |url=https://dbqp.blogspot.com/2005/05/essential-vocabulary-30.html |access-date=2025-02-24 |language=en}}</ref> Depending on the characteristics of the poem, some minimalist poetry may overlap with what others call visual poetry, especially if the concept behind the poem is enhanced by its visual elements. The term "minimalism" is also sometimes associated with the briefest of poetic genres, [[haiku]], which originated in Japan, but has been domesticated in English literature by poets such as [[Nick Virgilio]], [[Raymond Roseliep]], and [[George Swede]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}}

The Irish writer [[Samuel Beckett]] is well known for his minimalist plays and prose, as is the Norwegian writer [[Jon Fosse]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Davies|first1=Paul|title=Samuel Beckett|url=http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5161|website=Literary Encyclopedia|access-date=2 December 2016|archive-date=2 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202165740/http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5161|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Dimitris Lyacos]]'s ''[[With the People from the Bridge]]'', combining elliptical monologues with a pared-down prose narrative, is a contemporary example of minimalist playwrighting.<ref>[https://www.tikkun.org/from-the-ruins-of-europe-lyacoss-debt-riddled-greece "From the Ruins of Europe: Lyacos's Debt-Riddled Greece"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410141347/https://www.tikkun.org/from-the-ruins-of-europe-lyacoss-debt-riddled-greece |date=10 April 2019 }} by Joseph Labernik, ''[[Tikkun (magazine)|Tikkun]]'', 21 August 2015</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.commonlinejournal.com/2015/12/review-of-dimitris-lyacoss-with-people.html| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151208204751/http://www.commonlinejournal.com/2015/12/review-of-dimitris-lyacoss-with-people.html| archive-date = 2015-12-08| title = The Commonline Journal: Review of Dimitris Lyacos's With the People from the Bridge}} {{Cite web |url=http://www.commonlinejournal.com/2015/12/review-of-dimitris-lyacoss-with-people.html |title=The Commonline Journal: Review of Dimitris Lyacos's with the People from the Bridge &#124; Editor Note by Ada Fetters |access-date=2019-08-13 |archive-date=2015-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208204751/http://www.commonlinejournal.com/2015/12/review-of-dimitris-lyacoss-with-people.html |url-status=dead }} </ref>

In his novel ''[[The Easy Chain]]'', [[Evan Dara]] includes a 60-page section written in the style of musical minimalism, in particular inspired by composer [[Steve Reich]]. Intending to represent the psychological state (agitation) of the novel's main character, the section's successive lines of text are built on repetitive and developing phrases.{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}}