hard-edged

[Mad-ox]

hi

What is the meaning of the word "hard-edged" in the following context:


Modernist writers often experimented with language. Hemingway did so by trimming the often excessive language of the 19th C into a spare, hard-edged prose.


Please illustrate your answer(s) in the context or give at least one synonym of the highlighted word. Many thanks,




Madox

 

[susiedqq]

Modernist writers often experimented with language. Hemingway did so by trimming the often excessive language of the 19th C into a sparse, sharply written prose.

 

[susiedqq]

Opps!

It is not sparse, it is "spare" - new word for me!

I just saw it again today:

"a sparely built but gregarious and determined U.S. Army Engineer"

 

[apex2000]

In the context used, hard edged means a style that hits you between the eyes, using short descriptions with no extra words; a hard direct style devoid of any smooth easy reading.

 

[Mad-ox]

So, regarding style, does hard-edged prose refer to a simple or drawn out, over descriptive writing?

 

[apex2000]

So, regarding style, does hard-edged prose refer to a simple or drawn out, over descriptive writing?

Simple; direct; not a word wasted.

 

[vil]

Hi Mad-0x,

There are some more definitions and examples concerning the term in question:

hard-edge = A form of abstract painting characterized by clearly defined geometric shapes and often bright colors.

hard-edged adj.

Inclined to hold a position; severe: “In those magazine pieces the children were splendidly self-willed, hard-edged, perverse, indomitable”

hard edged = brutally honest: realistic, direct, and uncompromising

Bukowski’s short fiction concentrates on uncontrite drinking and generally anti-social behavior, employing a scatological idiom which serves to mock academe and animate his idiosyncratic style and ideology, while also contributing to Bukowski's often harsh critical reception. Bukowski is praised for imbuing his stories and characters with a empathetic humanity and self-deprecating, absurdist black-comedy, avoiding maudlin sentimentality, and instead relying on experience, direct language, and imagination to balance his writing. Bukowski's work helped give rise to the “dirty realism” prominent in literature of the 1970s and 80s, most famously in the short fiction of Raymond Carver. Bukowski is known for depicting violent and sexual imagery in his hard-edged prose.

Clearly defined boundary on a piece of artwork or a reproduction. Sometimes a hard edge is an element in the design, but sometimes it results from a flaw in the creative or printing process.

Hard-Edge Painting, style of abstract art characterized by sharply defined areas of flat color. It originated in the late 1950s as a reaction to the spontaneity and emotionalism of abstract expressionism. In contrast, the style stressed a calculated, intellectual approach.

Regards.

V.