The iceberg technique became also known as “minimalism”. Hemingway believed that, like an iceberg, which only reveals one-eighth of itself above water, a story should also only reveal the most essential information and the reader completes the story with its own phantasy.
“A writer should show only the tip of what may be a huge conflict.”
The stylistics call it implication (the nonsaid is included) or underdetermination (less than the logical necessary informations is expressed).
it’s a very thin describtion of the iceberg technique. I would wish there were some text examples just to make it esier to understand the term.
thanks.
Ok. I’ll search for some examples..
The main thing about the iceberg technique is that a literary text never only means what you can read in letters. The pragmatic aspect is important. There are words or sentences which are plurivalent. They don’t have only one meaning but severals which always depends on the content. Moreover adjectives and adverbs are able to create an atmosphere and to express emotions. The reader gets headwords, uses his fantasy and creates his own imaginary scene according to the lines.
And Hemingway said that a reader merely needs the minmal number of informations of a story to create the whole picture in his head. That’s the iceberg technique.
So if you write a story using the iceberg technique, you won’t describe every detail but you’ll allow the reader great latitude to use his own fantasy.
Alex –
there are 1,000’s of text examples!
Read Hemingway and choose your own.