Abortion Epistemology: Ambivalence in the Abortion Plot in Modern Literature

Abstract: Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" presents an abortion narrative saturated with an affective atmosphere of ambivalence. While this ambivalence may seem like an apolitical alternative to pro- or anti-abortion rhetoric, "Hills" reveals how ambivalence both makes visible the serious limitations of current political rhetorical frameworks regarding abortion (which often seek to erase or ignore the ambivalent), and offers more expansive narrative opportunities for comprehending and understanding abortion experiences. Ambivalence, then, is not an obstacle to the production of knowledge, but instead makes visible the highly specific knowledges and ideas about abortion voiced by Hemingway's characters.