It's been years since I've read any Hemingway, but I think that passage
about American literature was spoken by a pompous characater in the novel,
and were not the words of the narrator or EH himself.  You'd have to read
the rest of the novel to get a sense of whether EH was speaking through that
character. Some (incl. me) might argue that was the case. And some not.

This is not unlike Twain's use of the word "nigger" --putting it in the
speech of particular characters or situations to reveal their attitudes or
reflect their social status -- not his own. Unlike with EH, I don't think
anyone can reasonably construct a case that Twain was expressing his own
racial views through his various characaters.

But EH was not Mark Twain, and I don't see no p'ints about EH that make him
better'n Mark Twain.

Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX