William-Faulkner

Lecture13WilliamFaulkner(1897-1962)TableofContentsBriefIntroductionMajorWorksTheme&ArtisticFeaturesTextAnalysisTableofContentsWilliamFaulkner•AnAmericannovelistandpoet,knownforhisepicportrayal•Regardedasoneofthemostinfluentialwritersofthe20thcentury•RegardedasoneoftheleadingAmericanwritersintheliteraryhistoryoftheUS.•Awardedthe1949NobelPrizeforliterature•Arepresentativeofthewritersusingstreamofconsciousness•ConsideredoneofthemostimportantSouthernwritersSouthernLiteratureBy1920s,aliterarymovementknownastheSouthernRenaissanceemerged.Therewasadominationofsouthernliteratureforatleast4decadesinAmericanLiterature.SouthernliteraturecanbedefinedasliteratureabouttheSouth,writtenbyauthorswhowereraisedintheSouth.Inthe20thcentury,southernliteraturebecamenotonlydistinguishedbutverydiverse.HistoricalBackgroundoftheSouthernRenaissance–a.Therewasthehistoricallysignificantconflictbetweenthenorthandthesouth.–b.TheCivilWarstoodasthewatershedoftwodifferentstagesinmanyaspects.TheSouthwasnevermoreunitedcloselyspirituallythanbefore.–c.AmericansouthernliteraturecandatebacktoEdgarAllenPoe,andreachitssummitwiththeappearanceofthetwogiantsFaulknerandWolfe.•TheAmericanCivilWar:ProsperitybeforetheCivilWar•Aristocraticlifeontheplantation•Thelostglory•TheReconstruction•Theracialissues:slaveryandthesuperiorityofthewhite•Thesignificanceoffamily,religion,andcommunity•Conflictbetweenoldandnewvaluesandmores,changesbroughtaboutbyindustrialization,declineofthepasttraditionMajorThemesofSouthernLiteraturea.Theimportanceoffamily,senseofcommunityandreligion.b.Theimportanceoftimeandplace,explorationofthepast,senseofhumanlimitationc.Theuseofsouthernvoiceanddialect.MostofthenovelsarewrittenasaSoutherneractuallyspeaks.Manybooksalsodescribethehistoricalimportanceofthesoutherntown.CharacteristicsofSouthernLiterature•bornin1897fromanoldsouthernfamilyandgrewinOxford,Mississippi•joinedtheCanadianandtheBritish,RoyalAirForceduringtheFirstWorldWar•thenstudiedforawhileattheUniversityofMississippi•1925,firstnovelpublished,Soldier’sPay•1929,twonovels:Sartoris,TheSoundandtheFury•1929-1942,mostproductive:2short-storycollections,avolumeofpoetry,11novels•1949,NobelPrizeforLiterature.•1962,theyearofFaulkner'sdeathLifeandCareerBACKMajorWorks1.1924~1929:trainingasawriterSoldier’sPay《军饷》2.1929~1936:mostproductiveperiodSartoris《萨托里斯》TheSoundandtheFury《喧嚣与骚动》AsILayDying《在我弥留之际》LightinAugust《八月之光》Sanctuary《圣殿》Absalom,Absalom《押加龙，押加龙》3.1940~end:wonrecognitioninAmericaGoDown,Moses《去吧！摩西》BACKTheme•thetragiccollisionbetweentheoldSouthandthenewSouth•theconnectionbetweenpastandpresent•socialandmoralburdens•issuesofsex,classandraceArtisticFeatures•thejuxtapositionofthepastandpresent,natureandsociety•streamofconsciousnessnarrativeandnumerousinteriormonologues•dislocationofthenarrativetime•theemploymentofmultiplepointofview•shiftbetweenthepresenttenseandpasttense•ratherlongandcomplexsentencesNEXTStreamofConsciousness•Theterm“streamofconsciousness”whichwascoinedbyWilliamJames.•Itisusedtoindicatealiteraryapproachtotheunspokenmaterialsdirectlyfromthepsycheofthecharacters,ormakethecharacterstelltheirowninnerthoughtsinmonologues.•Therealmoflifewithwhichstreamofconsciousnessnovelisconcernedismentalandspiritualexperience,suchassensations,memories,imaginations,feelings,etc.ProminentWriters•DorothyRichardson,MarcelProust,JamesJoyce,VirginiaWoolfandWilliamFaulknerareusuallyregardedasthemostprominentstreamofconsciousnessnovelists.•Faulkner’sTheSoundandtheFuryplaysaveryimportantroleinthestreamofconsciousnessnovels.•Hehadopenedupanewareaoflifefornovelbyaddingmentalfunctioningandpsychicexistencetofictionandbycreatinganovelcenteredonthecoreofhumanexperience.FeaturesofStreamofConsciousnessStreamofconsciousnesswritingisavariantofthethirdpersonpointofview,inwhichthenarratorrelatesonlywhatisexperiencedbythecharacter’smindfrommomenttomoment.•Itpresentsthoughtsandfeelingsofacharacterastheyoccur.•Itshowsamindatwork.•Itmaycontainpartsthatdonotseemcoherentbecausetheyarebasedonthefreeassociationofideasandfeelingsofandindividual’smind.BACKMultiplePointofView•Itshowswithinthesamestoryhowthecharactersreacteddifferentlytothesamepersonorthesamesituation.•Theuseofthistechniquegivesthestoryacircularformwhereinoneeventisthecenter,withvariouspointsofviewradiatingfromit.•Themultiplepointofviewtechniquemakesthereaderrecognizethedifficultyofarrivingatatruejudgement.BACKTextAnalysisThemeaningofthetitleisironic.•Theroseasasymboloflove:Aroseusuallyrepresentslove.ButMissEmilywasdeniedlove.•Theroseasatribute:Therosecanberegardedatribute.Atributeisusuallysomethingpositive.ButEmily’sstoryisanythingbutpositive.ThemeSetinthetownofJeffersoninYoknapatawpha,thestoryexpressestheconfrontationoftheoldSouthandthecivilizedmodernsociety.Emilyisincollisionwiththeindustrializedandmechanizedsocietybyclingingtothepastandalienatingherselffromthemodernsociety,whichmakesheratragicvictim.NEXTYoknapatawphaYoknapatawphaCountyisactuallyanimaginaryplacebasedonFaulkner’shometownofOxford.InFaulkner’sworks,YoknapatawphaCountyhasbecomeanallegoryoraparab