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William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in for Lafayette County where he spent most of his life. A
Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...
, Faulkner is one of the most celebrated writers of
American literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...
and often is considered the greatest writer of
Southern literature Southern United States literature consists of American literature written about the Southern United States or by writers from the region. Literature written about the American South first began during the colonial era, and developed significan ...
. Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi, and raised in Oxford, Mississippi. During World War I, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, but did not serve in combat. Returning to Oxford, he attended the University of Mississippi for three semesters before dropping out. He moved to New Orleans, where he wrote his first novel ''
Soldiers' Pay ''Soldiers' Pay'' is the first novel published by the American author William Faulkner. It was originally published by Boni & Liveright on February 25, 1926. It is unclear if ''Soldiers' Pay'' is the first novel written by Faulkner. It is however t ...
'' (1925). He went back to Oxford and wrote ''
Sartoris ''Sartoris'' is a novel, first published in 1929, by the American author William Faulkner. It portrays the decay of the Mississippi aristocracy following the social upheaval of the American Civil War. The 1929 edition is an abridged version of ...
'' (1927), his first work set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County. In 1929, he published '' The Sound and the Fury''. The following year, he wrote '' As I Lay Dying''. Later that decade, he wrote ''
Light in August ''Light in August'' is a 1932 novel by the Southern American author William Faulkner. It belongs to the Southern gothic and modernist literary genres. Set in the author's present day, the interwar period, the novel centers on two strangers, a ...
'', '' Absalom, Absalom!'' and ''
The Wild Palms ''If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem'' is a novel by the American author William Faulkner published in 1939. The novel was originally published under the title ''The Wild Palms'', which is the title of one of the two interwoven stories. This title was ...
''. He also worked as a screenwriter, contributing to
Howard Hawks Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American director who is not a household name." A v ...
's '' To Have and Have Not'' and ''The Big Sleep'', adapted from
Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...
's
novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
. The former film, adapted from Ernest Hemingway's novel, is the only film with contributions by two Nobel laureates. Faulkner's reputation grew following publication of Malcolm Cowley's ''The Portable Faulkner,'' and he was awarded the
1949 Nobel Prize in Literature The 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded the American author William Faulkner (1897–1962) "for his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel." The prize was awarded in 1950. The Nobel Committee for Literatu ...
for "his powerful and unique contribution to the modern American novel." He is the only Mississippi-born Nobel laureate. Two of his works, '' A Fable'' (1954) and ''
The Reivers ''The Reivers: A Reminiscence'', published in 1962, is the last novel by the American author William Faulkner. The bestselling novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1963. Faulkner previously won this award for his book ''A Fable'', ...
'' (1962), won the
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...
. Faulkner died from a heart attack on July 6, 1962, following a fall from his horse the month before. Ralph Ellison called him "the greatest artist the South has produced".


Life


Childhood and heritage

Faulkner was born on September 25, 1897, in New Albany, Mississippi, the first of four sons of Murry Cuthbert Falkner and Maud Butler.MWP: William Faulkner (1897–1962)
, OleMiss.edu; accessed September 26, 2017.
His family was upper middle-class, but "not quite of the old feudal cotton aristocracy". After Maud rejected Murry's plan to become a rancher in Texas, the family moved to Oxford, Mississippi in 1902, Minter (1980), p. 8. where Faulkner's father established a livery stable and hardware store before becoming the University of Mississippi's business manager. Except for short periods elsewhere, Faulkner lived in Oxford for the rest of his life. Faulkner spent his boyhood listening to stories told to him by his elders — stories that spanned the Civil War, slavery, the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
, and the Faulkner family.Minter, David L. ''William Faulkner, His Life and Work''. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980; Young William was greatly influenced by the history of his family and the region in which he lived. Mississippi marked his sense of humor, his sense of the tragic position of " black and white" Americans, his characterization of Southern characters, and his timeless themes, including fiercely intelligent people who are dwelling behind the façades of good ol' boys and simpletons. He was particularly influenced by stories of his great-grandfather
William Clark Falkner William Clark Falkner (July 6, 1825 or 1826 – November 6, 1889) was a soldier, lawyer, politician, businessman, and author in northern Mississippi. He is most notable for the influence he had on the work of his great-grandson, author William F ...
, who had become a near legendary figure in North Mississippi. Born into poverty, the elder Falkner was a strict disciplinarian and was a Confederate colonel. Tried and acquitted twice on charges of murder, he became a member of the Mississippi House and became a part-owner of a railroad before being murdered by his co-owner. Faulkner incorporated many aspects of his great-grandfather's biography into his later works. Faulkner initially excelled in school and skipped the second grade. However, beginning somewhere in the fourth and fifth grades, he became a quieter and more withdrawn child. He occasionally played truant and became indifferent about schoolwork. Instead, he took an interest in studying the history of Mississippi. The decline of his performance in school continued, and Faulkner wound up repeating the eleventh and twelfth grades, never graduating from high school. As a teenager in Oxford, Faulkner dated Estelle Oldham (1897–1972), the popular daughter of Major Lemuel and Lida Oldham, and he also believed he would marry her. However, Estelle dated other boys during their romance, and, in 1918, Cornell Franklin (five years Faulkner's senior) proposed marriage to her before Faulkner did. She accepted. Parini (2004), pp. 36–37.


Trip to the North and early writings

When he was 17, Faulkner met Phil Stone, who became an important early influence on his writing. Stone was four years his senior and came from one of Oxford's older families; he was passionate about literature and had bachelor's degrees from Yale and the University of Mississippi. Stone read and was impressed by some of Faulkner's early poetry, becoming one of the first to recognize and encourage Faulkner's talent. Stone mentored the young Faulkner, introducing him to the works of writers like James Joyce, who influenced Faulkner's own writing. In his early 20s, Faulkner gave poems and short stories he had written to Stone in hopes of their being published. Stone sent these to publishers, but they were uniformly rejected. In spring 1918, Faulkner traveled to live with Stone at Yale, his first trip to the North. Through Stone, Faulkner met writers like Sherwood Anderson,
Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloq ...
, and
Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...
. O'Connor (1959), p. 5. Faulkner attempted to join the US Army. There are accounts of this that indicate he was rejected for being under weight and his short stature of 5'5". Other accounts purport to prove that the aforementioned accounts are false.Although he initially planned to join the British Army in hopes of being commissioned as an officer, Faulkner then joined the Canadian RAF with a forged letter of reference and left Yale to receive training in Toronto. Records indicate that Faulkner was never actually a member of the British
Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...
and never saw active service during the First World War. Despite claiming so in his letters, Faulkner did not receive cockpit training or ever fly. Returning to Oxford in December 1918, Faulkner told acquaintances false war-stories and even faked a war wound. In 1918, Faulkner's surname changed from "Falkner" to "Faulkner". According to one story, a careless typesetter made an error. When the misprint appeared on the title page of his first book, Faulkner was asked whether he wanted the change. He supposedly replied, "Either way suits me." In adolescence, Faulkner began writing poetry almost exclusively. He did not write his first novel until 1925. His literary influences are deep and wide. He once stated that he modeled his early writing on the Romantic era in late 18th- and early 19th-century England. He attended the University of Mississippi, enrolling in 1919, studying for three semesters before dropping out in November 1920. Faulkner joined the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, and pursued his dream to become a writer. He skipped classes often and received a "D" grade in English. However, some of his poems were published in campus publications.Coughlan, Robert. ''The Private World of William Faulkner'', New York: Harper & Brothers, 1953 Porter, Carolyn
''William Faulkner''
, New York: Oxford University Press, 2007;
In 1922, his poem "Portrait" was published in the New Orleans literary magazine ''Double Dealer''. The magazine published his "New Orleans" short story collection three years later. After dropping out, he took a series of odd jobs: at a New York City bookstore, as a carpenter in Oxford, and as the Ole Miss postmaster. He resigned from the post office with the declaration: "I will be damned if I propose to be at the beck and call of every itinerant scoundrel who has two cents to invest in a postage stamp."


New Orleans and early novels

While most writers of Faulkner's generation traveled to and lived in Europe, Faulkner remained writing in the United States. Pikoulis (1982), p. ix. Faulkner spent the first half of 1925 in New Orleans, Louisiana, where many bohemian artists and writers lived, specifically in the French Quarter where Faulkner lived beginning in March. During his time in New Orleans, Faulkner's focus drifted from poetry to prose and his literary style made a marked transition from
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...
to modernist. '' The Times-Picayune'' published several of his short works of prose. After being directly influenced by Sherwood Anderson, Faulkner wrote his first novel, ''
Soldiers' Pay ''Soldiers' Pay'' is the first novel published by the American author William Faulkner. It was originally published by Boni & Liveright on February 25, 1926. It is unclear if ''Soldiers' Pay'' is the first novel written by Faulkner. It is however t ...
,'' in New Orleans. ''Soldiers' Pay'' and his other early works were written in a style similar to contemporaries Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, at times nearly exactly appropriating phrases. Anderson assisted in the publication of ''Soldiers' Pay'' and '' Mosquitoes'' by recommending them to his publisher.Hannon, Charles. "Faulkner, William". ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature''. Jay Parini (2004), Oxford University Press, Inc. The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature: (e-reference edition). Oxford University Press The miniature house at 624 Pirate's Alley, just around the corner from St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, is now the site of Faulkner House Books, where it also serves as the headquarters of the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society. During the summer of 1927, Faulkner wrote his first novel set in his fictional Yoknapatawpha County, titled ''
Flags in the Dust ''Flags in the Dust'' is a novel by the American author William Faulkner, completed in 1927. His publisher heavily edited the manuscript with Faulkner's reluctant consent, removing about 40,000 words in the process. That version was published as ...
.'' This novel drew heavily from the traditions and history of the South, in which Faulkner had been engrossed in his youth. He was extremely proud of the novel upon its completion and he believed it a significant step up from his previous two novels—however, when submitted for publication to Boni & Liveright, it was rejected. Faulkner was devastated by this rejection but he eventually allowed his literary agent, Ben Wasson, to edit the text, and the novel was published in 1929 as ''
Sartoris ''Sartoris'' is a novel, first published in 1929, by the American author William Faulkner. It portrays the decay of the Mississippi aristocracy following the social upheaval of the American Civil War. The 1929 edition is an abridged version of ...
.'' The work was notable in that it was his first novel that dealt with the Civil War rather than the contemporary emphasis on World War I and its legacy.


''The Sound and the Fury''

In autumn 1928, just after his 31st birthday, Faulkner began working on '' The Sound and the Fury''. He started by writing three short stories about a group of children with the last name Compson, but soon began to feel that the characters he had created might be better suited for a full-length novel. Perhaps as a result of disappointment in the initial rejection of ''Flags in the Dust'', Faulkner had now become indifferent to his publishers and wrote this novel in a much more experimental style. In describing the writing process for this work, Faulkner later said, "One day I seemed to shut the door between me and all publisher's addresses and book lists. I said to myself, 'Now I can write.'" After its completion, Faulkner insisted that Wasson not do any editing or add any punctuation for clarity.


19291931

In 1929, Faulkner married Estelle Oldham, with Andrew Kuhn serving as best man at the wedding. Estelle brought with her two children from her previous marriage to Cornell Franklin and Faulkner hoped to support his new family as a writer. Faulkner and Estelle later had a daughter, Jill, in 1933. He began writing '' As I Lay Dying'' in 1929 while working night shifts at the University of Mississippi Power House. The novel was published in 1930. Parini (2004), p. 142. Beginning in 1930, Faulkner sent some of his short stories to various national magazines. Several of these were published and brought him enough income to buy a house in Oxford for his family, which he named Rowan Oak.Williamson, Joel
''William Faulkner and Southern History''
, New York: Oxford University Press, 1993; .
Fueled by a desire to make money, Faulkner wrote '' Sanctuary''. With limited royalties from his work, he published short stories in magazines such as '' The Saturday Evening Post'' to supplement his income. Bartunek (2017), p. 98.


''Light in August'' and Hollywood years

By 1932, Faulkner was in need of money. He asked Wasson to sell the serialization rights for his newly completed novel, ''Light in August'', to a magazine for $5,000, but none accepted the offer. Then MGM Studios offered Faulkner work as a screenwriter in Hollywood. Faulkner was not an avid movie goer and had reservations about working in the movie industry. As André Bleikasten comments, he "was in dire need of money and had no idea how to get it…So he went to Hollywood." Bleikasten (2017), p. 218. It has been noted that authors like Faulkner were not always hired for their writing prowess but "to enhance the prestige of the …writers who hired them." He arrived in
Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...
, in May 1932. The job began a sporadic relationship with moviemaking and with California, which was difficult but he endured in order to earn "a consistent salary that supported his family back home." Initially, he declared a desire to work on Mickey Mouse cartoons, not realizing that they were produced by Walt Disney Productions and not MGM. His first screenplay was for ''
Today We Live ''Today We Live'' is a 1933 American pre-Code romance drama film produced and directed by Howard Hawks and starring Joan Crawford, Gary Cooper, Robert Young and Franchot Tone.
'', an adaptation of his short story "Turnabout", which received a mixed response. He then wrote a screen adaptation of ''Sartoris'' that was never produced. From 1932 to 1954, Faulkner worked on around 50 films. In early 1944, Faulkner wrote a screenplay adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel '' To Have and Have Not''. The
film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
was the first starring
Lauren Bacall Lauren Bacall (; born Betty Joan Perske; September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary Aw ...
and
Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...
. Bogart and Bacall would star in Hawks's '' The Big Sleep'', another film Faulkner worked on. Faulkner was highly critical of what he found in Hollywood, and he wrote letters that were "scathing in tone, painting a miserable portrait of a literary artist imprisoned in a cultural Babylon." Many scholars have brought attention to the dilemma he experienced and that the predicament had caused him serious unhappiness. In Hollywood he worked with director
Howard Hawks Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American director who is not a household name." A v ...
, with whom he quickly developed a friendship, as they both enjoyed drinking and hunting. Howard Hawks' brother, William Hawks, became Faulkner's
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
agent. Faulkner continued to find reliable work as a screenwriter from the 1930s to the 1950s. While staying in Hollywood, Faulkner adopted a "vagrant" lifestyle, living in brief stints in hotels like the
Garden of Allah Hotel The Garden of Allah was a famous hotel in West Hollywood, California (then an unincorporated area of Los Angeles which was usually considered a part of Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood), at 8152 Sunset Boulevard between Crescent Heights and Haven ...
and frequenting the bar at the Roosevelt Hotel and the Musso & Frank Grill where he was said to have regularly gone behind the bar to mix his own Mint Juleps. He had an extramarital affair with Hawks' secretary and
script girl A script supervisor (also called continuity supervisor or script) is a member of a film crew who oversees the continuity of the motion picture including wardrobe, props, set dressing, hair, makeup and the actions of the actors during a scene. Th ...
, Meta Carpenter. With the onset of World War II, in 1942, Faulkner tried to join the United States Air Force but was rejected. He instead worked on local
civil defense Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, miti ...
. Capps (1966), p. 3. The war drained Faulkner of his enthusiasm. He described the war as "bad for writing". Amid this creative slowdown, in 1943, Faulkner began work on a new novel that merged World War I's Unknown Soldier with the Passion of Christ. Published over a decade later as '' A Fable'', it won the 1954 Pulitzer Prize. The award for ''A Fable'' was a controversial political choice. The jury had selected
Milton Lott Milton Lott (1916 – 1996) was an author of western novels. He grew up in the Snake River Valley, in Idaho and attended University of California, Berkeley. While there he started writing his first published novel, ''The Last Hunt''. He work ...
's ''
The Last Hunt ''The Last Hunt'' is a 1956 American Western film directed by Richard Brooks and produced by Dore Schary. The screenplay was by Richard Brooks from the novel '' The Last Hunt'', by Milton Lott. The music score was by Daniele Amfitheatrof and ...
'' for the prize, but Pulitzer Prize Administrator Professor John Hohenberg convinced the Pulitzer board that Faulkner was long overdue for the award, despite ''A Fable'' being a lesser work of his, and the board overrode the jury's selection, much to the disgust of its members. By the time of ''The Portable Faulkner''s publication, most of his novels had been out of print.


Nobel Prize and later years

Faulkner was awarded the
1949 Nobel Prize in Literature The 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded the American author William Faulkner (1897–1962) "for his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel." The prize was awarded in 1950. The Nobel Committee for Literatu ...
for "his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel". It was awarded at the following year's banquet along with the 1950 Prize to Bertrand Russell. When Faulkner visited
Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
in December 1950 to receive the Nobel Prize, he met Else Jonsson (1912–1996), who was the widow of journalist
Thorsten Jonsson Thorsten Jonsson (1910–1950) was a Swedish writer, journalist and translator. Jonsson grew up in a small village in Västerbotten. He studied at Stockholms högskola and then worked as journalist for various newspapers, including ''Dagens ...
(1910–1950). Jonsson, a reporter for '' Dagens Nyheter'' from 1943 to 1946, had interviewed Faulkner in 1946 and introduced his works to Swedish readers. Faulkner and Else had an affair that lasted until the end of 1953. At the banquet where they met in 1950, publisher Tor Bonnier introduced Else as the widow of the man responsible for Faulkner winning the Nobel Prize. Faulkner's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech on the immortality of the artists, although brief, contained a number of allusions and references to other literary works. However, Faulkner detested the fame and glory that resulted from his recognition. His aversion was so great that his 17-year-old daughter learned of the Nobel Prize only when she was called to the principal's office during the school day. He began by saying: "I feel that this award was not made to me as a man, but to my work – a life's work in the agony and sweat of the human spirit, not for glory and least of all for profit, but to create out of the materials of the human spirit something which did not exist before. So this award is only mine in trust. It will not be difficult to find a dedication for the money part of it commensurate with the purpose and significance of its origin." He donated part of his Nobel money "to establish a fund to support and encourage new fiction writers", eventually resulting in the William Faulkner Foundation (1960–1970). In 1951, Faulkner received the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur medal from the government of France. Faulkner served as the first Writer-in-Residence at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville from February to June 1957 and again in 1958. In 1961, Faulkner began writing his nineteenth and final novel, ''
The Reivers ''The Reivers: A Reminiscence'', published in 1962, is the last novel by the American author William Faulkner. The bestselling novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1963. Faulkner previously won this award for his book ''A Fable'', ...
''. The novel is a nostalgic reminiscence, in which an elderly grandfather relates a humorous episode in which he and two boys stole a car to drive to a Memphis bordello. In summer 1961, he finished the first draft. During this time, he injured himself in a series of falls. On June 17, 1962, Faulkner suffered a serious injury in a fall from his horse, which led to thrombosis. He suffered a fatal heart attack on July 6, 1962, at the age of 64, at Wright's Sanatorium in Byhalia, Mississippi. Faulkner is buried with his family in St. Peter's Cemetery in Oxford.


Writing

From the early 1920s to the outbreak of World War II, Faulkner published 13 novels and many short stories. This body of work formed the basis of his reputation and earned him the Nobel Prize at age 52. Faulkner's prodigious output include celebrated novels such as '' The Sound and the Fury'' (1929), '' As I Lay Dying'' (1930), ''
Light in August ''Light in August'' is a 1932 novel by the Southern American author William Faulkner. It belongs to the Southern gothic and modernist literary genres. Set in the author's present day, the interwar period, the novel centers on two strangers, a ...
'' (1932), and '' Absalom, Absalom!'' (1936). He was also a prolific writer of short stories. Faulkner's first short story collection, ''
These 13 ''These 13'' is a 1931 collection of short stories written by William Faulkner, and dedicated to his first daughter, Alabama, who died nine days after her birth on January 11, 1931, and to his wife Estelle. No longer in print, ''These 13'' is now ...
'' (1931), includes many of his most acclaimed (and most frequently
anthologized In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically catego ...
) stories, including " A Rose for Emily", "
Red Leaves "Red Leaves" is a short story by American author William Faulkner. First published in the ''Saturday Evening Post'' on October 25, 1930, it was one of Faulkner's first stories to appear in a national magazine. The next year the story was included i ...
", " That Evening Sun", and "
Dry September "Dry September" is a short story by William Faulkner. Published in 1931, it describes a lynch mob forming (despite ambiguous evidence) on a hot September evening to avenge an alleged (and unspecified) insult or attack upon a white woman by a blac ...
". He set many of his short stories and novels in Yoknapatawpha County—which was based on and nearly geographically identical to Lafayette County (of which his hometown of Oxford, Mississippi, is the county seat). Yoknapatawpha was Faulkner's "postage stamp", and the bulk of work that it represents is widely considered by critics to amount to one of the most monumental fictional creations in the history of literature. Three of his novels, '' The Hamlet'', '' The Town'' and ''
The Mansion The Mansion or The Mansions may refer to: Books * ''The Interior Castle'', also known as ''The Mansions'' (1577), a spiritual guide written by Teresa of Ávila * ''The Mansion'' (novel), a 1959 book written by novelist William Faulkner Buildings ...
'', known collectively as the
Snopes trilogy The Snopes trilogy is a series of three novels written by William Faulkner regarding the Snopes family in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi.John B. Padgett"A Faulkner Glossary: S" William Faulkner on the Web, October 9, 2000. Retrieve ...
, document the town of Jefferson and its environs, as an extended family headed by Flem Snopes insinuates itself into the lives and psyches of the general populace. Yoknapatawpha County has been described as a mental landscape. His short story " A Rose for Emily" was his first story published in a major magazine, the ''Forum'', but received little attention from the public. After revisions and reissues, it gained popularity and is now considered one of his best. Faulkner wrote two volumes of poetry which were published in small printings, ''The Marble Faun'' (1924), and ''A Green Bough'' (1933), and a collection of mystery stories, ''
Knight's Gambit ''Knight’s Gambit'' is a 1949 short story collection by American author William Faulkner. Including the titular story, the book collects six of Faulkner’s stories about attorney Gavin Stevens, who also takes a leading part in his novel ''Intr ...
'' (1949).


Style and technique

Carl Rollyson has argued that, "as an artist," Faulkner believed "he should be above worldly concerns and even morality." Faulkner was known for his experimental style with meticulous attention to diction and cadence. In contrast to the minimalist understatement of his contemporary Ernest Hemingway, Faulkner made frequent use of stream of consciousness in his writing, and wrote often highly emotional, subtle, cerebral, complex, and sometimes
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
or grotesque stories of a wide variety of characters including former slaves or descendants of slaves, poor white, agrarian, or working-class Southerners, and Southern aristocrats. Faulkner's contemporary critical reception was mixed, with '' The New York Times'' noting that many critics regarded his work as "raw slabs of pseudorealism that had relatively little merit as serious writing". His style has been described as "impenetrably convoluted". In an interview with '' The Paris Review'' in 1956, Faulkner remarked:
Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would be a fool to follow a theory. Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error. The good artist believes that nobody is good enough to give him advice. He has supreme vanity. No matter how much he admires the old writer, he wants to beat him.
In that same interview, Jean Stein says "Some people say they can't understand your writing, even after they read it two or three times. What approach would you suggest for them?" Faulkner replies: "Read it four times." When asked about his influences, Faulkner says "the books I read are the ones I knew and loved when I was a young man and to which I return as you do to old friends: the
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
, Dickens,
Conrad Conrad may refer to: People * Conrad (name) Places United States * Conrad, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Conrad, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Conrad, Iowa, a city * Conrad, Montana, a city * Conrad Glacier, Washington ...
, Cervantes, '' Don Quixote—''I read that every year, as some do the Bible. Flaubert, Balzac—he created an intact world of his own, a bloodstream running through twenty books— Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Shakespeare. I read Melville occasionally and, of the poets, Marlowe, Campion, Jonson, Herrick, Donne, Keats, and Shelley." Like his contemporaries James Joyce and
T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...
, Faulkner uses stories and themes from classic literature in a modern context. Joyce, in ''
Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...
'', modeled the journey of his hero Leopold Bloom on the adventures of
Odysseus Odysseus ( ; grc-gre, Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, OdysseúsOdyseús, ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; lat, UlyssesUlixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the ''Odyssey''. Odysse ...
. Eliot, in his essay "Ulysses, Order and Myth", wrote that "In using the myth, in manipulating a continuous parallel between contemporaneity and antiquity, Mr. Joyce is pursuing a method which others must pursue after him. They will not be imitators, any more than the scientist who uses the discoveries of an Einstein in pursuing his own, independent, further investigations. It is simply a way of controlling, of ordering, of giving a shape and a significance to the immense panorama of futility and anarchy which is contemporary history." Faulkner's allusions to earlier authors are evidenced by his titles; the title of '' The Sound and the Fury'' comes from Macbeth's soliloquy: "it is a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/ Signifying nothing." The opening of the novel is told from the perspective of the intellectually disabled Benjy Compson. The title of '' As I Lay Dying'' comes from Homer's '' Odyssey'', where it is spoken by Agamemnon in the past tense: "As I lay dying, the woman with the dog's eyes would not close my eyes as I descended into Hades." Faulkner's novel, in contrast, is narrated in the present tense. The title of ''
Go Down, Moses "Go Down Moses" is a spiritual phrase that describes events in the Old Testament of the Bible, specifically Exodus 5:1: "And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may se ...
'' is from an African American spiritual, and the book is dedicated "To Mammy / Caroline Barr / Mississippi / 840–1940Who was born in slavery and who gave to my family a fidelity without stint or calculation of recompense and to my childhood an immeasurable devotion and love."


Themes and analysis

Faulkner was against forced desegregation and argued that civil rights activists should "go slow" and be more moderate in their positions. The essayist and novelist
James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; de ...
was highly critical of his views around integration. Ralph Ellison said that "No one in American fiction has done so much to explore the types of Negro personality as has Faulkner." The New Critics became interested in Faulkner's work, with Cleanth Brooks writing ''The Yoknapatawpha Country'' and Michael Millgate writing ''The Achievement of William Faulkner''. Since then, critics have looked at Faulkner's work using other approaches, such as feminist and psychoanalytic methods. Faulkner's works have been placed within the literary traditions of modernism and the Southern Renaissance. French philosopher Albert Camus wrote that Faulkner successfully imported classical tragedy into the 20th century through his "interminably unwinding spiral of words and sentences that conducts the speaker to the abyss of sufferings buried in the past".


Legacy


Influence

Faulkner is widely considered a towering figure in
Southern literature Southern United States literature consists of American literature written about the Southern United States or by writers from the region. Literature written about the American South first began during the colonial era, and developed significan ...
; Flannery O'Connor wrote that "the presence alone of Faulkner in our midst makes a great difference in what the writer can and cannot permit himself to do. Nobody wants his mule and wagon stalled on the same track the ''Dixie Limited'' is roaring down". In 1943, while working at Warner Brothers, Faulkner wrote a letter of encouragement to a young Mississippi writer, Eudora Welty. According to critic and translator
Valerie Miles Valerie Miles (New York, 1963) is a publisher, writer, translator and the co–founder of ''Granta en español''. She is known for promoting Spanish and Latin American literature and their translation in the English speaking world, at the same ti ...
, Faulkner's influence on
Latin American fiction Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
is considerable, with fictional worlds created by Gabriel García Márquez ( Macondo) and Juan Carlos Onetti (Santa Maria) being "very much in the vein of" Yoknapatawpha, and that " Carlos Fuentes's ''
The Death of Artemio Cruz ''The Death of Artemio Cruz'' ( es, La muerte de Artemio Cruz, ) is a novel written in 1962 by Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes. It is considered to be a milestone in the Latin American Boom. Plot summary Artemio Cruz, a corrupt soldier, politician, ...
'' wouldn't exist if not for '' As I Lay Dying''". Fuentes himself cited Faulkner as one of the writers most important to him. Faulkner had great influence on Mario Vargas Llosa, particularly on his early novels '' The Time of the Hero'', '' The Green House'' and '' Conversation in The Cathedral''. Vargas Llosa has claimed that during his student years he learned more from Yoknapatawpha than from classes. Jorge Luis Borges translated Faulkner's ''
The Wild Palms ''If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem'' is a novel by the American author William Faulkner published in 1939. The novel was originally published under the title ''The Wild Palms'', which is the title of one of the two interwoven stories. This title was ...
'' into Spanish''.'' The works of William Faulkner are a clear influence on the French novelist Claude Simon, and the Portuguese novelist
António Lobo Antunes António Lobo Antunes, GCSE (; born 1 September 1942) is a Portuguese novelist and retired medical doctor. He has been named as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He has been awarded the 2000 Austrian State Prize, the 2003 Ovid ...
. Cormac McCarthy has been described as a "disciple of Faulkner". In '' The Elements of Style'', E. B. White cites Faulkner: "If the experiences of Walter Mitty, of
Dick Diver Dick Diver is an Australian four-piece indie pop band from Melbourne, Victoria (Australia). The band consists of Rupert Edwards (guitar) and Alistair McKay (guitar), Steph Hughes (drums) and Al Montfort (bass). It took its name from the characte ...
, of Rabbit Angstrom have seemed for the moment real to countless readers, if in reading Faulkner we have almost the sense of inhabiting Yoknapatawpha County during the decline of the South, it is because the details used are definite, the terms concrete." Later, Faulkner's style is contrasted with that of Hemingway. After his death, Estelle and their daughter, Jill, lived at Rowan Oak until Estelle's death in 1972. The property was sold to the University of Mississippi that same year. The house and furnishings are maintained much as they were in Faulkner's day. Faulkner's scribblings are preserved on the wall, including the day-by-day outline covering a week he wrote on the walls of his small study to help him keep track of the plot twists in his novel '' A Fable''. Some of Faulkner's Nobel Prize winnings went to establish the William Faulkner Foundation. It gave an Award for Notable First Novel; winners included John Knowles's '' A Separate Peace'', Thomas Pynchon's '' V.'', Cormac McCarthy's '' The Orchard Keeper'', Robert Coover's '' The Origin of the Brunists'' and
Frederick Exley Frederick Earl "Fred" Exley (March 28, 1929 – June 17, 1992)Bruce Lambert''New York Times'', June 18, 1992. was an American writer. His fictional memoir '' A Fan's Notes'' received critical acclaim and awards. He followed it up with two more ...
's ''
A Fan's Notes ''A Fan's Notes'' is a 1968 novel by Frederick Exley. Subtitled "A Fictional Memoir" and categorized as fiction, the book is semi-autobiographical. In a brief "Note to the Reader" in the opening pages, Exley writes: "Though the events in this boo ...
''. Starting in 1981, this became the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, founded by, among others, Mary Lee Settle as an alternative to the National Book Award. Some of Faulkner's works have been adapted into films. They have received a polarized response, with many critics contending that Faulkner's works are "unfilmable". Faulkner's final work, ''The Reivers'', was adapted into a 1969 film starring
Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...
. Tommy Lee Jones's neo-Western film '' The Three Burials of Melquiades Estada'' was partly based on Faulkner's '' As I Lay Dying''. During the Nazi Occupation of France in World War II, the German occupiers banned American literature. A black-market of American books emerged, and reading works by Hemingway and Faulkner became an act of defiance. Faulkner remains especially popular in France, where a 2009 poll found him the second most popular writer (after only
Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous Eng ...
). Contemporary Jean-Paul Sartre stated that "for young people in France, Faulkner is a god", and Albert Camus made a stage adaptation of Faulkner's '' Requiem for a Nun''. In
Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...
's ''
Breathless Breathless may refer to: Aircraft *Paradelta Breathless, an Italian paraglider design Film and television * Breathless (1960 film), ''Breathless'' (1960 film) (''À bout de souffle''), a French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard * Breathless (1982 ...
'', Patricia ( Jean Seberg) quotes ''The Wild Palms'': "Between grief and nothing, I will take grief." He also won the U.S. National Book Award twice, for ''Collected Stories'' in 1951"National Book Awards – 1951"
. National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-03-31. (With essays by Neil Baldwin and Harold Augenbraum from the Awards 50- and 60-year anniversary publications.)
and '' A Fable'' in 1955."National Book Awards – 1955"
. National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-03-31. (With acceptance speech by Faulkner and essays by Neil Baldwin and Harold Augenbraum from the Awards 50- and 60-year anniversary publications.)
The United States Postal Service issued a 22-cent postage stamp in his honor on August 3, 1987. Faulkner had once served as Postmaster at the University of Mississippi, and in his letter of resignation in 1923 wrote:
As long as I live under the capitalistic system, I expect to have my life influenced by the demands of moneyed people. But I will be damned if I propose to be at the beck and call of every itinerant scoundrel who has two cents to invest in a postage stamp. This, sir, is my resignation.
On October 10, 2019, a
Mississippi Writers Trail The Mississippi Writers Trail is a series of historical markers which celebrate the literary, social, historical, and cultural contributions of Mississippi's most acclaimed and influential writers. An advisory committee of state cultural agencies ov ...
historical marker was installed at Rowan Oak in Oxford, Mississippi honoring the contributions of William Faulkner to the American literary landscape.


Collections

The manuscripts of most of Faulkner's works, correspondence, personal papers, and over 300 books from his working library reside at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia, where he spent much of his time in his final years. The library also houses some of the writer's personal effects and the papers of major Faulkner associates and scholars, such as his biographer Joseph Blotner, bibliographer Linton Massey, and Random House editor Albert Erskine.
Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Col ...
, where the
Center for Faulkner Studies The Center for Faulkner Studies (CFS) is a research center located at Southeast Missouri State University. It is devoted to the study of the life and works of William Faulkner (1897–1962), the American author who was awarded the Nobel Prize fo ...
is located, also owns a generous collection of Faulkner materials, including first editions, manuscripts, letters, photographs, artwork, and many materials pertaining to Faulkner's time in Hollywood. The university possesses many personal files and letters kept by Joseph Blotner, along with books and letters that once belonged to Malcolm Cowley. The university achieved the collection due to a generous donation by Louis Daniel Brodsky, a collector of Faulkner materials, in 1989. Further significant Faulkner materials reside at the University of Mississippi, the Harry Ransom Center, and the
New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
. The Random House records at Columbia University also include letters by and to Faulkner.Jaillant (2014) In 1966, the United States Military Academy dedicated a William Faulkner Room in its library.


Selected list of works

* '' The Sound and the Fury'' (1929) * '' As I Lay Dying'' (1930) * '' Sanctuary'' (1931) * ''
Light in August ''Light in August'' is a 1932 novel by the Southern American author William Faulkner. It belongs to the Southern gothic and modernist literary genres. Set in the author's present day, the interwar period, the novel centers on two strangers, a ...
'' (1932) * '' Absalom, Absalom!'' (1936) * ''
The Wild Palms ''If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem'' is a novel by the American author William Faulkner published in 1939. The novel was originally published under the title ''The Wild Palms'', which is the title of one of the two interwoven stories. This title was ...
'' (1939) * ''
Go Down, Moses "Go Down Moses" is a spiritual phrase that describes events in the Old Testament of the Bible, specifically Exodus 5:1: "And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may se ...
'' (1942) * '' Intruder in the Dust'' (1948) * '' A Fable'' (1954) * ''
The Reivers ''The Reivers: A Reminiscence'', published in 1962, is the last novel by the American author William Faulkner. The bestselling novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1963. Faulkner previously won this award for his book ''A Fable'', ...
'' (1962)


Filmography

* '' Flesh'' (1932) * ''
Today We Live ''Today We Live'' is a 1933 American pre-Code romance drama film produced and directed by Howard Hawks and starring Joan Crawford, Gary Cooper, Robert Young and Franchot Tone.
'' (1933) * '' The Story of Temple Drake'' (1933) * '' Submarine Patrol'' (1938) * '' Air Force'' (1943) * '' To Have and Have Not'' (1944) * '' The Big Sleep'' (1946) *'' Land of the Pharaohs'' (1955)


Notes and references


Notes


Citations and references

"Oppression and Its Effects on the Individual and Society in Faulkner's 'A Rose for Emily'", El-Ruha 5th International Conference on Social Sciences Proceedings Book, Eds. Fethi Demir&Mehmet Recep Taş. . Oct 15, 2019. Tunisia. Pg. 31-38. www.elruha.org.


Works cited

* * * * William Faulkner: ''Novels 1930–1935'' (Joseph Blotner and Noel Polk, ed.) ( Library of America, 1985) * William Faulkner: ''Novels 1936–1940'' (Joseph Blotner and Noel Polk, eds.) ( Library of America, 1990) * William Faulkner: ''Novels 1942–1954'' (Joseph Blotner and Noel Polk, eds.) ( Library of America, 1994) * William Faulkner: ''Novels 1957–1962'' (Noel Polk, ed., with notes by Joseph Blotner) ( Library of America, 1999) * William Faulkner: ''Novels 1926–1929'' (Joseph Blotner and Noel Polk, eds.) ( Library of America, 2006) * ''The Portable Faulkner,'' ed. Malcolm Cowley (Viking Press, 1946). * * Blotner, Joseph. ''Faulkner: A Biography''.
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
: Random House, 1984. * Fowler, Doreen, Abadie, Ann. ''Faulkner and Popular Culture: Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha''. Univ. Press of Mississippi, 1990 , * Jaillant, Lise
"'I'm Afraid I've Got Involved With a Nut': New Faulkner Letters." Southern Literary Journal 47.1 (2014): 98–114.
* Kerr, Elizabeth Margaret, and Kerr, Michael M. ''William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha: A Kind of Keystone in the Universe''. Fordham Univ Press, 1985 , * * Liénard-Yeterian, Marie. 'Faulkner et le cinéma', Paris: Michel Houdiard Editeur, 2010. * * * * Sensibar, Judith L. ''The Origins of Faulkner's Art''. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1984. * Sensibar, Judith L. ''Faulkner and Love: The Women Who Shaped His Art, A Biography''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008. * Sensibar, Judith L. ''Vision in Spring''. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1984. . * * * * * * *


Further reading

*


External links


William Faulkner Papers
at the University of Virginia
William Faulkner Collection
at the Harry Ransom Center * * * * *
Digital Yoknapatawpha

Faulkner at Virginia: An Audio Archive


{{DEFAULTSORT:Faulkner, William 1897 births 1962 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American poets 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American short story writers Accidental deaths in Mississippi American erotica writers American male novelists American male screenwriters American male short story writers American Nobel laureates British Army personnel of World War I Deaths by horse-riding accident in the United States Lost Generation writers Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Mississippi postmasters Modernist writers National Book Award winners Nobel laureates in Literature Novelists from Mississippi O. Henry Award winners People from New Albany, Mississippi People from Oxford, Mississippi People from Ripley, Mississippi Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners Screenwriters from Mississippi Sigma Alpha Epsilon members Southern United States in fiction University of Virginia alumni Writers of American Southern literature