Why anyone would question the geographical of where the Faulkner class resides seems a little strange to me. Ok, a lot strange. Tabling my own personal feelings about Faulkner for a minute (or an entire semester), the man's work embodies the universal paradox. By writing specifically about life in South post-Reconstruction, Faulkner hits on several universal themes such as race relations, poverty and the disparity of wealth, women's rights and their in modern society, and mental health to name a few.
To deny the "universality" of Faulkner's work is to shut oneself out from the uncomfortable realities presented in those works. The fact is the setting in his novels and short stories could be anywhere; whether a rural county in MS. or a slum in urban New York City, the characters in Faulkner's stories crop up anywhere and everywhere.
Despite some folks perceptions that backwards, despotic (even sadistic) policies are exclusive to the South, everybody in the United States--and probably the entire Western world--could recognize instances of the exact same themes rearing their heads from Seattle to Miami and all points in between. This notion that Southern Literature is exclusively for Southerners is inherently false.
gtt . . . which, as every good Mississippian knows, means "gone to texas" or, "dude ran away"
ReplyDeletedon't believe me? just wait for Absalom, Absalom.
So: Texas is to Mississippi as Mississippi is to Virginia.
I completely agree with you, Sam. I've been thinking the same thing. It's just as relevant in Texas as it is in Mississippi as it is in Cali. Or even Europe.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly; people have always been people; regardless of language, era, or race. Dismissing an author simply because of his geographical roots is asinine: there are plenty of better reasons to dismiss him/her.
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