| As one of the most important 20th century American writers,William Faulkner showed high proficiency in adopting mythological elements to his novels.However,among the numerous Faulkner studies,there are few studies focusing on this aspect.With that observation in mind,this dissertation is completed just to filled the gap---to conduct an integrative study of Faulkner's novels from the perspective of "mythological poetics",which covers multiple issues including backgrounds,mythological archetypes,cultural identity,cultural memory,nostalgia,and the community with shared future for humanity,so that to analyze how Faulkner,the great modern artist,motivated"anthropological imagination" and constructed the "ethnography" of American South through the "Yoknapatawpha genealogy" to reshape people's belief in a modern society;furthermore,to construct the mythological poetic structural system that depicted in Faulkner's novels;ultimately,to illuminate Faulkner's concern on the fundamental problem of humanity,namely,what are human beings?How would they exist?And where are they going?In analyzing series of Faulkner's novels,the current study made the latent mythological poetic characteristics clear by expositing it through the circular narrative chain of "birth-growth-destroy-rebirth" that expressed Faulkner's lifelong vision to draw a continuous picture of the history of America.Specifically speaking,the author represented the myth of "birth" through reconstructing of the primitive myth in a modern way,also in conceiving of a modern cultural identity.Light in August tells stories of American South,and shows the tendency of reconstructing the myth of birth,it also conceives the idea of posthuman cultural identity.The Sound and the Fury demonstrates a "multi-phonic" world in the "opening of chaos".Lena and Joe Christmas in Light in August want to know "who am I?";Jason in The Sound and the Fury goes along with "material";while Benjy is shaped as an idiot.What is in common of these characters is that all have experienced events of individual subjectivity construction or identity transition,thus all are discursive objects in the reproduced myth of creation,and the "Yoknapatawpha County" serves as the "Garden of Eden" to the characters.Go Down,Moses and Absalom,Absalom! reproduce the myth of "growth" from aspects of mythological narrative,cultural memory and identity searching.The two novels tell the "growth history" of the protagonist Isaac McCaslin and the Sutpen family,that also represents the periodical growth history of America,and even a part of the growth history of human society.Growth means both temporally and spatially.If "what is beautiful and good life?" is the only question behind the origin narrative,then "how to pursue this kind of life?"must be the most meaningful question behind the growth narrative.Under the theme of "modernity problem",especially of modern tragedy and nostalgia,Sanctuary represents an American version of Oedipus tragedy by using the Gothic technique,it also displays a modern American-land-of-Canaan with Greek mythological color that resembles a utopia of mad and decay.For those Americans who face the problem of ethical lost or nostalgia,As I Lay Dying is surely to be understood as a family tragedy,as well as an ethical tragedy.The funeral journey of the Bundrens reached Jefferson through fighting in fire and blood,that seems an absurd,funny and mixed story,but actually the "family event" tends to symbolize one of American "public events",that is also a problem all human must face-----"the Eden myth" move towards"decline(or destroy)".Concerning the idea of community with shared future for mankind in the era of globalization,The Wild Palms reproduces the ancient rebirth-after-flood myth in an apocalyptical style and with the structure of counterpoint.Between the lines of A Fable,it implies the basic narrative structure of "the crucifixion and rebirth of Christ",the author might have infused Bible stories into the novel intentionally,and anthropomorphized the modern nation-state through imagination,and made it a"voiced" subjective existence.Generally speaking,The Wild Palms emphasizes more on the rebirth of individual subject,while A Fable emphasizes more on communal rebirth,that is,the reconstruction of national and social order,redefining humanity and nationality,insisting on human-centered ideas and ideas of universal value and the community with shared future for mankind.Faulkner's novels were nourished in the 20th century historical and cultural environment where myth fully revived,and there was worldwide root-seeking tide.Through reconstruction of ancient myth in a modern way,also the connection of southern geological space,physical practice and racial cultural identity,his works provide us an overall cultural landscape,he wrote the American past in a thoughtful way in order to observe human nature and concern about the social reality at the level of humanity as a whole.This kind of cosmopolitan dream shows Faulkner's view of human history as the "interdependency of the sacred and the profane".The overall structural narrative model of the lifecycle myth of "birth-death-rebirth" that represented in Faulkner's serial novels lead us to review an important question that directly hit the human soul------"who am I?where do I come from?Where am I going?",it not only shows the author's responsibility of "poetic justice",but also a question all researchers have to ask.Reflecting in the current condition of human dilemma and cross-cultural relations,we find that Faulkner offers us an aesthetic model of profound and comprehensive meaning. |
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