A Study Of Masculinity In William Faulkner’s Works

This dissertation studies masculinity in William Faulkner’s works.Critics have more or less tuned in to Faulkner’s deconstruction of hegemonic masculinity of the American South in his works from social,cultural and psychological perspectives.They notice the influence of social,cultural and psychological factors on Faulkner’s male characters,but lack in-depth investigation of the decisive role of the social and historical context of the American South in the construction of masculinity.Moreover,masculinity for these scholars,especially for those from a sociological perspective,appears to be a problematic concept of implied patriarchy to be questioned and rejected,which,in its final analysis,leads to the underestimation of spiritual virtues of southern manhood that endow Faulkner’s characters with motivation and vitality to establish their own identity in an every-changing modern capitalist society.Based on existing studies and combined with the social,historical,political and cultural contexts of the American South around the turn of the twentieth century,this dissertation aims at investigating the dynamic development of masculinity in Faulkner’s works by exploring the interaction between masculinity and discourses of family,race and class.It explores how male characters construct,display,negotiate and even rethink masculinity,how they use non-traditional masculinity as a way to resist the mainstream ideology and cope with anxieties brought about by social changes,and how they attempt to seek and pursue a new model of masculinity.Firstly,this dissertation analyzes the crisis of masculinity within the upper-class white family in The Sound and the Fury in Faulkner’s early writing career.Such gender crisis is closely related to familial environments such as weak fathers,callous mothers,strained relations between parents and estranged relations between siblings.More importantly,the crisis has deep social roots.During this period,the American South underwent a transformation from a traditional agricultural society to a capitalist industrial and commercial society.Changes in social structure led to the loss of privileges of the previously dominant planter class and the rise of marginalized groups such as blacks,women and the industrial and commercial bourgeoisies.Under this condition,upper-class white men fell into a sea of worries and anxieties,and their masculinities tended to assume pathological symptoms such as obsession with money,aversion to female sexuality and hatred of ethnic groups.Secondly,this dissertation explores the interaction between masculinity and race in Light in August in the middle period of Faulkner’s literary career.The novel is set in a period in the American South when white men perceived black men as black rapists with strong sexual desires to emphasize the great threat black men allegedly posed to white women,families,racial purity and even the whole country.Such a（mis）perception aims to justify the white men’s racist actions toward black men,lynching in particular,and to secure their dominant position in society.In fact,the white’s belittling and rejection of black men and their masculinity is not only intertwined with their deep-rooted racism,but also closely related to their own concern for lack of masculinity.In this situation,white men made use of their political and legal advantages to intimidate and suppress black people.By describing black men threatened by mob violence for breaking racial and sexual taboos,Faulkner reveals the exclusive and racist nature of the dominant southern masculinity.Lastly,this dissertation examines the interaction between masculinity and class in "The Snopes Trilogy" in Faulkner’s later writing career.Poor white men in Faulkner’s works try to construct their masculine identity and display their masculinity in three ways.The first type is represented by Flem who believes in the American myth of self-made man and class mobility,defines and calibrates his masculinity according to personal economic success in the capitalist market,established social status and the right to mobility.The second type is represented by Mink who embraces the Southern concept of honor,relying on violence to defend personal honor and dignity.The third type is represented by Ratliff who displays traditional southern virtues such as sympathy and sense of responsibility,follows the principle of honesty and faire trades,rejects the traditional dichotomy of gender antagonism and gives up the desire to control women.Through depicting these three types of poor white men and arranging their endings,Faulkner shows that only Ratliff,with his material and spiritual success,ultimately becomes the new man of the Southern society.To conclude,this dissertation argues that in the process of deconstructing and abandoning the negative factors such as violence,hegemony,control and conquest in traditional southern manhood,Faulkner envisions a new type of masculinity that absorbs the traditional virtues like courage,strength,compassion and responsibility in tandem with the existence of women and other ethnic groups.Rooted in his examination of and reflection on the social and cultural tradition of southern masculinity,this vision embodies Faulkner’s idea of humanity and humanism.