Interpretation Of William Faulkner’s Racial Stances In Intruder In The Dust

William Faulkner (1897-1962) is celebrated as one of the most distinguished writers in thehistory of American literature. Being a Southerner, the themes of Faulkner’s works are alwaysinvolved with the southern racial issues. Intruder in the Dust was published on the eve of theCivil Rights Movement, and the racial conflicts are becoming increasingly fierce. So, this novelrepresents the author’s mature attitude towards racism. Since the publication of Intruder in theDust, it has aroused great interests among the critics. Many scholars explore the novel frommany angles while this thesis tries to analyze it from the perspective of cultural hegemony.Cultural hegemony is the control of a stratum (or country) in culture (belief or value etc.) todominate the whole society. With the background of cultural hegemony, Firstly, this thesisattempts to demonstrate Faulkner’s anti-racism stance by the analysis of the cultural oppressionson blacks and whites’ cultural trauma. Secondly, as a white man, Faulkner also holds anpro-racism ideology, which can be explored in his limitations in characterization anddiscriminations in language.The thesis is composed of six chapters. Chapter one gives a brief introduction of Faulknerand Intruder in the Dust, the purpose, the significance and the framework of this thesis. Chaptertwo reviews the researches on Faulkner and the novel both abroad and at home while alsointroduces the perspective of cultural hegemony. Chapter three analyzes the cultural oppressionsof the black, such as Lucas’ pursuit of racial identity and the black community’s indifference.However, cultural hegemony also generates cultural trauma on the white. By the analysis, thischapter tries to testify Faulkner’s anti-racism stance. Chapter four explores Faulkner’spro-racism ideology by the analysis of Lucas’ loss of discourse power and the discrimination inlanguage. Chapter five discusses the causes of Faulkner’s contradictory racial stances. Chaptersix is the conclusion of the thesis.By the analysis, it can be concluded that: on the one hand, Faulkner shows his concern onblacks and condemns the sins of racism. Faulkner also creates many unique black characters withgood qualities; on the other hand, with the influences of the society and the family, Faulkner’sworks also reveal the prejudice against blacks and the love for the Southern tradition. Eventhough Faulkner holds a contradictory racial stance due to the reason that he can not escape fromthe influences of the society, the history, the culture and his family, his exploration deserves to berespected and affirmed by the later generations. Besides, Faulkner also influences manysubsequent American writers and becomes a world-famous celebrity.