On The Narrative Voice In As I Lay Dying

William Faulkner is one of the most influential writers of the world in contemporary America.In the process of creative practice of nearly 40 years,he continuously explore and innovate on the narrative techniques,leaving a number of outstanding works.As one of the magnificent masterpiece of York napa tower series,As I Lay Dying attract the researchers’ attention by its delicate narrative structure and obscure language.This paper starting with the narrative voice of the text,analyzing narrative effect caused by the different narrative voices.The first chapter analyzed the concept of narrative voice,the history of narrative voice and the development of its meaning.The second chapter focus on three types of narrative voices in the texts classified by Susan Lancer,namely the author narrative voice,the personal narrative voice and the collective voice.The third chapter analyzed the polyphony narrative effect caused by multiple narrative voices.The author expressed his condolences owing to the declining of the traditional culture of the South overlapped by multiple narrative voices.On the one hand,Faulkner missed southern traditional culture.On the other hand,Faulkner keenly grasped the trend of industrial civilization with eroding the traditional civilization is avoidable.The mixed emotion conveyed by the writer leading to the generation of multiple narrative voices,increasing the difficulty in reading his works.This paper tried to aim at the narrative voice of As I Lay Dying,providing a way to reading Faulkner’s modern novel.