A Study On Faulkner’s War Novels From The Perspective Of Cultural Memory

War is an indispensable part of American culture,marking it with a clear mark of the times.Based on the imaginative experience of war,Faulkner captures the human consciousness under the pressure of war.Through retrospective interpretation of the war facts,Faulkner aims to reveal the state of human existence in the context of war,and realize the subversion of traditional war novels while recreating the war history.This paper analyzes Faulkner’s war novels from the perspective of cultural memory,and reveals his war concepts and cultural psychology through the memory of myths,races,and religious culture in Faulkner’s novels.The impact of modern war has led to the decline of the traditional concept of heroes,and human beings are undergoing profound changes in their spiritual areas while suffering the wounds of war.Faulkner was clearly aware of this human survival dilemma,and reprocessed the traditional heroic myth.Faulkner’s novels not only show the physical trauma caused by the war,but also emphasize the internal confusion and subjectivity split of the characters caused by the depressing war environment.In the description of the distortion of myth and the absence of homeland,the writer adds the concern about the true meaning of life and death,which reflects his distinct return consciousness and philosophical worries.Faulkner implied the lasting effects of war by his characters’ irrational fanaticism and his spiritual dependence on the past became a way of venting,which led to a kind of post-war nostalgic cultural complex.Based on this,Faulkner gradually got rid of the narrow attention to the war trauma.While liquidating the war crimes,Faulkner explored the cultural phenomenon deeply rooted in the war and realized the purpose of analyzing the war memory through the regional psychology.Faulkner’s novels integrate memories of war and religious thoughts.From Faulkner’s perspective,religious thoughts are not only the basis of human beliefs,but also an important opportunity for war redemption.Starting from religious and cultural memory,Faulkner wrote about the positive effect of war rituals on human society,and his thoughts on grand themes such as the reconstruction of human nature and the road of redemption,which made Faulkner’s novels become the highland of contemporary war fiction writing.In the interweaving of war and individual memory,although the individual imagination and fiction about the memory of war is helpful to investigate the writer’s psychology,it has blurred the reality of war to a certain extent,which can be regarded as the limitation of Faulkner’s war novels.