References 19

1。 Introduction

1。1 Introduction to From优Y尔E论W文W网wWw.YouERw.com 加QQ75201,8766 Faulkner

William Faulkner, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century in America, is called the spiritual leader of the Southern literature of America。 In 1950, he won a Nobel Prize for his great and unparalleled contribution to contemporary American novels。 Faulkner was born in 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi and grew up in Oxford。 His family is a traditional southern family with high status and large fortune。 His father held various positions, including a railroad worker, factory owner, and business manager。 William Faulkner's great-grandfather, William Clark Falkner, (Faulkner added the "u" in 1918) was an accomplished author, lawyer, and Confederate army officer。 In 1926, Faulkner published his first novel, soldiers’ pay in New York。 It was created based on a soldier’s painful suffering of war and family accident。 In the following year, mosquitoes, which emphasizes to the description of those bohemian artist and hypocritical people was finished。 It seemed a bumper book with no food for thoughts。 But Sherwood Anderson, a pretty famous novelist at that time, pointed out the problem of Faulkner’s work and persuaded Faulkner to return to his hometown he loved。 Under the instruction of Sherwood, he left New Orleans and went back to Mississippi。论文网

Since then, his work showed close connection with the south。 The he created Yoknapatawpha, an imaginary place based on his own little postage stamp of native soil。 Fifteen of his major works are set in there。 However, the southern society in his books is not so wealthy and peaceful。 Along with the failure in the civil war, the society suffered great pain。 Social shortcomings were gradually exposed and strengthened。 Faulkner convey his emotion and attitude towards the American south with words。 Faulkner died of a heart attack on July 6, 1962, in Byhalia, Mississippi。

1。2 Introduction to the Sound and the Fury and Light in August

The Sound and the Fury is the fourth novel written by Faulkner。 It was published in 1929 and is regarded as one of the most successfully innovative and experimental novels of its time。 The novel mainly narrates the downfall of the Compson family, a traditional prominent family in Jefferson, Mississippi。 It is written in a stream of consciousness style and pided into four sections。 In each section, there is a different narrator, which including Benjy, Quentin, Jason and the servant in Compson family, Dilsey。 The first is from the viewpoint of Benjy Compson, a thirty-three year old man with mental problem。 The second section is told from the point of view of Quentin Compson, a Harvard-educated student who commits suicide after a series of events involving his sister Caddy。 The third is from the point of view of Jason, a villain in the novel, and the fourth is from a point-of-view focused on Dilsey。 The story overall summarizes the lives of people in the Compson family that has by now fallen into ruin。 This novel is a classic example of the unreliable narrator technique。 A title of the Sound and the Fury refers to a line from William Shakespeare’s Macbeth “it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and the fury, signifying nothing……”文献综述

Light in August, which was published in 1932, is Faulkner’s seventh novel。 Compared with The Sound and the Fury, it integrates Faulkner's technical innovations into a more conventional and more objective。 Light in August tells three major stories--the stories of Lena Grove, Joe Christmas, and Reverend Gail Hightower。 The story of Lena Grove begins and ends the novel。 The story of Joe Christmas begins in the second chapter and ends in the third-to-last while story of Gail Hightower begins in the third chapter and ends in the next-to-last。 Though the novel weaves the tales together, this section describes them separately to make them easier for you to follow。