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The study will contribute to enrich the relative study about A Rose for Emily and Faulkner’s writing technique--symbolism. In addition, more hints will be given to the study of symbolism and help people to cogitate on literature works in a new light.
2. Faulkner and Symbolism
Well-known for the experimental style, William Faulkner is awarded the 1949 Nobel Prize for Literature for “his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel”. Faulkner himself once remarked, “Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would be a fool to follow a theory. Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error. The good artist believes that nobody is good enough to give him advice. He has supreme vanity. No matter how much he admires the old writer, he wants to beat him.” (qtd. in Charles, 1960). In the field of literature, Faulkner makes a lot of experiments and exploration. Just like in A Rose for Emily, the application of symbolism is the most distinctive and successful practice in most of Faulkner’s works.源`自,优尔`.论"文'网[www.youerw.com
2.1 Symbolism in Faulkner's Works
Etymologically, the word “symbolism” comes from Greek “symbolon”, which originally means two opposite sides of a piece of wood seem to be separate but actually connected together. As early as in 1980s, French writers first adopted the technique of symbolism in their literature work. In literature, “symbolism” may refer to the use of abstract concepts, as a way to obfuscate any literal interpretation, or to allow for the broader applicability of the prose to meanings beyond what may be literally described (James, 2013).
The application of symbolism in literary creation first appeared in France as early as in the 1880s. And in the 1890s, symbolism rose rapidly and began to spread all over the world. By the twentieth Century, it had already become the most powerful and influential among all those schools of literature with its theory completed. All the way through, symbolism manifests that objective things should never be the focus that a writer is supposed to concentrate. Instead, the objective things are the media through which a certain kind of subjective world is presented. With this concept bearing in mind, the writer will avoid direct depiction as much as possible but adopt a rather indirect way symbolism, which will make something abstract to be more perceivable for the readers. Meanwhile, the writing usually boasts a poetic beauty of the experienced world, thus arousing the readers’ imagination and promoting their comprehension to the most degree. Nevertheless, there are cases that the use of symbolism is far beyond conventional thinking. For instance, the raven symbolizes destiny; darkness, sorrow; the Holy Grail, God’s power, etc. Their symbolic meaning has already been beyond the intrinsic meaning for they are given the unique character by the writer deliberately to serve the particular writing intention.
The interpretation of abstract symbols has had an important role in psychoanalysis. As envisioned by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, symbols are not the creations of mind, but rather are distinct capacities within the mind to hold a distinct piece of information (qtd. in Balakian, 1967). Faulkner is quite good at psychoanalysis. Therefore, symbolism, as a kind of writing technique, is greatly favored by Faulkner and it can be seen in most of Faulkner’s literature creations. That’s the reason why Faulkner’s works are usually confusing. From various perspectives, Faulkner applies symbolism in all his fictional novel set in Yoknapatawpha County and in his hand symbolism serves the themes and plots of his novels naturally and organically. Faulkner devotes his writing career to the creative practice of symbolism and adheres to innovation and improvement, forming his own unique style of using symbolism. Symbolism is everywhere and nowhere. For instance, the title: A Rose for Emily——a salute for Emily; Sound and Fury——Life is tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing(Macbeth of Shakespeare); As I Lay Dying——a southern woman lying on her deathbed symbolizes the falling southern society after the Civil War... And symbolism can also be seen in Faulkner’s description of color, smell, characters, the portraits of the character or characters (which will be discussed in the following study), etc.