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Faulkner, History, Narrative

Faulkner, History, Narrative. Remembering Slavery in Go Down, Moses. Go Down, Moses. Collected in 1942 Part of Faulkner’s larger collection of fiction set in “ Yoknapatawpha County” – where most of his important novels and stories are set from 1929-1962 Tips for reading:

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Faulkner, History, Narrative

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  1. Faulkner, History, Narrative Remembering Slavery in Go Down, Moses

  2. Go Down, Moses • Collected in 1942 • Part of Faulkner’s larger collection of fiction set in “Yoknapatawpha County” – where most of his important novels and stories are set from 1929-1962 • Tips for reading: • Keep a “family tree” going in your notes • Watch out for spoilers – major plot shift in “The Bear”

  3. Go Down, Moses • There is some debate on whether this is a novel or a collection of short stories • Unified (to some extent) by the “voice” of Isaac McCaslin; circles around the McCaslin family and their property in all of its stories • Otherwise a fragmented, dispersed narrative

  4. “Was” • We need to bring both our “formalist” and our “ideology critique” lenses to bear on Faulkner’s novel • Let’s start with a close reading of the first section of “Was” (pp 3-4). This section serves as an intro the story and the novel itself. • In a close reading free-write, • Make as many observations as you can, both formal and content-based. • See if you can’t link them in your analysis of the text. What is this section about and why is it written the way it is? • What are we learning about: • Isaac McCaslin and his role in the novel? • What is the novel saying about “storytelling”? • What other major thematics can you pick out?

  5. Family & Racial Formation • In “Was”… (slavery) • White masculinity is produced as a dominant category (patriarchy) in the meanings associated with “the hunt” • The hunt is given as a space for the performance of masculine identity and homo-social bonding and competition • Fugitive slave is “the hunted” • Southern Chivalry (distorted here) where white women’s hand in marriage is “the prize” • The story highlights how “the color line” divides up the family tree into “hunters” and “hunted”

  6. Family & Racial Formation • In “The Fire and the Hearth”… (post-slavery) • Domesticity and marriage become the “site” of racial conflict • Once again masculinity is central, both in the way that it is privileged and endangered • Lucas’ ideas about social hierarchy are centered on the idea of male lineage, as a way of challenging race lines • White prejudice is considered “emasculating” and the prime example is Zack Edmonds taking Lucas’ wife • Battle over who gets the woman at their “hearth” is set to represent white/black race struggle in general

  7. Family & Racial Formation • As the social and political “meanings” of racial difference change, we can see how the meaning of family, gender changes along with it. • Through it all, masculinity remains a dominant paradigm, though in different ways for different reasons • What happens to women? (pay attention to the ladies – always somewhat in the background of this novel, but with central roles)

  8. Back to “Fire and the Hearth” • With this question in mind, I’d like to focus on Chapter 3 of “Fire” (page 96). • What are the connections between race and gender, marriage, family here? • Find a quote and jot down a few ideas about it for our discussion.

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