This essay outlines US-American novelist William Faulkner's life and literature. On 10 December 1950, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature in the Stockholm Concert Hall. Disagreement in the committee of the Swedish Academy had led to a postponement of the Nobel Prize for Literature 1949. It was only one year later, simultaneously with the bestowal of the Nobel Prize for Literature 1950 to Bertrand Russell, that the famous writer was recognized with the most prestigious award available in the world of literature. King Gustaf Adolf of Sweden presented the prize to Faulkner for his powerful and artistically unique contributions to modern American fiction. At that time, the 52-year-old author had already composed a couple of sophisticated novels and dozens of elaborate short stories about the vicissitudes of life as experienced by the people—young and old, rich and poor, white and black—in Mississippi.
Table of Contents
1. Modernist Mythographer from Mississippi
Objectives and Topics
This biographical text provides a comprehensive overview of the life and literary career of the US-American novelist William Faulkner, examining how his personal experiences and deep connection to his Mississippi roots shaped his iconic modernist works.
- The early life and formative years of William Faulkner in Mississippi.
- The transition from early conventional writing to the development of the "Yoknapatawpha" mythos.
- The impact of financial struggles and a Hollywood screenwriting career on his artistic output.
- A critical overview of major novels, including The Sound and the Fury and Absalom, Absalom!.
- The accumulation of literary accolades, culminating in the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Excerpt from the book
Modernist Mythographer from Mississippi
On 10 December 1950, William Cuthbert Faulkner received the Nobel Prize for Literature in the Stockholm Concert Hall. Disagreement among the jurors on the committee of the Swedish Academy had led to a postponement of the Nobel Prize for Literature 1949. It was only one year later, simultaneously with the bestowal of the Nobel Prize for Literature 1950 to the English physicist and philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), that the famous US-born writer was recognized with the most prestigious award available in the world of literature. King Gustaf Adolf of Sweden (1882-1973) presented the prize to Faulkner for his powerful and artistically unique contributions to modern American fiction. At that time, the 52-year-old author had already composed a couple of sophisticated novels and dozens of elaborate short stories about the vicissitudes of life as experienced by the people—young and old, rich and poor, white and black—in his home country.
Faulkner was born on 25 September 1897 in the city of New Albany, the county seat of Union County located in northern Mississippi. He came from an old-stock Southern family that was losing its influence and fortune in the years of reconstruction following the American Civil War. His great-grandfather William Clark Falkner (1825-1889) had fought in the Confederate Army, built a railway line and written books. His grandfather John Wesley Thompson Falkner (1848-1922) had made a name for himself as a successful lawyer, politician and banker. His father Murry Cuthbert Falkner (1870– 1932), however, was considered a failure until 1902, when he moved with his wife Maud Butler Falkner (1871– 1960) and their three children to Oxford, the county seat of Lafayette County, roughly 50 km away from New Albany. The city of about 2000 inhabitants offered him a well-paid job in the administration of the University of Mississippi, his growing family a spacious house in a respectable residential area and the eldest of his four sons an almost inexhaustible source of inspiration for later works.
Summary of Chapters
1. Modernist Mythographer from Mississippi: This biographical section details Faulkner’s origins, his early career struggles, the evolution of his unique literary style, his screenwriting period in Hollywood, and his eventual rise to international fame and critical acclaim.
Keywords
William Faulkner, Modernism, Yoknapatawpha County, Nobel Prize for Literature, American Literature, Southern Gothic, Mississippi, The Sound and the Fury, Screenwriting, Literary Biography, Fiction, Racial Relations, Snopes Trilogy, Pulitzer Prize, Artistic development.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this biographical work?
The work provides a detailed account of the life of William Faulkner, tracing his development from his youth in Mississippi to his status as a Nobel Prize-winning author.
What are the central themes explored in Faulkner's life and writing?
The central themes include the decline of the Southern aristocracy, the complexity of racial relations, the burden of history, and the creation of a mythic fictional landscape.
What is the ultimate goal of the author in this biographical sketch?
The goal is to contextualize Faulkner's literary masterpieces within his personal life, failures, and the specific historical environment of the American South.
Which methodology is employed to present the author's life?
The text uses a chronological biographical approach, utilizing historical facts, correspondence records, and literary analysis of his major works.
What major aspects of Faulkner's career are discussed in the main body?
The text covers his early conventional novels, the discovery of his fictional Yoknapatawpha County, his time as a screenwriter in Hollywood, and his later period of critical and commercial success.
Which keywords define this work?
Key terms include William Faulkner, Modernism, Yoknapatawpha County, Nobel Prize for Literature, and American Literature.
How did Faulkner’s time in the film industry affect his artistic trajectory?
The text suggests that Faulkner's long tenure in the film industry led to a temporary decline in his creative output, though it provided necessary financial stability.
What role does the fictional "Yoknapatawpha County" play in Faulkner's work?
It served as an "apocryphal country" that allowed Faulkner to dramatize and investigate the history and human experience of his native soil.
- Citation du texte
- Bernhard Wenzl (Auteur), 2019, Mississippi Learning. Life and Literature of William Faulkner, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/506208
