williamfaulkner威廉福克纳.docx
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williamfaulkner威廉福克纳
WilliamFaulkner威廉福克纳
(1897-1962)
WilliamFaulknerrankswithErnestHemingwayasoneoftheleadingAmericanauthorsoftheTwentiethCentury.Faulkner,likeRobertFrost,wasaregionalist,whospentmostofhislifeinasmall,particularareaoftheUnitedStates,writingaboutthescenesandpeopleheknewbest.Faulkner’sregionwastheDeepSouth,withitsbitterhistoryofslavery,civilwaranddestruction.HeinventedacountyandatowninhisimaginationverysimilartohisownpartofMississippi,andhewroteaboutthesocietyintheSouthbyinventingfamilieswhichrepresenteddifferentsocialforces:
theold,decayingupperclass;therising,ambitious,unscrupulousclassof“poorwhites”;andtheNegroeswholaboredforbothofthem.MostofhisstoriestakeplaceinthisimaginaryYoknapatawphaCounty,andconcernmembersofthesamefamiliesatdifferenttimesinhistory.他的多数故事都发生在他构想的Yoknapatawpha县,他笔下的人物不是一次写完,同一人物会在几本书中,在不同历史时期反复出现。
这显然加深了人物的开掘,使其具有历史的深广度。
HisLife.
WilliamFaulknerwasbornintheDeepSouth,theoldestoffourbrothers.HisfatherwasthebusinessmanagerfortheStateUniversityinOxford,Mississippi,whereFaulknerspentmostofhislife.Hisfamilycamefromtheold,whiteupperclass.Thoughindeclineinthe20thcentury,thefamilyretainedsomeoftheoldcustoms.FalknerwasbroughtupbyablacknursewhomhecalledMammieCally,whotoldhimmanystoriesrememberedfromthetimeofslavery.Faulknerwasanimaginativeboy.TherewasnopubliclibraryinOxford,buttherewereplentyofEnglishclassicsathome,whichhereadatrandom.Hedislikedschoolanddroppedoutaftertwoyearsofhighschool.ThepeopleofOxfordconsideredhimawastrel.(awastefulorworthlessperson)
Twoneighborshadadecisiveinfluenceonhim.HefellinlovewithayoungneighbornamedEstelle,and,hopingtogetmarriedoneday,hetookarespectablejobinabank.Anotherneighbor,PhilipStone(菲尔,斯多),foundyoungFaulknerunusuallyintelligent,andtookchargeofhisreading.StonegavehimbookswhichwereunknowninOxford,Mississippi,includingthe19thCenturyFrenchsymbolistwriterswhohaddeeplyinfluencedEzraPoundand.Eliot.FaulknertaughthimselftoreadFrenchatnight,whileheworkedinthebankbyday.
In1918,whenFaulknerwas21yearsold,EstellemarriedanothermanandwenttoliveinAsia.Heartbroken,FaulknerleftMississippiandenlistedintheCanadianAirForce,hopingtofightintheFirstWorldWar.However,thewarendedbeforehehadfinishedhisbasictraininginToronto.Hewenthomeandrestlesslyworkedatonejobafteranother,writingpoemsinhissparetime.Heendedupasthepostmaster(personinchargeofapostoffice)inhishometownofOxford.HisneighborMr.Stoneencouragedhimtokeepwriting,andevensuppliedthemoneytogetthepoemspublished.
In1925,hetookajobwithanewspaperinNewOrleans,themostimportantcityintheSouthatthattime.HejoinedaliterarycirclewhichcenteredaroundSherwoodAnderson,andwithAnderson’sencouragementhewrotehisfirstnovel(Soldier’sPay1926),aboutawoundedairforcepilot.AndersonarrangedtogetthenovelpublishedandFaulkner,likenearlyeveryotheryoungAmericanwriterinthe1920’s,thenmadehiswaytoParis.Hewasveylonelythere,however,andwhenhereceivedthefirstmoneyfromthesaleofhisnovel,heboughtatickethome.Thenovelwasnotpopular,andFaulknerdidnotmakemuchmoneyfromit.BackinMississippi,heworkedonceagainatmanydifferentjobswhilehewroteasecondnovelinhissparetime.(Mosquitoes,1927)
ThisnovelwasasatireabouttheNewOrleansliterarycircle.Faulknerwasasolitarymanwhowroteinisolation.Hecriticizedtalkative,self-importantwriterswhowereeasilyinfluencedbycurrentfashionsinliterature.Faulknerwrotefiercelyandconstantly,givingeverypoemandstorytoMr.Stone,whotriedinvaintofindpublishersforthem.Inthe1920’s,veyfewpeoplewantedtoreadthekindofthingshewaswriting.Hewroteanothernovelandwhenit,too,wasrejected,hedecidedthathisworkwouldneverbepublishedagain.Inawaythisrealizationliberatedhim.Suchatrueartistashe,thatitonlyenconcouragedhimtowritemore,exactlyashewanted,unbotheredbythoughtsofwhatthepublicmightlike.
FaulknerrewrotetherejectednovelunderthetitleSartoris(1929),andatthesametimewroteanewoneTheSoundandtheFury,hisfirstmasterpiece.Tohisgreatsurprise,bothofthemwerepublishedin1929,andalthoughveyfewcopieswereboughtbythepublic,reviewsbyliterarycriticspraisedthemhighly.Inthesameyear,EstellecamebackfromAsia,havingdivorcedherhusband,andshemarriedFaulkner.Heboughtadeserted,ruinedmansion,builtbeforetheCivilWar,whichhebegantorepairwithhisownhammerandsaw,andsettleddowntobeafulltimeauthor.
From1930to1942,Faulknerwashugelyproductive.Hewrotetwocollectionsofshortstories,avolumeofpoetryandninenovels.他完成了两部短篇小说集,一本诗集,还有九部小说。
Evenso,hecouldnotearnenoughmoneytoliveinthoseDepressionyears,becausehisbooksweredifficulttoread.Theliterarycriticsalsoturnedagainsthim,blaminghimforconcentratingtoonarrowlyonSouthernsubjects,andforwritinginacomplicated,highlyoriginalstyle.Undeterred,hetookajobwritingfilmscriptsforHollywoodatalowbutsteadysalary(justasF.ScottFitzgeraldwasdoingatthattime)andcontinuedtowritehisownbooks.
Faulknerbelievedthateverywritershouldinventhisownstyleandmethod,asHemingwayhaddone,andcontinuetoexperiment.Forinstance,inhisearlybook,TheSoundandtheFury,heusedatechniquecalled“streamofconsciousness”,inwhichthewholestorywastoldthroughthethoughtsofonecharacter.Later,heusedthesametechniquebutexploreditsutmostpossibilitiesbyputtingthethoughtsintothemindofalunatic.(apersonwhoismentallyill)Hewaswillingtotaketheriskofmakingmistakes,whichhesometimesdid,andlearningfromhismistakes.In1936,hisnovelAbsalom,Absalom!
(押沙龙,押沙龙!
),nowconsideredoneofhisbest,wasmostscathinglyreviewed(harshlycriticized),andhisreadersbegantofallaway.Bytheearly1940’s,Faulknerwasmoreorlessforgottenbythepublic,althoughhisworkwasintenselyadmiredbyseveralotherAmericannovelists,andhisbooksweregreatlyappreciatedinFrance,wheretheyhadbeenverywelltranslated.
Duringhisgreatproductiveperiodofthe1930’s,FaulknerbeganwritingaboutanimaginaryplaceintheDeepSouthcalledYoknapatawphaCounty(约克那帕特法县),withitsmaintownwhichcloselyresembledOxford,Mississippi.Heinventeditsgeography,itshistoryanditspeoplesopreciselythatitseemedlikearealplacetohisreadersandtohimself.Faulknerdidnotlayoutaplanforhiscycle(series)ofYoknapatawphabooks,asJohnGalsworthyinEnglandandEmileZolainFrancehadplannedtheirs.Instead,Faulkner’slegendsimplygrew,bookbybook.Familysagas(longstories)developedinsidethelargercyclethroughseveralbooks,coveringthehistoryoftwoprincipalfamiliesinYokanpatawphaCounty.OnewastheSartorisfamily,whichhadbelongedtotherulingclassofslave-ownersbeforethecivilwar,butwhichdeterioratedinthe20thcenturybecauseitcouldnotadapttonewconditions.Astheoldleadershipdiedout,powerwasseizedbyanewclassofpoor-whiteup-starts,symbolizedbytheunscrupulousSnopesfamily.Theywerescornedandfearedbytheeffete(衰老的)Sartorisclan.Otherstoriesaboutlife,pastandpresent,inYoknapatawphaCountyfilledoutthisextraordinarilydiverse,imaginativebodyofwork.
Faulknerstartedasecondrisetofame,higherthanthefirst,in1945,when,attheinsistenceofotherwriters,aNewYorkpublishinghouseissuedThePortableFaulkner,whichpresentedtheYoknapatawphastoriesinhistoricalorder.ManynoveliststooktheopportunitytowriteexplanatoryessaysandthepublicbegantoreadFaulkneragain.Hisbookswerestudiedwithgreatcarebyscholarsandacademiccritics,andanever-growingstreamofessaysanddissertationsonFaulkner’sworkbegantopouroutofAmericanuniversities.Hisnextnovel,IntruderInTheDust(1948),wasasuccessandsowashisnextcollectionofshortstories.In1950,hereceivedbothAmerica’shighestliteraryawardandtheNobelPrizeforLiterature.
Againsthisprivate,solitarynature,Faulknerbecameawell-knownpublicfigure.HewassentabroadbytheStateDepartmenttogivelecturesinSouthAmerica,EuropeandJapan.
Inhislastperiodofwriting,inthelate1950’s,FaulknercompletedhiscycleofstoriesaboutYoknapatawphaCounty.Thecountybecameapleasanterplaceinhisimagination,andheexpressedamoretolerantviewofhumannature,evenchanginghisopinionaboutsomeofthecharacterswhohadappearedinhisearlierbooks“Because”hesaid,“Iknowthembetternow.”hislastbook,TheRievers(1962)wasacomedyaboutboyhood.ItwaspublishedandwidelyacclaimedonlyamonthbeforehisdeathinOxford,Mississippi.FaulknerdiedjustoneyearafterHemingway,andsopassedawayAmerica’stwomostremarkablemodernwriters.
HisStyle.
Faulknerusedaremarkablerangeoftechniques,themesandtonesinhisfiction.Hisstylisticinnovationswereoftenadaptedfromtheexperimentsofothermodernwriters,whichhethenusedinhisownway.Hisbooksaresometimesdifficulttoread,andneedclosestudybythereader.Hisworksaredistinguishedbycomplexplots,sometimesextendingoverseveralnovelsinwhichthesamecharactersappear.Theheroofonestorymayappearasaminorcharacterinanother.Hesuccessfullyadvancedtwomodernliterarytechniques:
stream-of-conscious