William Faulkner 威廉 福克纳.docx

William Faulkner 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,includingthe19thCenturyFrenchsymbolistwriterswhohaddeeplyinfluencedEzraPoundandT.S.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:

s