A Narratological Study On The Rhetorical ART Of Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom!

Absalom, Absalom! is William Faulkner’s tour de force, regarded as a masterpiece ofnarrative art. In the light of the narrative theory and rhetorical narratology, this dissertationmakes an exploration of the author’s narrative strategy for the purpose of discovering howthe narrative structure, the perspectives, the narrators’ voices and the setting work togetherto convert a common local family tragedy to an epic.This dissertation consists of four chapters along with an introduction and a conclusion.The introduction makes a general review on the existing scholarship in Faulkner researchand the diverse opinions on Absalom, Absalom!. In view of some partial and unfaircondemnation of Faulkner’s narrative techniques, I argue that Faulkner does not play withnarrative techniques, but chooses narrative forms to serve his thematic purpose.The first chapter discusses the narrative structure of Absalom, Absalom!, whichsupports Gerard Genette’s idea that there are three levels in a narrative. Moreover, themulti-level structure in Absalom shows that there is a hierarchy from story to discoursethrough narration. The three levels are interrelated and progressing, which enhance themeaning of the text. My argument is that the author would preset some contracts, bothcovert and overt, to guide the reader’s reading trajectory to keep the text from being overlymisunderstood.The second chapter focuses on Faulkner’s strategy in choosing narrative perspectives.In order to illustrate how narrative perspective matters, one of Faulkner’s earlyunsuccessful short story “Evangeline,” which tells another version of Sutpen’s story withmore Gothic atmosphere, is taken as a parameter to mirror the rhetorical effect of differentnarrative perspectives. Faulkner’s modification from “Evangeline” to Absalom, Absalom!is not simply to add two more narrators, for an omniscient covert first-person-pluralendows the novel with historical and social significance. Therefore, the paper argues thatthough the unreliable narrators are always the first-person-singular, once it appears withplural masks, it provides a perspective to render the social communal voice. Consequently,it is reliable.The third chapter analyzes the similarities between polyphonic novel and fugue music pattern, which Faulkner deliberately imitated and by which he was inspired. The fuguemodel even patterns the rhythm and tone of the narrators’ speeches, and the structure aswell. The polyphonic nature enables every narrator’s narration to speak in a dialogic andpolemic tone. For Rosa, my discovery is of vital importance, because the discourseanalysis demonstrates that she is merely distorted but not a hysteric, insane woman asbeing accused by some critics.The fourth chapter studies Faulkner’s strategy to establish the geographical setting onthe old plantation house, the town square, the door etc., which represent the characteristicsof history and culture of the South. Besides, I argue the importance of physical setting increating narrative atmosphere. These well chosen material objects, such as weather andscents, are effective to stimulate the readers’ perception and common experience to specifythe setting. My discovery here is that some repetition, taking setting as an example, notonly indicates the frequency of narration, but displays the metaphorization procedure, inwhich we can discern how a signifier transforms into a signified.The conclusion argues that Faulkner’s narrative art is rooted in his Southern complexas a Southern gentleman. In guise of creating a literary kingdom, he realized his secretdream to reestablish both his family’s and the Southern glory, honor and pride as a trueknight would do for what he is devoted to. It is the chivalry pervading all his works thatdrives him to accomplish his “grand design” in literature, and with which he ranks amongthe masters who had influenced him greatly.