U.s. Southern Renaissance Origin, And Faulkner's Thought And Works

In the first half of 20th century, the American South saw a sudden influx of culture and literature, which is called the "Southern Renaissance". It's not only a literary movement, but also an outpouring of history, sociology, political analysis, autobiography, and innovative forms of journalism. The southern writers and intellectuals after the late 1920's were engaged in an attempt to come to terms not only with the inherited values of the southern tradition but also with a certain way of perceiving and dealing with the past. They draw on the essential elements of southern literary tradition and search for new artistic expression to make technical experiments on forms of art. In this sense, "Southern Renaissance" can be regarded as a combination of the southern literary tradition and the modern literary trend of 20th century. These characteristics of "Southern Renaissance" are best illustrated by William Faulkner, the Nobel Prize winner, the leading figure and representative writer of southern literature.To provide a general understanding of Faulkner's status and contribution in Southern Renaissance, this thesis first makes a survey of the historical background of southern family romance-which stands at the core of the works of Southern Renaissance novelists, and its several definitions available. Based on the characterization in Faulkner's masterpieces of Yoknapatapha saga, the typical models of characters such as the southern white women and men, the black male and female as well as their roles played in southern family romance are discussed and analyzed respectively. Then, the thesis explores other southern literary traditions such as monumental historical consciousness,the romantic and realistic elements, and Gothic novel and how these literary inheritances found their expression specifically in Faulkner's works. In addition, this thesis selectively introduces Faulkner's innovations on modern fiction, with "stream of consciousness" and "multiple points of view narration" as examples.In conclusion of this thesis, it is indicated that Southern Renaissance can be defined as the American school of modern literature and Faulkner-the native southern writer and the great master of modernism, takes root in the Deep South, by infusing skillfully the valuable southern literary tradition and diverse modern devices, makes immortal artistic contribution to the flowering of the southern literature and speaks for both his people and humanity, thus becomes timeless and spaceless as his stories.