An Interpretation Of Faulkner's Novel Absalom, Absalom! From A Polyphonic Perspective

Based on Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of "polyphony", the thesis explores the unique narrative characteristics of Absalom, Absalom! .Its aim is to stress the application of polyphony in the novel and its aesthetic significance.Owing to the use of polyphony, Absalom, Absalom! is endowed with specific artistic charm. It provides equal footing between the author and its reader, great dialogues among the characters, and the double- voiced micro- dialogues in the characters'interior world. Polyphonic novel is not only a result of the highly authoritative society, but an artistic response to the multi-leveled, various and changing social arts. The successful using of polyphony in Absalom, Absalom! relieves the novel from the traditional monologic and chronological writing features, and breaks away from the over-loadedness and over-staffedness in the transition and detailing course. It also reconciles the contradictions between form and content, style and theme, plots and expressions, thus making them in harmonious proportion with aesthetic effects.This thesis consists of three parts. Along with the Introduction and the Conclusion, the second part includes three chapters. Chapter One gives an introduction to the Mikhail Bakhtin's polyphonic novel in his Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics. Chapter two focuses on a detailed counterpointing analysis of the polyphonic features in Absalom, Absalom! such as the great dialogue and the micro-dialogue of double-voicing within each character. The third chapter deals with the aesthetic significance the great work has made.: a vivid reflection of the pluralistic society; the unfinalizability and dialogic openness provide the reader with a broader space to interpret the novel. Thus, dialogues between the readers, the writer and the narrators come into being, and makes an interactive compound relationship. Through an analysis of the polyphonic characteristics, we can see, as a Nobel- prize winner, Faulkner exhibits outstanding writing skills in the polyphonic novel. And the use of polyphony supplies his work with much aesthetic significance, infinite vitality and eternal charm.