A Study On Eden Myth In William Faulkner's Novels In Perspective Of Intertextual Theory

The Garden of Eden and its idyllic ideal are an indispensable part of American and southern culture.As the flag-bearer of the southern Renaissance,Faulkner presented the religious and cultural connotation of the Garden of Eden in his works for many times artistically,in order to express his reminiscence of the lost south and his faith in the revival of human nature.This paper focuses on the inner relationship between Faulkner's the Sound and the Fury,Go Down,Moses and Light in August and the myth of The Garden of Eden,and explores the grand narrative theme of “deprived of the garden of Eden” in American literature.The introduction of this paper starts from the perspective of intertextuality theory,elaborates on the status quo of Faulkner's studies on the myth of Eden,summarizes the main core ideas of intertextuality theory,and points out the significance and value of applying this perspective to Faulkner's studies on the myth of The Garden of Eden.The main part of the paper selects three important cultural dimensions of the fall,wilderness and eternity of the Eden myth to explain its religious and cultural connotation,and discusses how Faulkner can artistically show the referential significance of the above three Eden cultures in the Sound and the Fury,Go Down,Moses and Light in August.The first chapter focuses on Faulkner's artistic integration of the fallen cultural connotation of the garden of Eden into the artistic conception of the Sound and the Fury,mainly from the two aspects of human degradation and broken family structure.The depravity of man is reflected in the creation of the fallen Adam and eve figures and the construction of the image system of depravity and salvation.The second chapter is based on the dual paradoxical connotation of the garden of Eden in the wilderness,focusing on the material and spiritual aspects of the internal reasons for the decline of the American south revealed by Faulkner in Go Down,Moses and Faulkner's confidence in the return of human beings to the Garden of Eden.The third chapter discusses Faulkner's artistic display of the eternal concept of Eden in Light in August.In the text,it is presented as spatial narrative time.The subject construction trapped in the past;The contrast of characterization and the dialogue of narrative structure.The conclusion of the thesis focuses on the deep cultural motives of Faulkner's three works on the intertextual writing of Eden mythology.It points out that Faulkner used Eden mythology to express his thoughts on human nature and the essence of evil in his works,and conveyed a strong redemption and the confidence of human resurrection and the yearning and pursuit of eternal ideas show the writer's attention to the reality of human existence,and deepen the grand narrative theme of the "denied Eden" of American literature.