Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine

Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University

Department of Foreign Philology

Parable thinking in W. FAULNER’s novel “A FABLE”

 

Graduation Paper

by Yana Kolomiets

student of the Department

of Foreign Philology

5 E/Sp group

Scientific Adviser:

Associate Professor

Alekseyeva N.S.

 

Reviewer:

Associate Professor

Kononova Zh.A.

Kharkiv - 2010

CONTENTS

 

INTRODUCTION

PART I. W.FAULKNER AND HIS CREATIVE ACTIVITIES

1.1  Development of a writer

1.2  W. Faulkner’s aesthetic views

PART II. FEATURES OF A PARABLE

2.1 Parable as a genre

2.2 Form and content of parables

PART III. W. FAULKNER’S “A FABLE” AS AN PIECE OF PARABLE THINKING

3.1 General characteristic of the novel

3.2 Allegoric character of the novel

3.3 Christian symbolism in the novel

3.4 The figure of Christ in the novel

PART IV. Methodological reccomendations FOR TEACHING FAULKNER’S CREATIVE WRITING

Conclusion

ReferenceS

INTRODUCTION

 

American literature, to which Faulkner belongs, is comparatively new. Yet among many writers that it includes, there are those whose works present special interest for literary criticism. William Faulkner is, undoubtedly, one of the most significant and outstanding representatives of American literature. More than simply a renowned Mississippi writer, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist and short story writer is acclaimed throughout the world as one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers. Among his greatest works are the novels all set in the same small Southern county - novels that include Absalom, Absalom!, As I Lay Dying, Light in August, and above all, A Fable- that would one day be recognized among the greatest novels ever written by an American.

A Fable occupies a curious position among Faulkner's works. Written during the period of his greatest acclaim, the first major novel he produced after receiving the Nobel Prize in 1950, it appeared at a time when critics were undoubtedly most disposed to heap praise upon him for the slimmest of reasons. A Fable was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 1955, but was considered a failure by practically all the reviewers and many of the influential critics; few commentators have since found reasons to alter their opinions.

Since Faulkner’s literary career his works had been studied well and many critic works were published. But there still there are some “white spots” in these studies, and the novel A Fable is one of them. Actually it is not studied properly. In critical reviews not much attention is paid to parable thinking in this novel that is very important for direct comprehension of the philosophical ideas and concepts presented here.

Thus, the topicality of the research consists in the fact that at present parable as a genre attracts more attention of the researchers as a strong aesthetic and philosophical phenomenon.

Undertaking our research, we formulated our aim as discovery and the analysis of the parable thinking in Faulkner’s novel.

The aim determines the concrete tasks of the diploma paper:

·  to consider Faulkner’s life and its connection with his creative activities, as it is necessary for the understanding of the novel;

·  to highlight the main features of parable, its peculiarities and the differences between parable and novel;

·  to single out the parable thinking in the novel.

The object of the research is W. Faulkner’s writings and parable as a literary genre.

The subject of the research is the novel A Fable and features of parable thinking in it.

Realization of the tasks has been accomplished with the help of the following methods:

·  historical-sociological method which means historical and sociological conditions of the writing;

·  biographical method of the research to consider Faulkner’s life and its connection with his creative works;

·  descriptive method which involved gathering information about the writer’s life and creative activities, examining it deeply and thoroughly and for analyzing the text proper;

·  method of text interpretation to study the novel properly, to single out the parable thinking in it.

Scientific novelty consists in the fact that the phenomenon of parable thinking in this novel has been studied for the first time.

Practical value of the research is that the results can be used during the lessons of English literature at school or seminars on World literature at higher educational establishments.

PART I. W. FAULKNER AND HIS CREATIVE ACTIVITIES

 

1.1 Development of a writer

William Cuthbert Faulkner was born on September 25, 1897, in New Albany, Mississippi, the first of four sons born to Murry and Maud Butler Falkner. He was named after his great-grandfather, William Clark Falkner, the Old Colonel, who had been killed eight years earlier in a duel with his former business partner in the streets of Ripley, Mississippi. A lawyer, politician, planter, businessman, Civil War colonel, railroad financier, and finally, a best-selling writer of the novel The White Rose of Memphis, the Old Colonel, even in death, loomed as a larger-than-life model of personal and professional success for his male descendants.

A few days before William’s fifth birthday, the Falkners moved to Oxford, Mississippi, at the urging of Murry’s father, John Wesley Thompson Falkner. ............