William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying: What the Grotesque is Trying to Say At

Marie Liénard-Yeterian

Abstract :
International audience
This article considers Faulkner's handling of the grotesque mode within a larger consideration of its significance in As I Lay Dying. After a brief theoretical exploration of the main tenets of the grotesque, the paper analyzes the way Faulkner weaves them into his gothic script, in particular through the handling of the ( female) body and the staging of a gallery of grotesques (including a bestiary). Textual gro tesqueries such as unfinished and unpunctuated sentences, indented or italicized statement are also studied. The final part of the article presents the "lenticul ar" logic of the grotesque (to use Tara McPherson's terrn) before exploring the overall political dimension of the use of the grotesque mode in the novel.
Published : 2018-05
Document Type : Journal articles
Affiliation : Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Récits, Cultures et Sociétés (LIRCES) ; Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) (UNS) ; COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)
Source : hal-03170621

Citation

Marie Liénard-Yeterian, « William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying: What the Grotesque is Trying to Say At », Cycnos, 2018-05. URL : https://hal.science/hal-03170621