It is all too easy to dismiss myth as belonging to the realm of the abstract and theoretical, too removed from reality to constitute anything pragmatic. And yet myth makes up the very fabric of society, informing the way history is understood and the way people and things are remembered. William Faulkner’s works approach myth with a healthy skepticism, only gradually coming to find value in a process that is often destructive; his works demand of their readers the same perceptive criticism. This thesis approaches myth through the lens of Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," Absalom, Absalom!, and "The Bear." Faulkner's texts ultimately ask readers to bear witness by thinking critically about the process of myth-making, not only in the realm of literature but in the world as a whole.

Submitted by Aline Batista (alinehb.ufpel@gmail.com) on 2017-05-31T20:32:01Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertação Ívens Matozo Silva.pdf: 2559231 bytes, checksum: 4e31a08bf20af3254d8967b4ee3e82fa (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Aline Batista (alinehb.ufpel@gmail.com) on 2017-05-31T20:36:36Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertação Ívens Matozo Silva.pdf: 2559231 bytes, checksum: 4e31a08bf20af3254d8967b4ee3e82fa (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-31T20:39:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertação Ívens Matozo Silva.pdf: 2559231 bytes, checksum: 4e31a08bf20af3254d8967b4ee3e82fa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-22 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / O meio literário tornou-se um ambiente fecundo para a representação e elaboração de narrativas que procuram refletir sobre as relações familiares. Entre os diversos assuntos explorados nessas obras, a temática da decadência tem sido um motivo recorrente. É sob esse aspecto que se insere a presente dissertação, a qual possui o objetivo de examinar como se configura o tema da decadência nos romances Absalão, Absalão! (1936), de William Faulkner, e Ópera dos mortos (1967), de Autran Dourado, levando em consideração a influência das transmissões transgeracionais e o peso simbólico do passado sobre os integrantes das dinastias Sutpen e Honório Cota. Para atingirmos esse objetivo, procuramos investigar o valor simbólico atribuído à figura paterna presente nos romances, enfatizando o seu papel na constituição da estrutura e na formação da identidade familiar; examinar as relações intersubjetivas e as transmissões comportamentais entre ascendentes e descendentes; analisar o papel da memória familiar e os efeitos causados pela compulsão dos descendentes em preservar as heranças ancestrais; e, por fim, verificar o modo como as memórias familiares se articulam na configuração espacial, mais precisamente na casa, como vestígios mnemônicos que asseguram a presença dos mortos e apontam para a apreensão do passado frente às transformações históricas e sociais. Para tanto, nossa pesquisa está ancorada nos pressupostos teóricos desenvolvidos por Assmann (2011), Benjamin (2012; 2013), Candau (2011), Freud (1996) e Penso, Costa e Ribeiro (2008). Os resultados deste trabalho evidenciam que as transmissões transgeracionais e o peso simbólico do passado exercem uma forte ação negativa sobre as personagens. Além disso, a decadência que acomete as duas famílias funciona como uma representação metafórica e metonímica que correlaciona a trajetória de ascensão e queda das duas dinastias com o esfacelamento das sociedades às quais aludem as narrativas. / The literary field has become a fruitful ground for the representation and elaboration of narratives which attempt to reflect upon family relations. Among the diversity of motifs presented in those productions, the theme of decay has been a recurrent topic. In light of this, the present research aims at analyzing how the theme of the declining family is portrayed in William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! (1936) and Autran Dourado’s The voices of the dead (1967) taking into account the influence on transgeracional transmission and the symbolic burden of the past over the Sutpen’s and the Honório Cota’s dynasty members. In order to reach the objective above, we seek to investigate the symbolic value of the father figure within the novels, focusing on his role in the constitution of the structure and formation of the family; to examine the relation among the family members as well as the transmission of behavior between ancestors and descendants; to analyze the role played by the family memory and the effects caused by the descendants’ compulsion to preserve their inheritance; and, lastly, to verify in what way the family memories are embodied in the spatial configuration, more precisely the house, as a mnemonic trace that keeps the presence of the dead and reflects the view of the past towards historical and social transformations. To this end, we based our analysis on the studies developed by Assmann (2011), Benjamin (2012; 2013), Candau (2011), Freud (1996), Penso, Costa and Ribeiro (2008). The results show that the transgeracional transmission and the burden of the past hold a remarkable negative power over the characters. Furthermore, it may be concluded that the decay which tears the families apart function as a metaphorical and metonymic representation that associate the rise and fall of both dynasties to the process of destruction and transformation of the societies described in the novels.

This thesis is a consideration of the intertextual relationship between William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! and Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon. It considers the objectification and destruction of women and female-coded men in the service of the male protagonist's journey to selfhood, with particular focus on the construction of race, gender, and class performances.

This thesis examines the genesis, maintenance, and failure of rigid and exclusionary societal models present in William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County. Yi- Fu Tuan's analysis of the concepts space and place serves as the foundational theoretical framework by which human spatiality may be interpreted. Combining Tuan's observations and architectural analysis with Edouard Glissant's concepts of atavistic and composite societal models allows for a much broader consideration of various political ideologies present in the South. Following this, it becomes necessary to apply a postcolonial lens to areas of Faulkner's literature to examine how these societal models are upheld and the effects they have on characters in both Reconstruction and post- Reconstruction eras. Within Absalom, Absalom! and The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner showcases an aspect of southern history that allowed this societal model to flourish, how this model affected those trapped within it, and its ultimate failure for future generations. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection