Critical Essays on William Faulkner compiles scholarship by noted Faulkner studies scholar Robert W. Hamblin. Ranging from 1980 to 2020, the twenty-one essays present a variety of approaches to Faulkner's work. While acknowledging Faulkner as the quintessential southern writer-particularly in his treatment of race-the essays examine his work in relation to American and even international contexts. The volume includes discussions of Faulkner's techniques and the psychological underpinnings of both the origin and the form of his art; explores how his writing is a means of "saying 'no' to death"; examines the intertextual linkages of his fiction with that of other writers like Shakespeare, Twain, Steinbeck, Warren, and Salinger; treats Faulkner's use of myth and his fondness for the initiation motif; and argues that Faulkner's film work in Hollywood is much better and of far greater value than most scholars have acknowledged. Taken as a whole, Hamblin's essays suggest that Faulkner's overarching themes relate to time and consequent change. The history of Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha stretches from the arrival of the white settlers on the Mississippi frontier in the early 1800s to the beginnings of the civil rights movement in the 1940s. Caught in this world of continual change that produces a great degree of uncertainty and ambivalence, the Faulkner character (and reader) must weigh the traditions of the past with the demands of the present and the future. As Faulkner acknowledges, this process of discovery and growth is a difficult and sometimes painful one; yet, as Hamblin attests, to engage in that quest is to realize the very essence of what it means to be human.

Contributions by Deborah N. Cohn, Leigh Anne Duck, Robert W. Hamblin, Michael Kreyling, Barbara Ladd, Walter Benn Michaels, Patrick O'Donnell, Theresa M. Towner, Annette Trefzer, and Karl F. Zender. Faulkner in the Twenty-First Century presents the thoughts of ten noted Faulkner scholars who spoke at the twenty-seventh annual Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference at the University of Mississippi. Theresa M. Towner attacks the traditional classification of Faulkner's works as "major" and "minor" and argues that this causes the neglect of other significant works and characters. Michael Kreyling uses photographs of Faulkner to analyze the interrelationships of Faulkner's texts with the politics and culture of Mississippi. Barbara Ladd and Deborah Cohn invoke the relevance of Faulkner's works to "the other South," postcolonial Latin America. Also, approaching Faulkner from a postcolonial perspective, Annette Trefzer looks at his contradictory treatment of Native Americans.Within the tragic fates of such characters as Quentin Compson, Gail Hightower, and Rosa Coldfield, Leigh Ann Duck finds an inability to cope with painful memories. Patrick O'Donnell examines the use of the future tense and Faulkner's growing skepticism of history as a linear progression. To postmodern critics who denigrate "The Fire and the Hearth," Karl F. Zender offers a rebuttal. Walter Benn Michaels contends that in Faulkner's South, and indeed the United States as a whole, the question of racial identification tends to overpower all other issues. Faulkner's recurring interest in frontier life and values inspires Robert W. Hamblin's piece.

Critical Essays on William Faulkner compiles scholarship by noted Faulkner studies scholar Robert W. Hamblin. Ranging from 1980 to 2020, the twenty-one essays present a variety of approaches to Faulkner's work. While acknowledging Faulkner as the quintessential southern writer-particularly in his treatment of race-the essays examine his work in relation to American and even international contexts. The volume includes discussions of Faulkner's techniques and the psychological underpinnings of both the origin and the form of his art; explores how his writing is a means of "saying 'no' to death"; examines the intertextual linkages of his fiction with that of other writers like Shakespeare, Twain, Steinbeck, Warren, and Salinger; treats Faulkner's use of myth and his fondness for the initiation motif; and argues that Faulkner's film work in Hollywood is much better and of far greater value than most scholars have acknowledged. Taken as a whole, Hamblin's essays suggest that Faulkner's overarching themes relate to time and consequent change. The history of Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha stretches from the arrival of the white settlers on the Mississippi frontier in the early 1800s to the beginnings of the civil rights movement in the 1940s. Caught in this world of continual change that produces a great degree of uncertainty and ambivalence, the Faulkner character (and reader) must weigh the traditions of the past with the demands of the present and the future. As Faulkner acknowledges, this process of discovery and growth is a difficult and sometimes painful one; yet, as Hamblin attests, to engage in that quest is to realize the very essence of what it means to be human.

In this book Robert Hamblin describes his lifelong interest in the writings of fellow Mississippian William Faulkner and his 36-year collaboration and friendship with Faulkner collector Louis Daniel Brodsky. That collaboration, which began in 1978 and ended with Brodsky's death in 2014, produced notable contributions to the field of Faulkner studies and resulted in the acquisition of the Brodsky Collection by Southeast Missouri State University and the school's establishment of the Center for Faulkner Studies. The book also includes a chapter on the interactions of Hamblin and Brodsky as fellow poets.

The fifteen papers included in this volume edited by Robert W. Hamblin and Melanie Speight were presented at the Faulkner and Twain Conference hosted by Southeast Missouri State University's Center for Faulkner Studies in Cape Girardeau, October 19 21, 2006. The essays include the conference keynote address by Robert Brinkmeyer, a noted Southern Studies scholar from the University of South Carolina; essays by M. Thomas Inge, a widely published Southern literature scholar from Randolph-Macon College, and Leland Krauth, a well-known Twain scholar from the University of Colorado; and additional papers by scholars from Canada, France, Japan, and the United States. The various essays discuss Faulkner's and Twain's treatment of such topics as humor, the frontier, the Mississippi River, race relations, politics, detective fiction and death.

For decades now literary critics have universally praised Faulkner as one of the greatest writers of the modern era, yet students assigned to read his novels in university, college, and high school classes continue to struggle to make sense of his convoluted plots, prolix style, and complex characterizations. The broadest treatment to date of a topic of increasing concern, this book is designed to provide fresh strategies and practical suggestions for the classroom study of several of Faulkner's finest novels and stories, including "The Sound and the Fury, Absalom, Absalom , Light in August, The Unvanquished, " and "Go Down, Moses."

The contributors, all noted Faulkner scholars who regularly teach Faulkner works in their courses, employ a variety of critical theories and approaches. In each chapter, theory is subordinated to tested classroom methods that both motivate and assist students in reading the texts and in understanding why Faulkner remains relevant for contemporary readers. The teaching strategies described in this book draw upon such diverse matters as cultural and social analysis, historical context, reading and rhetorical theory, film and stage techniques, comparative studies, and race, class, and gender issues.

Sometimes called the American Shakespeare, William Faulkner is known for providing poignant and accurate renderings of the human condition, creating a world of colorful characters in his fictional Yoknapatawpha County, and writing in a style that is both distinct and demanding. Though he is known as a Southern writer, his appeal transcends regional and even national boundaries. Since winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950, he has been the subject of more than 5,000 scholarly books and articles. Academic interest in his career has been matched by popular acclaim, with some of his works adapted for the cinema. This reference is an authoritative guide to Faulkner's life, literature, and legacy.

The encyclopedia includes nearly 500 alphabetically arranged entries for topics related to Faulkner and his world. Included are entries for his works and major characters and themes, as well as the literary and cultural contexts in which his texts were conceived, written, and published. There are also entries for relatives, friends, and other persons important to Faulkner's biography; historical events, persons, and places; social and cultural developments; and literary and philosophical terms and movements. The entries are written by expert contributors who bring a broad range of perspectives and experience to their analysis of his work. Entries typically conclude with suggestions for further reading, and the volume closes with a bibliography and detailed index.

Critical Companion to William Faulkner - a major revision and expansion of ""William Faulkner A to Z"" - features more than 80,000 additional words. Character entries and Critical Commentary sections on Faulkner's major works have been significantly expanded, and entirely new sections providing excerpts from contemporary reviews have been added. Other new features include further reading lists for Faulkner's major novels and short stories as well as a detailed chronology of one of Faulkner's greatest and most complicated works, ""As I Lay Dying"". This title covers such topics as: descriptions of characters in Faulkner's fiction, such as Benjy and Quentin from ""The Sound and the Fury""; details about Faulkner's family, friends, colleagues, and critics; real and fictional places important to Faulkner's life and literary development, from Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi to Hollywood; interviews and speeches given by Faulkner; and, ideas and events that influenced his life and works, including slavery, the Civil War, World War I, and civil rights.

William Faulkner (1897-1962) once said of his novels and stories, ""I am telling the same story over and over, which is myself and the world."" This biography provides an overview of the life and career of the famous author, demonstrating the interrelationships of that life, centered in Oxford, Mississippi, with the characters and events of his fictional world. The book begins with a chapter on Faulkner's most famous ancestor, W. C. Falkner, ""the Old Colonel,"" who greatly influenced both the content and the form of Faulkner's fiction. Robert W. Hamblin then proceeds to examine the highlights of Faulkner's biography, from his childhood to his youthful days as a fledgling poet, through his time in New Orleans, the creation of Yoknapatawpha, the years of struggle and his season of prolific genius, and through his time in Hollywood and his winning of the Nobel Prize. The book concludes with a description of his last years as a revered author, cultural ambassador, and university writer-in-residence. In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Faulkner spoke of ""the agony and sweat of the human spirit"" that goes into artistic creation. For Faulkner, that struggle was especially acute. Poor and neglected for much of his life, suffering from chronic depression and alcoholism, and unhappy in his personal life, Faulkner overcame tremendous obstacles to achieve literary success. One of the major themes of his novels and stories remains endurance, and his biography exhibits that quality in abundance. Faulkner the man endured and ultimately prevailed.