Genettian Narratology of an Idiot’s Narrative: Benjy’s Narrative
Genettian Narratology of an Idiot’s Narrative: Benjy’s Narrative

Summary/Abstract: This study examines the narrative techniques of the first section, Benjy’s narrative, of William Faulkner’s major work, The Sound and the Fury (1929) based on the narrative theory proposed by Gérard Genette in Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method (1980). The novel consists of four sections. Each chapter is narrated by a different narrator; the first narrator is Benjy, the idiot. This study will be a close analysis of the narratives of Benjy’s narration of the events regarding the narratology of Genette’s aforementioned book. Such terms as “order,” “duration,” “frequency,” “mood,” and “voice” as general terms and also their subcategories will be explained and then will be traced back in and applied to Benjy’s narrative and finally will be supported by adequate instances from the text. Due to the narrative techniques used by Faulkner, the novel, especially the first section, is obscure and difficult to read and understand. If this chaotic, disordered, and confusing world, which is created deliberately by the novelist, comes into a systematic and wellstructured framework like that of Genette’s narrative theory in Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method (1980), it will be easier to read, understand, enjoy and appreciate.

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