ACKNOWLEDGING THE INTERFERENCE BETWEEN REALISM AND MYTH IN WILLIAM FAULKNER’S “ABSALOM, ABSALOM!”
ACKNOWLEDGING THE INTERFERENCE BETWEEN REALISM AND MYTH IN WILLIAM FAULKNER’S “ABSALOM, ABSALOM!”

Summary/Abstract: This paper is the result of a research study involving second-year Montreal college students. It reveals that William Faulkner’s novel, “Absalom, Absalom!”, although already much discussed and analysed, requires further investigation into the multitude of literary techniques the author employs in his creation of the fictional world of Yoknapatawpha. This pedagogical step aims at getting students better acquainted with the interface between realism and myth, and with the effects of their fusion, ensuring a better understanding of the abstract meaning created throughout the novel. Faulkner’s work includes an awareness of the Southern American situation before and after the Civil War, the author’s life and vision, and the novel’s structure and plot. This background information together with the reader’s metacognitive awareness of the events presented in the novel (linking complex ideas in the novel, aspects, and facts, and manipulating the knowledge previously acquired) represent the foundation of a thorough understanding of the writer’s intentions. Acknowledging Faulkner’s use of time in the weaving of myth and realism leads to a mental representation of the effects and ideas conveyed.

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