In this course, we will focus on learning to read three of Faulkner’s most celebrated novels: The Sound and the Fury (1929), Light in August (1932), and Absalom, Absalom! (1936). “Learning to read,” means learning to analyze, interpret, and enjoy. We will ask ourselves such questions as: What do these texts contribute to our understanding of American Literature? What contributions have they made to the novel as a genre? How are we to tease out the meaning and deployment of time, history, race, and the south in these prodigious texts? We will engage the novels as close readers, pondering carefully and in depth the words on the page as well as the plot lines, characters, and cultural concerns expressed therein. First time readers and devout Faulkner fans are equally welcome!
