OXFORD, Miss. – The 35th annual Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference
hosted by the University of Mississippi July 20-24 will explore
“Faulkner: The Returns of the Text.”
Instead of approaching Faulkner’s works as a reflection, representation
or illustration of context – historical, economic, political and social
– this year’s conference will explore how his novels and stories have
responded to the facts and forces of an evolving world as original
depiction and interpretations.
Since its creation in 1974, the conference has attracted scholars from throughout the world and is one of the longest-running literary events in the country focusing on the works of one author. This year’s event will consider Faulkner’s writing in a new light and includes lectures, panel discussions, tours and social gatherings.
“For a number of years, Faulkner criticism, in keeping with literary study, generally, has emphasized the significance of various historical and cultural forces as the determining factors of what the texts say and how readers interpret them,” said Donald Kartiganer, Howry Chair in Faulkner Studies and professor of English. “More recently, however, there have been signs of a shift reaffirming the formal dimension of literature, the way in which texts, through their formal qualities, assert an original response to culture.
“The intention here is not simply to repeat the critical past and once again isolate the texts from the historical and cultural conditions in which they were written; rather, the objective is to shift the emphasis and recognize the priority of the fiction instead of the forces to which it responded.”
The result is intended to be a reminder of just how original – even subversive – Faulkner’s writings could be, said Ann Abadie, associate director of UM’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture.
“His fiction does not merely reflect the social conditions surrounding it, but it tries to alter those conditions through imaginary depictions of character and event,” she said.
Appearing at the conference for the first time will be Ethel Young-Minor, UM associate professor of English and African American studies, as well as Martyn Bone, University of Copenhagen (Denmark); Owen Robinson, University of Essex (United Kingdom); and Taylor Hagood, Florida Atlantic University. Hagood received his doctoral degree in English at UM in 2005.
Returning to the conference are James Carothers, University of Kansas; Thadious Davis, University of Pennsylvania; Arthur Kinney, University of Massachusetts; and Theresa Towner, University of Texas at Dallas.
Bone, who has written extensively on “place” in Southern writing, plans to discuss “Faulkner’s Literary Geography: Text as Landscape.” Carothers addresses “Text in Conflict with Itself,” demonstrating how Faulkner’s relationship to past and current cultural conditions proceeds through mutually negating anecdotes.
Davis’ “Visualizing ‘Light in August'” looks at, among other things, an intertextual relationship between this novel and Ralph Ellison’s “Juneteenth.” Kinney is to discuss “Flags in the Dust” and aristocracy. Hagood focuses on “The Benjy Narrative as Secrecy and Perception in ‘The Sound and the Fury.'” Towner’s discussion centers on “The Weird Stuff: Neglected Stories,” while Young-Minor plans to examine race and religion in “The Sound and the Fury.”
Also on schedule is a special presentation by Willie Faulkner, an African-American from Memphis who has been studying the genealogy of the Faulkner/Falkner family, beginning with its origins in North Carolina. Arkansas filmmaker Chris Cranford will show “Brother Will and Colonel Jim,” a documentary featuring Jimmy Faulkner reminiscing about his famous uncle.
Other conference events include sessions on “Teaching Faulkner”; an open-mike evening titled “Faulkner on the Fringe”; a discussion of “Collecting Faulkner”; daylong tours of northeastern Mississippi, the Delta and Memphis; a picnic at Faulkner’s home, Rowan Oak; and an exhibition of Faulkner books, manuscripts, photographs and memorabilia at the John Davis Williams Library.
Conference registration fees before July 1 are $150 for students, $250 for Friends of the Center and $275 for other participants. Fees do not cover lodging, optional tours and meals. All fees increase by $25 after July 1.
For more information, including a conference schedule and online registration, visit
http://www.outreach.olemiss.edu/events/faulkner or contact the Office of Outreach and Continuing Education, P.O. Box 879, University, MS 38677, telephone 662-915-7283; or the Department of English, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677, telephone 662-915-7439. For assistance related to a disability, call 662-915-7283.