Packaging Faulkner as a Cold War Modernist
Location
Nutt Auditorium
Start Date
22-7-2015 2:00 PM
Description
In the first decade of the Cold War, U.S. cultural diplomats used American modernist art to sway the loyalties of leftist European intellectuals. William Faulkner was an early and eager participant in these efforts. And while “Cold War modernism” packaged Faulkner in the most anodyne, pro-American way, Faulkner’s work—and in particular his Nobel Address—gave shape and philosophical heft to the once-controversial program. The two worked in concert to reframe experimental modernism in art and literature as the highest expression of Western freedom and individualism, and to solidify Faulkner’s rapidly improving literary reputation both at home and abroad.
Relational Format
Conference proceeding
Recommended Citation
Barnhisel, Greg, "Packaging Faulkner as a Cold War Modernist" (2015). Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference. 25.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/fy/2015/schedule/25
Packaging Faulkner as a Cold War Modernist
Nutt Auditorium
In the first decade of the Cold War, U.S. cultural diplomats used American modernist art to sway the loyalties of leftist European intellectuals. William Faulkner was an early and eager participant in these efforts. And while “Cold War modernism” packaged Faulkner in the most anodyne, pro-American way, Faulkner’s work—and in particular his Nobel Address—gave shape and philosophical heft to the once-controversial program. The two worked in concert to reframe experimental modernism in art and literature as the highest expression of Western freedom and individualism, and to solidify Faulkner’s rapidly improving literary reputation both at home and abroad.