Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-11-2001
Abstract
UNIVERSITY, Miss. -- William Faulkner () -- the first American novelist to receive the Nobel Prize after World War II -- considered it his duty to write stories so that the true spirit of man might prevail through his fictional accounts. The Southern writer declared in a rare speech upon receiving the Nobel Prize in 1950: "It is the (poet's, the writer's) privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past." Throughout his literary career, Faulkner helped accomplish that task by fabricating tales about his own heroics as a World War I fighter pilot. And just as he closely identified war with his personal life, the award-winning writer made the impact of the Civil War, World War I and World War II integral to his fictional characters. Although he wove details of three major U.S. battles into the text of more than a dozen short stories and in such novels as Soldiers Pay, Flags in the Dust, Light in August, The Unvanquished, Absalom, Absalom! and A Fable, he never fought in any of them. Faulkner's personal and literary fixation on war will be explored at The University of Mississippi July 22-27, during the 28th annual Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference, titled "Faulkner and War." Although Faulkner trained with the Canadian Royal Air Force, he did not see combat; yet after World War I had ended, he concocted stories about fighting in that war.
Relational Format
Newsletter
Recommended Citation
Jackson, Deidra, "28th Faulkner Conference Focuses on War's Influence on Writer's Work" (2001). University of Mississippi News. 9310.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/umnews/9310
Accessibility Status
Searchable text