Faulkner’s Charismatic Megaflora: Critical Plant Studies and the US South

Since ecocriticism emerged as a distinct subfield of literary and cultural studies, scholars have focused on William Faulkner's wide-ranging fictional investigations of ecological topics. In this recent greening of Faulkner studies, the vegetal life of Faulkner's real and imagined terrain...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of modern literature 2022-03, Vol.45 (3), p.90-105
Main Author: Vernon, Zackary
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
American literature
Animals
Blindness
Cultural studies
Culture
Ecocriticism
Environmental philosophy
Exceptionalism
Faulkner, William
Faulkner, William (1897-1962)
Literary criticism
Narrative theme
Nature
Novels
Ontology
Philosophers
Visual impairment
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Summary:Since ecocriticism emerged as a distinct subfield of literary and cultural studies, scholars have focused on William Faulkner's wide-ranging fictional investigations of ecological topics. In this recent greening of Faulkner studies, the vegetal life of Faulkner's real and imagined terrain receives far less attention than his charismatic megafauna. Commentators' blindness to plants is addressed here by utilizing theory from the emerging field of critical plant studies. Trees, Faulkner's most charismatic megaflora, belong at the center of his stylistic and thematic practices in As I Lay Dying (1930), Light in August (1932), and Go Down, Moses (1942).
ISSN:0022-281X
1529-1464
DOI:10.2979/jmodelite.45.3.07