"the dark land talking the voiceless speech": The Rupture of Voice and Environment in William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

Abstract

As I Lay Dying is a disorienting, anachronistic novel that depicts a poor family struggling to navigate loss, an environmental crisis, and the modernizing South. The 59 individually-narrated sections of the novel provide an opportunity to explore voice and identity, and how each becomes a function and product of the chaotic outer environment. One of the most experimental writers of modernist literature, William Faulkner uses the language and structure of stream-of-consciousness narratives to emphasize alienation and individuality within the community of the novel. This thesis explores the social dimension of language by applying Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin's theories of dialogism, heteroglossia, and polyphony. Focusing on the perspectives of two of the most unique characters in Faulkner's literature, this essay investigates the language(s) of consciousness in the discourse of the novel. The disjointed, fragmented perspectives of the narrative illuminate the ways in which individualized language can promote but alsorestrict human connection. By "listening" to the diverse voices of the novel, Faulkner's characters can be more easily understood.