Ambivalence of Racial Representation in William Faulkner’sAbsalom, Absalom!

Abstract

This dissertation intends to demonstrate that William Faulkner’sAbsalom, Absalom! explores the stereotypes in order to reflect upon the credibility of trustworthiness of racial discourse. Emerging from the historical ideological crisis that involved race relations in 1930s U.S. South, the research explores an alternative and ambivalent representation of racial issues in the novel. The interrogation of credibility results in the novel in a sophistication of the strategies that address the problem of use of racial stereotypes for narrative purpose. By paying attention to this aspect, this thesis claims that the novelist is in expression of the historical tension born of complex race relations.