“The Essence of Art” in the Novel “Waterland”: Graham Swift as a Successor of William Faulkner
Varyoshin Nikita Vladimirovich
Moscow State Linguistic University
Submitted: 18.10.2022
Abstract. The aim of the study is to compare the novels “Waterland” by G. Swift and “The Sound and the Fury” by W. Faulkner with a similar writing technique, which is characterised by a parallelism of episodes from different time periods, and with similar plot motifs (extinction of a once noble family, autism, incest, suicide), in which both authors have put their individual ideas and offered their own ways of implementing them. The paper traces correlations between G. Swift’s characters (the Atkinsons, the protagonist’s ancestors) and W. Faulkner’s characters (the Compsons). The researcher explores the role of the plot motifs of incest and suicide and also draws attention to G. Swift’s reinterpretation of Christian images from W. Faulkner’s novel, i.e. the Savior and Easter Day. Scientific originality of the comparative study lies in the fact that it is the first attempt to identify the patterns of transformation of the detective-plot roles (victim, detective, criminal) of the central characters in “Waterland” and “The Sound and the Fury”. As a result, it has been found that the characters of both novels find themselves in a crisis situation that develops against their will, which triggers the mental and cognitive mechanism of the specified transformation. Identifying the crisis, G. Swift’s and W. Faulkner’s “detectives” try to affect it, become criminals and victims of their actions.
Key words and phrases: Г. Свифт, У. Фолкнер, кровосмешение, самоубийство, профессиональный историк, G. Swift, W. Faulkner, incest, suicide, professional historian
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