''Bullets in the Dining Room Table'': The (Im)possibility of Mending Wounds in William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!

Abstract

This article focuses on the significance of wounding in William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!. Drawing on the thought of the French phenomenologist, Maurice Merleau­Ponty, wounds are shown to be imprinted in the very fabric of Southern life, as they are impregnated in the fleshly tissue that chiasmatically intertwines the perceiver with the perceived world. At the same time, Faulkner's South is deemed to be haunted by the spectres of its violent past, as understood in terms of Jacques Derrida's Specters of Marx. The mutual enfolding of these two aspects of the novel produces the network of tensions informing the text. In their extended narrative, Quentin and Shreve seek to interpret Southern experience by recapturing the capacity for transcendent choice and action that might have shaped the seemingly impenetrable misfortunes of the Sutpen family. Quentin, in particular, also attempts to render justice to this dislocated history of suffering. However, the redemptive endeavor fails, and the novel remains shadowed by the tragic losses implicit both in its title and in the proper names of its characters.

Opsomming

Hierdie artikel fokus op die betekenis van verwonding in William Faulkner se Absalom, Absalom!. In navolging van die Franse fenomenoloog, Maurice Merleau­Ponty, word aangetoon dat wonde afgestempel is op die wese van die lewe in die Suide. Die vlesige weefsel hiervan is oortrek met wonde wat die waamemer en die wereld wat waargeneem word chiasmaties met mekaar vervleg. Daarby word Faulkner se Suide beskou as 'n streek wat gekwel word deur skimme uit 'n gewelddadige verlede na analogie van Jacques Derrida se Specters of Marx. Die ineenstrengeling van hierdie twee aspekte lei tot die netwerk van spanning wat die teks deurweek. In hulle uitgebreide narratief poog Quentin en Shreve om die Suidelike ervaring te interpreteer deur die vermoe tot 'n transendentale keuse en handeling te herwin, 'n vermoe wat moontlik die skynbaar ondeurgrondelike teespoed van die Sutpen-gesin veroorsaak het. Quentin in die besonder poog om reg te laat geskied aan hierdie uit verband gerukte lydensgeskiedenis. Die poging tot versoening misfuk egter en 'n skadu huiwer steeds oor die roman vanwee tragiese verliese wat in die titel en name van die karakters ge"impliseer word.