When a Mother Lays Dying or The Creative Power of Words: A Pragmatic Analysis of Addie's Section in William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

Ineke Bockting (1, 2)

1 Religion, Culture et Société
2 ICP - Institut Catholique de Paris (ICP)

William Faulkner' s modernist dismissal of surface appearances in favor of deeper psychological realities-"the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself'-forms a clear link with the Freudian personality construct. After exploring this "Freudian connection," this essay discusses Faulkner's fictional mothers-especially the powerful mother Addie Bundren in the nove! As I Lay Dying. lt shows that through the text she "speaks," this woman not only creates her own personality, but actually forms a decisive factor in the creation of the personalities of her children. The essay also includes a few observations on Faulkner' s relationship with his own mother.

Mots clés: Addie Bundren; motherhood; partiality; language; linguistics; modals; dialects; small clause

Domaines: Littératures

Ineke Bockting. When a Mother Lays Dying or The Creative Power of Words: A Pragmatic Analysis of Addie's Section in William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. Cycnos, 2018, "The Wagon moves" : new essays on William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, 34 (2), pp.71- 95. ⟨hal-03170611⟩