Major and Classification
Comparative Literature
Faculty Mentor
- Moshe Lazar, Ph.D.
Department
- Comparative Literature
McNair Project
“Two Writers from One Americas: Mirroring the Works of William Faulkner and Juan Carlos Onetti”
This exploration tackled a comparative study in the area of culture studies on two short stories, “A Rose for Emily” and “The Purloined Bride,” written by William Faulkner and Juan Carlos Onetti, respectively. Because of the writers’s’ styles of Fantastic Fiction and Magical Realism, both narratives were scrutinized for intertextuality. In addition, the study argued that the authors interpreted their respective cultures and projected them in the mythical towns of Jefferson, Yoknapatawpha, of Faulkner, and into Santa Maria of Onetti. The examination relied on theoretical frameworks that analyzed character development from a Feminist and Gender Criticism stance. Both theories assisted to expose how the female protagonists, Emily and Moncha, were portrayed by the authors and viewed by the other characters in the tales. Feminist and Gender Theories substantiated that Faulkner and Onetti challenged the representations of women by creating characters who represent the “other.” In attesting a second claim that environment and circumstances exert a significant impact in the production of literature, standpoints from New Historicist Criticism and Cultural Studies Criticism conceded a line of investigation built upon the parameters predetermined by society as imbued in historical times and as transpired into the milieu of the imaginary towns. Ultimately, this comparative study revealed how Faulkner and Onetti considered societal values, what kind of solutions or divergences they brought to light, and which traits of the human condition were woven into their literary production.