Faulkner and the Native South

Contributions by Eric Gary Anderson, Melanie R. Anderson, Jodi A. Byrd, Gina Caison, Robbie Ethridge, Patricia Galloway, LeAnne Howe, John Wharton Lowe, Katherine M. B. Osburn, Melanie Benson Taylor, Annette Trefzer, and Jay Watson

From new insights into the Chickasaw sources and far-reaching implications of Faulkners fictional place-name "Yoknapatawpha," to discussions that reveal the potential for indigenous land-, family-, and story-based methodologies to deepen understanding of Faulkners fiction (including but not limited to the novels and stories he devoted explicitly to Native American topics), the eleven essays of this volume advance the critical analysis of Faulkners Native South and the Native Souths Faulkner. Critics push beyond assessments of the historical accuracy of his Native representations and the colonial hybridity of his Indian characters. Essayists turn instead to indigenous intellectual culture for new models, problems, and questions to bring to Faulkner studies. Along the way, readers are treated to illuminating comparisons between Faulkners writings and the work of a number of Native American authors, filmmakers, tribal leaders, and historical figures.

Faulkner and the Native South brings together Native and non-Native scholars in a stimulating and often surprising critical dialogue about the indigenous wellsprings of Faulkners creative energies and about Faulkners own complicated presence in Native American literary history.