Faulkner's Imperialism ― Space, Place, and the Materiality of Myth

In Faulkner's Imperialism, Taylor Hagood explores two staples of Faulkner's world: myth and place. Using an interdisciplinary approach to examine economic, sociological, and political factors in Faulkner's writing, he applies postcolonial theory, cultural materialism, and the work of the New Southernists to analyze how these themes intersect to encode narratives of imperialism and anti-imperialism. The resulting discussion highlights the deeply embedded imperial impulses underpinning not just Yoknapatawpha and Mississippi, but the Midwest, the Caribbean, France, and a host of often-overlooked corners of the Faulknerian map. One of the few books that examine Faulkner's oeuvre, Faulkner's Imperialism moves beyond South-versus-North paradigms to encompass all the spaces within Faulkner's created cosmos, considering their interrelationships in a precise, holistic way.

Taylor Hagood is professor of American Literature and director of the Center for the Study of the Americas at Florida Atlantic University. His book Faulkner, Writer of Disability won the C. Hugh Holman Award in 2015.