Stream of Consciousness Technique And-Ad Free Indirect Style în James Joyce and William Faulkner

1.INTRODUCTION

The 20th century brought fundamental changes in every field of human activity. If we briefly analyse just a few social or technological aspects or if we just mention that it was the century of the two World Wars – and think of the political issues- we will agree that it can be considered the most important period in history of humankind.

From the cultural point of view, this century has been referred to as an ‘intellectual earthquake’ as ever since its first years, the cultural and social changes were being felt all over the world. Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity(1905), the psychological studies of Sigmund Freud(1856-1939), the encyclopedic examination of human beliefs and institutions undertaken by Sir James Frazer(1854-1941) in The Golden Bough were just some of the influences that would shape a completely new era.

From the literary point of view the 20th century is widely known as the century of Modernism, a trend that is considered to have appeared between 1910 and 1930. During these years the impetus towards innovation and experimentation gathered pace as Modernist writers published groundbreaking works that made this period one of the most memorable in the history of world literature, in general, and of English literature, in particular.

Out of important names of Modernist writers, such as Joseph Conrad, D. H. Lawrence, James Joyce or Virginia Woolf, we have chosen two names for the present study: James Joyce and the American, Nobel- awarded writer, William Faulkner.

James Joyce is considered to best symbolize the Modernist revolution in fiction, having experimented with the form, technique and subject matter in the novel. In his well- known works A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man or Ulysses he widely used the stream of consciousness technique, as an innovative attempt of presenting the human mind as it works, showing disrespect to traditional linguistic use, playing havoc with the rules of syntax and displaying a vast range of styles of writing.

Several years later, across the ocean, another writer borrowed some of Joyce’s principles of literary technique, at the same time experimenting new, various ones – William Faulkner. The world presented in his novels is that of the Deep South, in which old established white families fall into disrepute and where traditional values are slowly eroded. By telling his stories from different points of view in novels like The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying, and by using the same stream of consciousness technique, he built up a comprehensive picture of the intense pride and passion of the people who make up the racial cauldron of the South.

In the present paper we are going to analyse some characteristics of Joyce’s and Faulkner’s literary works, with common and different features and the last part of the study will be dedicated to methodological aspects concerning the teaching of the two above-mentioned writers to high-school students, starting from the idea that teaching literature can be a rewarding and very special activity and that our students are much more than the ‘Internet Generation’.