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Criticism Series

The American Novel Series: (Cambridge University Press)

Titles in this series feature original (previously unpublished) essays by distinguished literary scholars.

Titles include:

• Millgate, Michael, ed. New Essays on Light in August (1987).
• Polk, Noel, ed. New Essays on The Sound and the Fury (1993).
• Wagner-Martin, Linda, ed. New Essays on Go Down, Moses (1996).

 

Annotations to the Novels Series: (Garland Publishers)

This series features line-by-line commentaries on difficult or otherwise significant words, phrases, and ideas in Faulkner’s novels. This is a good resource for readers new to Faulkner’s fiction.

Titles include:

• Arnold, Edwin T. Annotations to William Faulkner’s Mosquitoes (1989).

• Butterworth, Nancy. Annotations to William Faulkner’s A Fable (1989).

• Holmes, Catherine D. Annotations to William Faulkner’s The Hamlet (1996).

• Horton, Merrill. Annotations to William Faulkner’s The Town (1996).

• Johnson, Susie Paul. Annotations to William Faulkner’s Pylon (1989).

• Luce, Dianne C. Annotations to William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying (1990).

• McDaniel, Linda Elkins. Annotations to William Faulkner’s Flags in the Dust (1991).

• Rousselle, Melinda McLeod. Annotations to Faulkner’s Sanctuary (1989).

• Ragan, David Paul. Annotations to William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! (1991).

• Taylor, Nancy Drew. Annotations to William Faulkner’s Go Down, Moses (1994).

• Yonce, Margaret J. Annotations to William Faulkner’s Soldiers' Pay (1990).

Critical Essays on American Literature Series: (G.K. Hall)

Titles in this series feature essays by distinguished literary scholars on several key families in Faulkner’s fiction. Each volume is edited by Arthur F. Kinney.

Titles include:

• Critical Essays on William Faulkner: The Compson Family (1982).

• Critical Essays on William Faulkner: The McCaslin Family (1990).

• Critical Essays on William Faulkner: The Sartoris Family (1985).

• Critical Essays on William Faulkner: The Sutpen Family (1996).

Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha: (University Press of Mississippi)

This series collects the lectures presented at the Annual Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference, which is held each summer at the University of Mississippi. Concentrating on a different theme each year, the weeklong conference attracts renowned scholars in a number of fields of study.

For a list of titles, see Published Proceedings on the Faulkner conference page.

Modern Critical Interpretations and
Major Literary Characters (Chelsea House)

These two series both generally feature original essays and reprints of articles originally published elsewhere on many works of great literature. In addition, the Modern Critical Views series features volumes on a wide variety of works by individual authors. The general series editor is Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities at Yale University.

Titles include:

• Caddy Compson (1990).

• Modern Critical Views: William Faulkner (1986).

• William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! (1987).

• William Faulkner’s Light in August (1988)

• William Faulkner’s Sanctuary (1988).

• William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury (1988).

Reading Faulkner Series: (University Press of Mississippi)

The brainchild of James Hinkle, who died in 1990 before any of the volumes were published, the Reading Faulkner Series is an excellent set of resources detailing the myriad complex and difficult to comprehend passages in Faulkner’s novels. Each book in this relatively new series follows a single work from start to finish, quoting words and passages from the novel and providing glossary definitions and commentary on individual passages as well as background information about context, history, and biographical matters relevant to the passage. In some places, the commentary also recommends additional resources that may be of interest to students and scholars.

Also provided in some volumes (and perhaps all) are chronologies depicting the actions of the plot in the order they occurred in time. Quotations from Faukner (printed in bold type) are cited by page and line number according to both the Library of America editions of Faulkner’s novels and the most recent Vintage paperback editions.
According to series editor Noel Polk, the volumes attempt to provide "a handy guide not just to the [novels'] allusions, chronologies, Southernisms, and difficult words, but also to [their] more difficult passages"—in short, to try to illuminate "every nuance of meaning contained in the words." Targeted primarily toward students and beginning Faulkner scholars, the series nevertheless provides fascinating information which even seasoned Faulkner critics may not know.

Titles include:

• Arnold, Edwin T. Reading Faulkner: Sanctuary (1996).

• Hinkle, James C., and Robert McCoy. Reading Faulkner: The Unvanquished (1995).

• Ross, Stephen M. Reading Faulkner: The Sound and the Fury (1996).

• Ruppersburg, Hugh M. Reading Faulkner: Light in August (1994).

Twayne's Masterwork Studies: (Twayne Publishers)

Twayne Publishers, a division of G.K. Hall, has long been a godsend to beginning literary scholars because of their introductory volumes on English and American authors. The Masterwork Studies series continues that tradition by offering more detailed studies of individual works.

The five Masterwork Studies works on Faulkner novels include a chronology of William Faulkner’s Life and Works, literary and historical context about the works, and interpretations of the work in question. Each also includes a bibliography of other works, oftentimes with brief annotations describing the works.

Titles include:

• Berland, Alwyn. Light in August: A Study in Black and White, No. 95 (1992).

• Kinney, Arthur F. Go Down, Moses: The Miscegenation of Time, No. 148 (1996).

• Matthews, John T. The Sound and the Fury: Faulkner and the Lost Cause, No. 61 (1990).

• Parker, Robert Dale. Absalom, Absalom!: The Questioning of Fictions, No. 76 (1991).

• Wadlington, Warwick. As I Lay Dying: Stories out of Stories, No. 102 (1992).

Twentieth Century Interpretations Series (Prentice-Hall Publishers)

This series features mostly reprints of existing journal and book articles, sometimes in an edited or abbreviated form. These titles are generally useful as a diverse collection of interpretations, but the serious scholar would be better served in many cases by the original publications.

Titles include:

• Canfield, John Douglas, ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Sanctuary (1982).

• Cowan, Michael H., ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Sound and the Fury (1968).

• Goldman, Arnold, ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Absalom, Absalom! (1971).

• Minter, David L., ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Light in August: A Collection of Critical Essays (1969).