A Stiff Man-Child Walking: Derrida’s Economy of Secrecy and Faulkner’s “Barn Burning”
Working from Jacques Derrida’s contentions about secrecy and authorial responsibility, and paying brief but specific attention to Charles Baudelaire’s “La fausse monnaie” (1869), as suggested by Derridean concerns over capitalist economics, this article studies the manner in which the inviolable and...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/9461 |
| _version_ | 1797310328282808320 |
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| author | Michael Wainwright |
| author_facet | Michael Wainwright |
| author_sort | Michael Wainwright |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Working from Jacques Derrida’s contentions about secrecy and authorial responsibility, and paying brief but specific attention to Charles Baudelaire’s “La fausse monnaie” (1869), as suggested by Derridean concerns over capitalist economics, this article studies the manner in which the inviolable and conditional secrets of William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” (1938) reveal the poststructural tendencies avant la lettre of this leading American modernist. While Faulkner scholars have focused on the ambivalent language and metaphors deployed in this short story, they have not formerly traced the manner in which “Barn Burning” incites a sense of deconstructive criticism, and have thereby failed to acknowledge Faulkner’s attendant authorial irresponsibility. This article redresses this critical imbalance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:41:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-80bccdb11344417785775f447569c7c9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:41:22Z |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-80bccdb11344417785775f447569c7c92024-02-14T13:22:15ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93367110.4000/ejas.9461A Stiff Man-Child Walking: Derrida’s Economy of Secrecy and Faulkner’s “Barn Burning”Michael WainwrightWorking from Jacques Derrida’s contentions about secrecy and authorial responsibility, and paying brief but specific attention to Charles Baudelaire’s “La fausse monnaie” (1869), as suggested by Derridean concerns over capitalist economics, this article studies the manner in which the inviolable and conditional secrets of William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” (1938) reveal the poststructural tendencies avant la lettre of this leading American modernist. While Faulkner scholars have focused on the ambivalent language and metaphors deployed in this short story, they have not formerly traced the manner in which “Barn Burning” incites a sense of deconstructive criticism, and have thereby failed to acknowledge Faulkner’s attendant authorial irresponsibility. This article redresses this critical imbalance.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/9461deconstructionPoststructuralisminviolable (absolute) secrecyrevealable (conditional) secrecy |
| spellingShingle | Michael Wainwright A Stiff Man-Child Walking: Derrida’s Economy of Secrecy and Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” European Journal of American Studies deconstruction Poststructuralism inviolable (absolute) secrecy revealable (conditional) secrecy |
| title | A Stiff Man-Child Walking: Derrida’s Economy of Secrecy and Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” |
| title_full | A Stiff Man-Child Walking: Derrida’s Economy of Secrecy and Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” |
| title_fullStr | A Stiff Man-Child Walking: Derrida’s Economy of Secrecy and Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Stiff Man-Child Walking: Derrida’s Economy of Secrecy and Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” |
| title_short | A Stiff Man-Child Walking: Derrida’s Economy of Secrecy and Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” |
| title_sort | stiff man child walking derrida s economy of secrecy and faulkner s barn burning |
| topic | deconstruction Poststructuralism inviolable (absolute) secrecy revealable (conditional) secrecy |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/9461 |
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