Faulkner Was A Cartoonist

Who knew? Guess Mike Luckovich squirrels away such juicy tidbits, but not me. From Ole Miss' Center for the Study of Southern Culture (where, when I'm finished channeling Rupert and Ted, I hope to retire quietly for a civilized course of study; there or UNC's southern studies program. Have yet to decide between the two. But I've got miles to go before I rest with such academic indulgences)... Anyways, back to the quote at hand:

Prior to the beginning of his career as a novelist, Faulkner as visual artist was already bringing together some of the issues of sexuality he would probe so deeply in his fiction: the male “gaze” as a form of sexual objectification, the “blackness” of sexual mystery, the interaction of heterosexual and same-sex dynamics.

Not only does Faulkner explore multiple forms of sexuality throughout his work, he also studies their implications within various social, economic, and racial concerns. Quentin Compson’s obsession over decaying social standards in The Sound and the Fury is complicated by the incestuous desires seemingly designed to purify what he regards as sexual violation.

Read more prime yadayadayayda here. If you want to geek-out in what must surely be world's geekiest of literary geek fests, this year's "Faulkner's Sexualities" Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference is July 22-26, 2007. More info on that gem here. I can only imagine the sort who arrive at these sort of things, gauche rolly luggage in hand. And we wonder why Faulkner pondered female indifference too...