OfallthebookswrittenbyWilliamFaulkner,Knight’sGambit(1949)isprobablythemostneglectedandlessappreciated.Acollectionofwhatlookslikeastringofoccasionaltaleswritteninthesensationalmodeofthedetectivestory,ithasusuallybeenconsideredoneofthoseworkshepretendedtohavewritteninorderto“keeppotboiling”.Thetitlepiece—theonlyunpublishedstorywhenthebookappeared—haslongbeenreadasanerraticandunresolvedpasticheofdetectionandsentimentalism.AclosereadingoftheeponymousnovellarevealsinsteadacomplexintertextualnetwokinvolvingontheonehandEliot’sWasteLand—includingoneofitslessobviussources,Conrad—andontheotherFaulkner’sliterarygenealogy(startingfromTheWhiteRoseofMemphisbyFaulkner’sgreat-grandfatherWilliamClarkFalkner).InusingbothhisancestorandoneofhismodernistmentorsastheemblemoftheCivilWarandWWI(viatheintermezzoofimperialismepitomizedbyConrad)FaulknertacklesWWIIfromthevantagepointofadisillusionedagingsage.Thechangeofcharacterizationofthebook’shero—countyattorneyGavinStevens,whoseoriginalmodel,friendPhilStone,ishereblurredinsuchawayastorevealthesilhouetteoftheauthor—makesclearthatthegenerationalconflictportrayedinthenovellaisinfacttheonethatFaulknerexperiencesinreallife.ItisbynomeansaccidentalthatGavinSteven’sstrategy(chess-like,asperthetitleofthenovellaandthesymbolicwarfareenactedinthegame)andwhathesaystohisnephewChickMallisonbearstrikingresemblanceswithFaulkner’s“AddressUponReceivingtheNobelPrizeforLiterature”(1950)and,especially,“AddresstotheGraduatingClassUniversityHighSchool”(1951).Twocoevalnonfictionalpieceswhere,whiledealingwiththetopicofhowtoremainhumanintheageofannihilation,theauthorwrites:“wemustresist,ifwearetochangetheworldforman’speaceandsecurity”.
The Rules of the Game: Discourse and Order in Knight's Gambit
Marano, Salvatore
2017-01-01
Abstract
OfallthebookswrittenbyWilliamFaulkner,Knight’sGambit(1949)isprobablythemostneglectedandlessappreciated.Acollectionofwhatlookslikeastringofoccasionaltaleswritteninthesensationalmodeofthedetectivestory,ithasusuallybeenconsideredoneofthoseworkshepretendedtohavewritteninorderto“keeppotboiling”.Thetitlepiece—theonlyunpublishedstorywhenthebookappeared—haslongbeenreadasanerraticandunresolvedpasticheofdetectionandsentimentalism.AclosereadingoftheeponymousnovellarevealsinsteadacomplexintertextualnetwokinvolvingontheonehandEliot’sWasteLand—includingoneofitslessobviussources,Conrad—andontheotherFaulkner’sliterarygenealogy(startingfromTheWhiteRoseofMemphisbyFaulkner’sgreat-grandfatherWilliamClarkFalkner).InusingbothhisancestorandoneofhismodernistmentorsastheemblemoftheCivilWarandWWI(viatheintermezzoofimperialismepitomizedbyConrad)FaulknertacklesWWIIfromthevantagepointofadisillusionedagingsage.Thechangeofcharacterizationofthebook’shero—countyattorneyGavinStevens,whoseoriginalmodel,friendPhilStone,ishereblurredinsuchawayastorevealthesilhouetteoftheauthor—makesclearthatthegenerationalconflictportrayedinthenovellaisinfacttheonethatFaulknerexperiencesinreallife.ItisbynomeansaccidentalthatGavinSteven’sstrategy(chess-like,asperthetitleofthenovellaandthesymbolicwarfareenactedinthegame)andwhathesaystohisnephewChickMallisonbearstrikingresemblanceswithFaulkner’s“AddressUponReceivingtheNobelPrizeforLiterature”(1950)and,especially,“AddresstotheGraduatingClassUniversityHighSchool”(1951).Twocoevalnonfictionalpieceswhere,whiledealingwiththetopicofhowtoremainhumanintheageofannihilation,theauthorwrites:“wemustresist,ifwearetochangetheworldforman’speaceandsecurity”.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
