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...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Michael Wainwright
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Association for American Studies 2011-12-01
Series:European Journal of American Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/9461
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1841558171495170048
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.
format Article
id doaj-art-4ef3adb6e2dd4636808923e149a1d2c9
institution Kabale University
issn 1991-9336
language English
publishDate 2011-12-01
publisher European Association for American Studies
record_format Article
series European Journal of American Studies
spelling doaj-art-4ef3adb6e2dd4636808923e149a1d2c92025-01-06T09:10:24ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362011-12-017110.4000/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
work_keys_str_mv AT michaelwainwright astiffmanchildwalkingderridaseconomyofsecrecyandfaulknersbarnburning
AT michaelwainwright stiffmanchildwalkingderridaseconomyofsecrecyandfaulknersbarnburning