Stopped clocks: time and space in William Faulkner and Autran Dourado

Abstract

This critical trend on the part of both U.S. and Latin American critics represents a growing recognition of the importance of examining the links which bind U.S. fiction and culture with Latin America. One writer whose work clearly echoes that of Faulkner is the Brazilian, Autran Dourado, but as yet this relationship has been left largely unexplored. My comparison of Dourado´s The Voices of the Dead with Faulkner´s short stories "Elly" and "The Brooch" will investigate how the work of both writers emerges from an era of social crisis. By examining the function of key visual symbols within the texts I will demonstrate how the burden of historical time forced upon the characters results in their psychological entrampment and subsequent urge to escape by means of physical violence and sexual transgression.