The poetics of space in the stories A Rose for Emily and Barn Burning
Sławomir Studniarz (University of Warmia and Mazury Olsztyn)
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The article explores the organization of space in two stories by William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily and Barn Burning. The analysis of spatial arrangements in both texts relies on the insights into the nature of literary space provided by Jurij Lotman, Janusz Sławiński, and Garbiel Zoran. In particular, Lotman’s notion of spatial relations as a topos modeling other, non-spatial ideas, Sławiński’s concept of „added–on senses” conveyed by the fi ctional space, and Zoran’s two methods of reconstructing space in a narrative, chronotopic and topographic, have proved especially useful and effective. In A Rose for Emily spatial relations model social relations, the contrast between the traditional South and the new South, as well as personal relations, showing the position of the heroine, Emily Grierson, in the community of Jefferson. In addition, Emily’s house serves as a means of illustrating the protagonist. In Barn Burning space appears largely as a challenge for the young protagonist, Sarty, and triggers his personal and moral growth. Two localities are the most important in this respect, the store in which the trial is taking place, and the magnifi cent residence of major de Spain. Furthermore, spatial relations in the story model the contrast between the poor and the rich in the American South.
The sample of Polish version of this article is available here: https://tekstualia.pl/files/9f3d2ffd/studniarz_s-poetyka.pdf
