Abstract:

William Faulkner is a pioneer author who applies modern narrative techniques in American Literature. Stream of consciousness, multiple narration and interior monologue are some of the modernist techniques he uses in his works. His indisputable achievements in literature made some writers to pursuit his technique and style. Rasim Özdenören is a famous Turkish story writer who is tracing Faulkner. There are certain similarities in technique and style of both writers. The similarities are not just at the technical level, there are similarities between the themes they use as well. In this study Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury novel is chosen. This novel has been evaluated as the masterpiece of Faulkner by many scholars. The novel is source of a rich variety of modern techniques. The all above mentioned modern techniques are all applied in this novel. The novel consists of four chapters and the first three chapters are narrated by the three brothers from Compson family. The last chapter is narrated by the writer. Faulkner’s extraordinary style shows up at the very beginning of the novel. The first narrator is a mentally retarded, deaf and mute character. That’s why there is no consistency of narration, no coherence of events, no logical unity and no fluency in the first chapter and it has a challenging atmosphere for the understanding of the reader. The obscurity of this chapter clears away only after the following chapters are read. Four different narrators give a chance to the reader to look at the events from multiple points of views. In order to represent the analogy between two writers, Özdenören’s two story books, Çarpılmışlar and Hastalar ve Işıklar, have been chosen. In addition to these story books a short novel, Gül Yetiştiren Adam, has been focused. When these works are scrutinized cautiously the similarities between the techniques can be observed clearly. Stream of consciousness, interior monologue and other modern techniques have been used widely in these studies. However, this study does not claim the contagion between writers as a deficiency. Even the most distinguished writers have been influenced by other writers. There are many examples of contagion in the history of literature. Sometimes the influenced writer produces more successful works. Özdenören is also a distinguished story writer in Turkish Literature. The influence of Faulkner on Özdenören is evident. There are similarities in narrative techniques and subjects dealt with. Özdenören’s success in his works indicates that he is not just an imitator but he has successfully adopted the modern techniques to his works. His authentic works receive attention they deserve by readers and critics and the only purpose of this study is to focus on certain cases of analogy between the studies of the two writers.

Keywords: