Published Paper Details:

This paper explores William Faulkner's novel Absalom, Absalom! deconstructs the notion of an objective historical truth. Through a fragmented, multi-perspectival narrative, the novel argues that history is not a collection of facts but a subjective, individually interpreted, and often problematic construct.1 By presenting the story of Thomas Sutpen through the biased lenses of four distinct narrators--each using a different literary genre--Faulkner demonstrates how personal memory, beliefs, and emotional trauma inevitably shape historical understanding.4 The novel's atypical structure forces the reader into a collaborative role, grappling with conflicting accounts and questioning the very knowability of the past.9 Ultimately, the paper argues that the novel is a meta-commentary on the impossibility of a singular historical record, positing that the past is a perpetually "living force" that haunts the present and is constantly being re-created by those who inherit its burden.