WILLIAM
FAULKNER'S YOKNAPATAWPHA
A
Visit to
Oxford
and
Lafayette County,
Mississippi
by
Dr. Carl Edwin Lindgren
and Penni Bolton
Located over
sixty miles south of
Memphis
on Interstate 55 and
twenty-three miles east on Mississippi Highway 6,
Oxford
is a bit too far off
the beaten track -- the sort of place a traveler might pass by unless,
perhaps, he had read about it.
Located at
the 'hub' of William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha, County,
Oxford
is a contemporary study
in contrast. Within its bounds one may hear talk of choral music, and of
cotton farming. One may dine in elegant Victorian splendor or casually consume
catfish and hush puppies from chipped china. Mules and Mercedes, quite
countryside or cosmopolitan clamor, football or shade tree fantasy . . . all
can be found here.
Oxford
graciously welcomes
both traveler and intellect.
At
Oxford
's epicenter stands the
Lafayette County Courthouse: an imposing, white structure encircled by wizened
oaks. From its deeply shaded benches old men relive past ventures or simply
watch the comings and goings on the
City Square
. Engraved on a plaque
beside the southern entrance are the following words from William Faulkner's Requiem
for a Nun:
But
above all the courthouse; the center, the focus, the hub; sitting looming in
the center of the county's circumference like a single cloud in its ring of
horizon, laying its vast shadow to the uttermost rim of horizon; musing,
brooding, symbolic and ponderable, tall as a cloud, solid as rock, dominating
all: protector of the weak, judicate and curb of the passions and lusts,
repository and guardian of the aspirations and the hopes . . .
In
turn-of-the-century photographs, horse drawn buggies and heavily laden mule
carts dominate the center of town. On Saturdays the
Courthouse Square
resembled the frantic,
teeming activity of a modern-day city. Farmers from the surrounding
countryside, housewives, businessmen and townspeople crowded the narrow
sidewalks looking for bargains, discussing news of the day or trading just
plain good gossip.
Not much has
changed. The
Oxford Square
is still the city's
center of activity. It offers a little something for just about everyone. One
may visit Nelson's "the South's Oldest Department Store," where
shoeboxes are (to one's surprise) deftly wrapped in brown paper and skillfully
tied with string. One may browse through Southern literature at one of the
South's most innovative bookstores
(Square Books), or perhaps just window shop after a leisurely lunch at one of
several nearby restaurants. On the sidewalks and in the shops a visitor has
the opportunity of meeting
Oxford
's own literary clan
(John Grisham, Larry Brown, Barry Hannah and Richard Ford) or one of the many
celebrities who attend autograph parties at Square Books, lecture at "The
Book" conference, or study Faulkner.
The Square
is also host to raucous university football pep rallies, sophisticated
sidewalk art shows, First Saturday (a series of displays, concerts, plays, and
crafts presented by the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council), book signings, (Grisham,
Walker,
Rice,
etc.), solemn Fourth of July ceremonies and, a sentimental favorite -- the
annual hometown Christmas parade.
A mile west
of the Square one encounters the youthful vigor of the
University
of
Mississippi
. This attractively
landscaped campus has during its history, weathered both Civil War and civil
strife. Two deeply shaded groves at its center entice the visitor to enjoy a
picnic lunch, play a game of Frisbee, or take a restful nap on a blanket
spread beneath its ancient oaks. For
the more energetic there are the 48 lighted tennis courts, 18-hole golf
course, and walking and jogging track.
The visual
serenity of the campus may be deceptive. Behind its many doors, Ole Miss
positively vibrates with energy. Contributing to the academic tremors are,
among others, the newly opened National Center for the Study of Physical
Acoustics, The Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (a pioneer in
natural products research), the much acclaimed Center for the Study of
Southern Culture and the internationally renown Mississippi Blues Archive
(housing the B.B. King Collection, the Living Blues Archival Collection and
the Kenneth S. Goldstein Folklore Collection).
The Center
for the Study of Southern Culture is dedicated to the study of all subjects
Southern including, but far from limited to, its literature and folklore, its
music, art, politics, and history. Under its auspices individuals such as Drs.
William Ferris, Charles Reagan Wilson and Ann Abadie have co-edited the
authoritative and exhaustive 1,634 page best-seller, The Encyclopedia of
Southern Culture.
The Center
enthusiastically encourages public participation in its activities. The annual
Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference continues to attract scholars and
Faulkner enthusiasts from all around the
U.S.
as well as from
China
,
Russia
, and
Japan
. This summer, the
Center, besides holding its twenty-first Conference ("Faulkner and
Gender") will host brownbag lunches, guest lecture series, and
Elderhostels.
Any journey
into Faulkner's
Yoknapatawpha
County
would not be complete
without a visit to the home of its "Sole Owner and Proprietor."
Rowan Oak, constructed in the 1840's by a pioneer settler, stands deep within
one of
Oxford
's most heavily wooded
neighborhoods. Its now dormant formal gardens, bricked terraces and a stable
were all designed by Faulkner.
Many of
Faulkner's famous novels were written at Rowan Oak. In fact, it was here that
he sketched the outline for A Fable on the walls of an upstairs
backroom, and here that he tried (with only moderate success) to avoid the
publicity and attention accorded a Nobel Laureate.
William
Faulkner's mythic county is bounded on the north by the
Tallahatchie
River
(remember Ode to
Billy Joe) and to the south by the Yocona(patawpha) River. Its boundaries
to the east and west are left to the reader's imagination. Along the
"spokes" radiating from
the courthouse, straight city streets quickly turn to winding county roads as
one wanders further into Yoknapatawpha.