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Some of the stories in Digital Yoknapatawpha have audio recordings attached to them.

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If this is the case, a link will appear at the bottom left of the display controls.

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Clicking on the link will open up a new browser tab with a set of audio recordings

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attached to that particular story.

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These files come from a much larger audio archive curated by Steve Railton,

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called Faulkner at Virginia,

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and are digital versions of tape recordings that were made of Faulkner’s lectures

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while he was a Writer-in-Residence at the University of Virginia in 1957 and 1958.

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Generally, the title of each link is a paraphrase of a question asked by an audience member,

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and the audio recording is the original question accompanied by Faulkner’s answer.

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Clicking on the link brings up the audio player and a transcription of the exchange.

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Once the audio player is visible,

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the audio file can also be downloaded by clicking the menu ellipsis on the right.

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The recordings are as profound as they are funny.

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They sometimes add a level of depth to a story,

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while at other times it seems that Faulkner’s responses raise more questions than they answer.

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In all cases, they are worth a listen.

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With a “Rose for Emily,” it is interesting to listen to Faulkner’s answer to the question,

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“Conflict between North and South in the Story?”

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Faulkner claims that any symbolism related to the North and South is "incidental,"

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and that, instead, the writer is trying to create an “authentic, credible flesh-and-blood character."

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The response is surprising.

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It suggests that the object of writing for Faulkner is not to deliver a “message,”

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but, rather, to tell stories about people.

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One may wonder how we reconcile Faulkner’s own version of this story,

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with readings of “A Rose for Emily” that tend to see it as a commentary on the treatment of

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women during the period immediately following the Civil War.

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Is this a story about one woman, or is this a story about women more generally?

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These recordings represent just a sliver of the 28 hours of audio available on the Faulkner at Virginia website.

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Clicking on the link will bring you to main site,

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where you can get more detailed information on these recordings,

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browse all of the individual recordings,

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search for a specific word in the recordings,

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or go through all the highlights in the archive.

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The archive also includes recordings of him reading from his work out loud,

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all of which are an invaluable guide to understanding the poetry of his language.