LEVELS OF DEVIATION IN FAULKNER S AS I LAY DYING

Faulkner s As I Lay Dying abounds with various kinds of linguistic deviations to such an extent that they might be considered as being one of the most prominent stylistic markers in the novel above. They have been explored throughout this paper according to the various levels of linguistic analysis: phonological level, syntactic level, morphological level, lexical level, and semantic level. Moreover, the deviations scored throughout the novel are employed specifically for literary- aesthetic purposes. Though the deviations are not confined to one level at the expense of the others, they have been characterized by various degrees in terms of their limits of deviance and aesthetic employment. Consequently, some levels of deviation have been foregrounded against the others insofar as the aesthetic function of language is concerned. Thus, the syntactic and semantic levels of deviation proved more radical and important than the other ones. Nevertheless, this does not deny the purposeful interconnectedness of the core levels of the language in As I Lay Dying without which we will lose a crucial part of our attempt to understand what Faulkner has written.