The Question of Racial Identity in William Faulkner's “Ad Astra”

Abstract

Set in France in the last days of war, Willian1 Faulkner's 'Ad Astra' offers a privileged perspective to assess the dialogic nature of the definition of identity along racial lines. The only non-white character's search for an authentic definition of himself highlights tragically how the negotiation of an identity can never be color-blind. This paper uses the characters' namings and acts as definitional mirrors, and shows how the logic of racist discourse is both inescapable and all-pervading.