Breadfruit, time and again: Glissant reads Faulkner in the World Relation (original) (raw)

… [T]he role of the serious literary artist is to provide mythic prefigurations that are adequate to the complexities and possibilities of the circumstances in which we live. In other words, to the storyteller actuality is a combination of facts, figures, and legend. The goal of the serious storyteller is to fabricate a truly fictional legend, one that meets the so-called scientific tests of validity, reliability, and comprehensiveness. Is its applicability predictable? Are the storyteller's anecdotes truly representative? Does his "once upon a time" instances and episodes imply time and again? I have found that in old Uncle Billy's case they mostly do.