1. 研究目的与意义（文献综述）

as one of the most representative philosophical thoughts in the first half of 20^th century, existentialism is one school of philosophy which centers on humans’ freedom and individuality. this ideological trend firstly came up to give a proper explanation of humans’ alienation, then it turned to have more specific differentiation as time goes by. jean- paul sartre, who was regarded as the pioneer of existentialism, considered that existentialism is also the humanitarianism. sartre thought the existence of human being has no meaning, as well as human’s life itself. he indicated that everyone had the right to change himself and achieve his self-realization, so that he could live a wonderful life on the base of his existence. and sartre’s viewpoint was often used by neoteric writers to show their special concerns about survival problems of whole human-beings in many modern novels. another representative of this new philosophical theory was friedrich wilhelm nietzsche, the creator of western modern philosophy. he enriched the branches of existentialism, and generalized it to a new theory which was called the will to power. in nietzsche’s opinion, the will to power means the power which is instinctive, irrational and spontaneous. this power determines the essence and significance of humans’ life. nietzsche pointed that the characteristics of the will to power are passion, desire, wildness and struggle. and all of these features shape the real life of people. we can find something in common from these two famous branches of existentialism---- both of them stressed the self-motivation of human-beings themselves, and they believed that people can control their own life through their struggles, experiences or choices.

william faulkner was thought to be one of the most influential writers in the american literary history. the novels he wrote were famous for the stream-of- consciousness theory, such as the sound and the fury, as i lay dying and absalom, absalom! .in light in august, faulkner created many well-developed women characters and gave them different fates and experiences. as for the title of this work, light in august, faulkner said it was mysterious but delightful. and the further meaning of the title can also be found in the story. the light not only refers to the purity, innocence of lena,but also the general meaning of life --- the characters in this novel all got saved from the temporary but surprising time. although the darkness is long and endless, it can be lighted by the light suddenly appeared in the life as well. moreover, the complicated social environment and plots in this novel revealed the cruel fact of american society in that period. and the changes of women characters’ fates also promoted a deeper thinking of humans’ existence. on the base of existentialism, the readers can have a further discussion about the practical significance of light in august, and then to have a more clearly understanding of the value of humans’ life.

at last, the author will probe into several events of this novel and analyze its potential themes. some other women characters in other novels written by faulkner would also be selected to compare with those in light in august. from the comparison of these women characters, the existential tendency in this novel will be clearly explained to give an explicit illustration. in order to show how existentialism has been reflected in this novel, the author will explain the practical significance of existential perspective based on main branches of existential theory.

2. 研究的基本内容与方案

The theory of Existentialism of Sartre and Nietzsche both shows that human can control his own life through his choice, life experience and some other features. They believe that human is the master of his own life and people can achieve their needs for self-actualization by making different choices or choosing specific ways. It is no wonder that this theory has a practical significance when having a study on literature. Besides, there are many interpretations about Faulkner’s work Light in August in recent years. However, few people pay attention to the women characters in this work, especially based on the perspective of Existentialism. To help other readers have a better understanding of this work and the theory of existentialism, this paper will specifically focus on the certain women characters in Light in August. Through introducing the background of the period when they lived and declare their daily experience, the author will deeply dissect the women’s life in order to draw a conclusion about their value of life. At the same time, some other famous women characters in Faulkner’s other works will be chosen to make a comparison. The aim of this paper is to analyze a novel with a relatively new perspective, thus find a further understanding of the women characters in Faulkner’s work. After this study, the readers can not only know the themes of the novel better, but also have a profound thought about how to live a significant life by their own.

3. 研究计划与安排

before 20th january : settlement of the title

before20th march: submission of the outline

before 25th april : submission of the first draft

4. 参考文献（12篇以上）

[1] abrams, cheryl rene. "mammy or ideal: the black surrogate mother in william faulkner's novels." diss. u of georgia, 1994. dai 56 (1995): 547a.

[2] friedrich wilhelm nietzsche. the will to power[m]. chongqing: chongqing publishing press, 2006.

[3]jean-paul sartre. l'existence précède l'essence[m]. shanghai: shanghai translati-on publishing press, 2012.