"Intruder in the Dust"

[la_patata]

I have a question: "Intruder in the Dust" is a work by Faulkner... I would like to ask if this phrase has some idiomatic meaning as well. I am asking because the work has been translated into German as "grip into the dust" and into Czech as something like "rest in peace"

[Anglika]

This is an interesting comment: Project MUSE

Translating titles is a real headache! The answer to your question is no, Faulkner made it up.

[la_patata]

This is an interesting comment: Project MUSE

Translating titles is a real headache! The answer to your question is no, Faulkner made it up.

Thank you very much Unfortunately I don't have access to that page

[Anglika]

From : Fulton, Lorie Watkins.
Intruder in the Past

"The beginnings of his frustration appear in a letter Robert K. Haas, his literary agent, received from him on March 15, 1948, in which he complains, "By the way, first time in my experience, I cant find a title." Actually, he already knew that he wanted to use the phrase "in the dust," and searched only for the perfect word to combine with it. He wrote to Haas, "I want a word, a dignified (or more dignified) synonym for 'shenanigan,' 'skulduggery'; maybe" (Selected Letters 264-265). Faulkner's correspondence shows that his mild irritation at his inability to choose a title soon escalated, and he followed his first letter with another to Haas approximately a week later proposing Intruder in the Dust as a title, along with several other possible (though perhaps not completely serious) combinations including the likes of "IMPOSTER," "SLEEPER," "MALFEASANCE," and even "MALAPROP"...

[eslkorea]

i think there's a film version of this...:)