The primary sources I’ll use are Henry James’s What Maisie Knew and William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. My secondary sources primarily come from JSTOR, and Google Scholar. I’ve searched for child narrators, Vardaman Bundren, Maisie, modernism and children, as well as narratology (this last one has been tricky). I’m debating on incorporating psychological resources relating to children and language or cognition. This paper has proven to be pretty tough to mold/write. 

Bollinger, Laurel. “‘Are Is Too Many for One Woman to Foal’: Embodied Cognition in ‘As I Lay Dying.’” Texas Studies in Literature and Language, vol. 57, no. 4, 2015, pp. 433–463. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26155314. Accessed 21 Apr. 2021.

Bollinger contrasts Darl and his philosophical moments with Vardaman and his child philosophy. It really emphasizes Addie’s theory of language, as Darl’s language is very pronounced in adult terms while Vardaman lacks the pronounced language, yet he expresses similar ideas with a child’s twist.  

Britzolakis, Christina. “Technologies of Vision in Henry James’s ‘What Maisie Knew.’” NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction, vol. 34, no. 3, 2001, pp. 369–390., www.jstor.org/stable/1346072. Accessed 22 Apr. 2021.

Britzolakis writes about James’ innovation on narrative perspective in his work. She focuses on his “experimental” text, What Maisie Knew and its titular character and James’ emphasis on her developmental consciousness in and throughout the text.  

Delville, Michel. “VARDAMAN’S FISH AND ADDIE’S JAR: FAULKNER’S TALES OF MOURNING AND DESIRE.” Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (HJEAS), vol. 2, no. 1, 1996, pp. 85–91. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41273916. Accessed 21 Apr. 2021.

Delville directly relates Addie’s monologue to Vardaman’s attempt to understand and work through his own grief by declaring that Addie is a fish. He utilizes Lacan’s epistemological work to understand Vardaman. 

Donnelly, Colleen. “The Syntax of Perception in ‘As I Lay Dying.’” CEA Critic, vol. 53, no. 2, 1991, pp. 54–68. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44378225. Accessed 21 Apr. 2021.

Donnelly speaks of both Vardaman’s understanding of his mother’s death and his own child monologue in relation to Darl (ontological musings). 

Heberle, Mark A., et al. Infant Tongues: The Voice of the Child in Literature. Wayne State University Press, 1995. 

Heberle interestingly examines language and child narrators via consciousness, he also makes the relation of adults being the ones who define the child and their attempt at articulating their inner world.

Marotta, Kenny. “What Maisie Knew: The Question of Our Speech.” ELH, vol. 46, no. 3, 1979, pp. 495–508. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2872692. Accessed 21 Apr. 2021.

Marotta’s piece focuses mainly on Maisie’s character and the hypocrisy she witnesses at the hands of the adults. He addresses language and narration.