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Subject: Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion of Walker Percy

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  • From: RHONDA MCDONNELL <rhonda_mcdonnell AT msn.com>
  • To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [percy-l] FW: percy's southernness
  • Date: Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:40:51 -0700

He was Catholic before he was published, so I don't think it's possible to trace a change in his writing following his conversion.  However, you might find his essay "Why I Became Catholic" of interest. I'm pretty sure it's in Signposts in a Strange Land.

--Rhonda

"You live in a deranged age, more deranged than usual, because in spite of great scientific and technological advances, man has not the faintest idea of who he is or what he is doing."
  
                                    Walker Percy





From: Hebrunson AT aol.com
Date: Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:42:37 -0400
To: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [percy-l] FW: percy's southernness

Often in this thread, I've heard Percy referred to as Catholic.
 
At what point is his writing did he leave the Episcopal Church to become a Catholic?  Did his writing change after this?
 
HB
 
In a message dated 10/21/2009 8:25:14 P.M. Central Daylight Time, karey1 AT charter.net writes:

There is the “southern gothic” meaning this species of southern writing contains the characteristics of the gothic; i.e.: dark and violent.  Faulkner and O’Conner have been said to be “southern gothic,” but I don’t see Percy there.

 

I am taking a Southern Literature course next semester – what does it mean?  Well,what Nikki says, you are southern, and you are a writer – does that distinguish you in any way from the rest of the country? How is it different?  One question to ask is, how does Updike (as in, the Rabbit series, same era) differ from Percy?  Percy is Southern, aristocratic, Catholic; Updike, Northern, lower middle class, Protestant. How are protagonists, themes, etc. different?

 

I have been told that “soul” arises from pain.  The South – of all regions of the country – went through pain after the Civil War – and I would say unjust pain, after being defeated and subsequently taken advantage of.  There is a soul to southern writing that manifests in the early to mid 20th century. 

 

Catholic – Percy is obviously and consciously (and subconsciously) Catholic. 

 

Whether Percy saw a difference between himself and other authors from other regions is probably unimportant.  It’s hard to see ourselves.  Percy was especially blind to himself in lots of ways.

 

Karey

 

From: percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:percy-l-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of rizwana banu
Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2009 8:41 PM
To: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [percy-l] FW: percy's southernness

 

That is beautiful. The spirit of southern writing springs not from being similar but being diverse and celebrating all that pertains to the south, be it the history( it is one history for the white man and another for the black  and sometimes a shared history), religion, or gender. However, critics want to exaggerate the differences to the extent of convoluting the very joy and essence of being southern. This makes it hard to substantiate one's southernness with a necessity to take a stand on either this or that side.


From: nikkibar AT aol.com
To: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:03:18 -0500
Subject: Re: [percy-l] FW: percy's southernness

The characteristics of being a Southern writer are 1. You should be from the Southern United States and 2 You should write. Walker hated being referred to that way and always would rather be read as simply a writer. That he was Southern was for him incidental and not of great importance. Nor is his Catholicism of any characteristic importance. Eudora Welty wasn't, nor was Faulkner. Nor am I, although nobody much reads my work the way they do with Percy, Welty, or Faulkner. And yet by all right I am a Southern writer and I'll fight the man what says it isn't so. Or at least smile in sardonic amusement.

 

Nikki Barranger

On Oct 21, 2009, at 4:40 AM, rizwana banu wrote:

 

What exactly are the characteristics of  being a southern writer? Is it difficult or necessary to prove being a white catholic southern writer? How is it different from being a protestant writer and a white anyway? 


From: nikkibar AT aol.com
To: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:41:03 -0500
Subject: Re: [percy-l] FW: percy's southernness

Dear Rizwana,  

 

It is doubtful whether Uncle Will would have been thought of by his contemporaries as bigoted. Walker certainly wasn't. It would also be a mistake to assume that Southern implies bigotedness. There are lots of folks hereabouts who are not, although sometimes we have to struggle against it. If you want to understand Uncle Will's influence on Walker, reread The Moviegoer. There is therein a beneficent aunt who is a kind of alter ego of uncle Will, someone who stands for the things of the generation before to which we are loyal without surrendering our inner most selves. You might get some further insight into the matter by reading Walker Percy Remembered. I have some trouble figuring what you mean by alienated in your last question. You might read Eudora Welty (particularly her piece about the death of Medgar Evers) and although it may be hard to follow the ironies within the works (many Americans can't) look at Flannery O'Connor, particularly A Good Man Is Hard To Find. It would be difficult to describe Miss Welty as being alienated but if I catch the drift of your question she may fit with what you mean. I hope this doesn't confuse the issue further for you.

 

Nikki Barranger

On Oct 20, 2009, at 5:14 AM, rizwana banu wrote:

 

 


From: riz_banu AT hotmail.com
To: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: percy's southernness
Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:43:38 +0530

I have been trying to understand Percy's southernness  in terms of his biography, as regards the influence of "Uncle Will" on him. I find that inspite of his upbringing in a upper class southern background he had a mind of his own which went beyond mere class distinctions and vested interests in retaining class distinctions. Percy was able to see clearly the two sides of the coin as regards the civil war, not as a defeat of the South but as one of a particular class of society. Percy with his southern roots of aristocracy was yet not bigoted. He seems to be a minority within his own circle. Who are the other southern novelists during the period from 1960s to 1990s or even contemporary novelists who seem to be alienated/unique in their understanding within their own group?    


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