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

["Henry P. Mills III" <wppdirector AT gmail.com>]

Hello Michael and Rhonda. Thanks for the query and comments about psychoanalytic theorist Carl Jung and Percy. Always good to consider how other literary/historical figures may play into Percy's fiction!

Michael, you ask:

“In LG, Percy's protagonist reads ‘a German physician’ whose patient experiences ‘gaps’ in memory and ‘fugue states’. I was wondering if this ‘German physician’ referred to, but not named, is Jung.”

After a quick look in the index of Samway’s bio of WP, it seems Percy did in fact participate in a reading group that studied Jung in the late 1970s (pp. 331-32). Since LG was written well before then, Michael, an answer to your above question as posed is not clear. 

On the other hand, barring further study on the subject, who is to say what psychoanalytic literature Percy may have studied during the psychoanalysis he pursued while in Columbia medical school? Also, or while recovering from tuberculosis when he read much of the existential literature of the time? Or during the 1950s when he was writing on psychological topics and themes in various noteworthy essays? Both Samway's and Tolson's are great resources for sparking conversation.

To expand on the topic of Jung, the Jungian concepts that come most readily to mind to me when I hear his name are his theories of: 

the “shadow self”, “collective unconscious”, “archetypes”, and the “role of myth” in society. To me, these concepts -- as one Jungian framework -- contribute to determining both an individual’s sense of personal meaning, as well as his/her identity relative to the larger cultural and mythic forces of the given society in which he/she finds themself. Certainly, Percy's fiction could be read using any of these concepts.

Anyone else care to expand on any of the above ideas or other Jung concepts vis-a-vis Percy? Which novels might Jungian concepts be readily applied to? MG, LG, and Lancelot come to mind. Any takers?

Regards,

Henry

On Fri, Feb 24, 2023 at 9:20 PM Michael Martin Serafin <michael_serafin AT hotmail.com> wrote:

Hello Miss McDonnell,

Thanks for your input on this. Lately, I have been catching up on episodes of a podcast called "Digital Jung", written and presented by Jason Smith, Jungian analyst and author of " Religious But Not Religious: Living A Symbolic Life", and the podcast is a companion to the book. At the same time, I have just started reading "The Last Gentleman" for the first time. In it, Percy's protagonist reads "a German physician" whose patient experiences "gaps" in memory and "fugue states". I was wondering if this " German physician" referred to, but not named is Jung.

---

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: Percy. & Jung? (RHONDA MCDONNELL)


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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2023 20:08:19 +0000
From: RHONDA MCDONNELL <rhonda_mcdonnell AT msn.com>
To: "Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical
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Subject: Re: [percy-l] Percy. & Jung?
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Hi Michael,

My guess would have been yes, but I didn?t want to be too cocky. So I checked the Wilson Library at UNC-Chapel Hill, and sure enough found several Jung books in the Percy collection. That suggests that he did read Jung. Additionally, as psychiatry was one of the areas he was interested in pursuing as a specialty, I imagine he was introduced to Jungian psychology in med school. But I am imagining. I wonder if he spoke of Jung in any interviews? I?ll have to check the indexes of the ?Conversations with ?? volumes on Percy.

What prompts your question?

Rhonda

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 21, 2023, at 9:43 PM, Michael Martin Serafin <michael_serafin AT hotmail.com> wrote:

?
Did Percy ever study Jung? Just wondering....

Michael Serafin
Western Mass.



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