Re: Percy as Christian postmodernist?
Hal L. McDonald (HMCDONALD@MHC.EDU)
Tue, 8 Apr 1997 09:39:56 -0500
I tend to translate both "sentimentality" and "tenderness," at least
the way Percy uses these terms in TS, as "idealism": the tendency to
conduct one's life on the basis of abstract ideas (regardless how
noble) rather than concrete experience. This eventually leads one to
view other people in categoric rather than individual terms (e.g. Joe
Christmas as black man or white man rather than just a man), and such
categories are inevitably viewed in either pejorative or ameliorative
terms--as either unacceptable or acceptable--and such a view, when
acted upon, can easily lead to the desire to eliminate the
unacceptable, whether through the gas chamber or some other means of
disposal.
Hal McDonald