Constructed vs.essential self
Hal L. McDonald (HMCDONALD@MHC.EDU)
Wed, 9 Apr 1997 09:11:23 -0500
Yesterday, in response to the question of whether or no Percy could
accurately be described as a postmodernist, I offered as evidence to
the contrary the observation that Percy seems to believe in an
essential self rather than the constructed self that many
postmodernists assume. Henry Mills asked if I would offer some Percy
quotes to illustrate this observation. For the most part, my
impression that Percy believes in an essential self is just that-
-an impression, based some of the implications of both his theory
of language and the way he handles the "selves" of his fiction. I can
offer, though, a slightly less impressionistic basis for my
observation. In his "Semiotic Primer of the Self" (Lost in the
Cosmos), Percy's use of the term "self" throughout the discussion
presupposes at least a core of stable essence. The irreducibility of
this self within its world of signs--its "unique unformulability"--
and the inevitable, inescapable "placement" of this self in its world
strongly suggests such a stable core, as does his description of a
"transcendent self," as opposed to an "immanent self." The way I see
it, a constructed self would be by definition a wholly immanent self,
permanently embedded in the sign system within which and of which it
is constructed. The very possibility of transcendence (difficulty of
re-entry notwithstanding) indicates the self's independence (though
not autonomy) in regard to the sign system of which constructed
selves are presumably constructed.
In his note to me, Henry Mills suggested the possibility of a
both/neither scenario. I am inclined to agree with the possibility
that, while Percy's "self" (both in his fiction and non-fiction) has
a stable core of essence, it is not entirely unconstructed (please
note that I did not say "deconstructed"). Even with an essential
core, the existential manifestation of that core is largely a product
of that sign system through which it perceives and orders its world.
Its capacity to reflect upon this sign system, however, allows it to
act and make choices independently of the construct. I suppose then,
in a very loose analogy, Percy's immanent self could be likened to a
constructed self, and his transcendent self could be likened to an
essential self.
I've gone on far too long with this, and would like to close by a
change of subjects (I guess should say "objects" here. Following a
discussion of the self, the word "subject" carries some pretty heavy
baggage). Has anyone out there had a chance to read the
Correspondence of Percy and Shelby Foote? It's fascinating and very
illuminating.
Hal McDonald