[percy-l] PS: Forwarded for Karey Perkins: SAMLA Percy session
Karey
karey at kareyperkins.com
Wed May 2 10:37:44 EDT 2007
PS: The deadline for abstracts has been extended to May 30, 2007, as SAMLA
has extended it.
_____
From: percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:percy-l-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Henry Mills
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 10:10 PM
To: percy-l
Subject: [percy-l] Forwarded for Karey Perkins: SAMLA Percy session
Percy fellows:
I will be chairing a session at the annual convention of the South Atlantic
Modern Language Association (see topic below). Am seeking papers on the
topic: "Walker Percy Today" - that topic should be broad enough to fit many
different Percy interests. I think Percy is relevant today - but somehow is
not included in college curricula as much as he should be! Some of the
suggestions came from listserv observations, as you can see below - Nikki
compared Lancelot to a Jihadist; someone here (don't remember who) also
noted LIR echoed Katrina.
Just e-mail a one-page abstract to me at karey1 at charter.net by May 15. The
SAMLA website is http://www.samla.org <http://www.samla.org/>
<http://www.samla.org/> (or http://samla.gsu.edu <http://samla.gsu.edu/>
<http://samla.gsu.edu/> ) with the conference information - November 9-11,
2007, in Atlanta, at the Renaissance Hotel downtown.
I would love to see some of you at the conference, at the session, or giving
your paper for the session! We've conversed over the years, and though I
have been silent lately (attempting to diligently finish a dissertation
before I pontificate on a listserv.), hopefully, we'll be able to reconnect
and meet!
Karey Perkins
Senior Professor of English, DeVry University
Alpharetta, Georgia
Topic: Walker Percy, an honorary memory of SAMLA, is sometimes considered
"merely" a topical writer and, in the 17 years since his death, seems to
have faded from the literary landscape. College literature courses, even
those on southern literature, only infrequently include Percy's writing.
How is Percy relevant to us today? Does his study of symbol and language
have anything to offer linguists, philosophers, or anthropologists today?
Are his dystopian science fiction novels, his social satires, and his social
parodies out-of-date - or was he a prescient visionary, still current today
and in the future? Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the
similarities between the psychology of Lancelot and a modern day terrorist;
Love in the Ruins as a description of the chaos and racial divide in New
Orleans after Hurricane Katrina; the Knotheads and the LEFTPAPAS forecasting
the political divide in America today; More's lapsometer in Love in the
Ruins and patient medication in The Second Coming echoing the popularity of
Prozac and other anti-depressants today. One-page abstracts sent to Karey
Perkins at karey1 at charter.net by May 15, 2007. Complete papers should be no
more than ten pages or 20 minutes to read.
Whoops - was it Rich Gray who first noticed Lancelot as a jihadist? I went
back through the archives and perhaps it was. At any rate, my re-reading of
Lancelot confirmed that perspective - Lancelot has the psychology of a
terrorist in every way.
Karey
------ End of Forwarded Message
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