[percy-l] FW: percy's southernness

Hebrunson at aol.com Hebrunson at aol.com
Thu Oct 22 06:42:37 EDT 2009


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_ (mailto:nikkibar at aol.com) 
To: _percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org_ (mailto: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_ (mailto:riz_banu at hotmail.com) 
To: _percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org_ (mailto: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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