[percy-l] FW: percy's southernness

RHONDA MCDONNELL rhonda_mcdonnell at msn.com
Thu Oct 22 17:40:51 EDT 2009


He was Catholic before he was published, so I don't think it's possible to trace a change in his writing following his conversion.  However, you might find his essay "Why I Became Catholic" of interest. I'm pretty sure it's in Signposts in a Strange Land.

--Rhonda 

"You live in a deranged age, more deranged than usual, because in spite of great scientific and technological advances, man has not the faintest idea of who he is or what he is doing."
  
                                    Walker Percy



From: Hebrunson at aol.com
Date: Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:42:37 -0400
To: percy-l at lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [percy-l] FW: percy's southernness








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
To: 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
To: 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?  
        
      
      
      
      Don’t 
      fall behind. Log on to MSN India for a roundup on the world panorama = --
An archive of all 
      list discussion is available at http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/

Visit 
      the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
     
     
    
    
    
    From 
    the events that change the world, to the ones that just shouldn’t be missed. 
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    discussion is available at http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/

Visit 
    the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
   
  = 
  
  
  
  
  From 
  the events that change the world, to the ones that just shouldn’t be missed. 
  Catch it all on MSN India. Drag n’ 
  drop

--
An archive of all list 
  discussion is available at 
  http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/

Visit the Walker Percy 
  Project at 
http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
 		 	   		  
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