Walker Percy's Semiotics
An Introduction to and Resources on Walker Percy's Semiotics and Philosophy of Language
Directory
Select a directory button to access key resources on Walker Percy's semiotics, including primary book descriptions, critical essays, bibliographies, and archives useful for research.
"The intermezzo in Lost in the Cosmos — a primer on the semiotics of the self — is, despite its offhand tone, as serious as can be. I have never and will never do anything as important. If I am remembered for anything a hundred years from now, it will probably be for that..."
— Walker Percy (1984 interview)
Overview
About this Resource
The following Primary materials section lays out Walker Percy's overarching theories of language, including its "triadic" nature; the semiotics of "self"; and his call for a "radical anthropology" of mankind beyond prevailing scientific understanding. The Secondary materials section provides resources for critical inquiry into Percy's semiotics and specialized materials for research. Many of Percy's language theories play out in his fiction writings thematically and artistically (read book descriptions). For an introduction to Percy as a literary figure, review the Project's A Walker Percy Primer section.
Primary Materials
Non-fiction Books, Essay Collections, and Correspondence
The following is a listing of Walker Percy's books featuring his semiotics. Select a link to review a book description and its table of contents (all are non-fiction books).(1975) The Message in the Bottle: How Queer Man Is, How Queer Language Is, and What One Has to Do with the Other, by Walker Percy (Essay Collection)
(1983) Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book by Walker Percy (Non-Fiction Book)
(1991) Signposts in a Strange Land, Edited by Patrick H. Samway, S.J. (Essay Collection) [posthumous, selected essays]
- (1995) A Thief of Peirce: The Letters of Kenneth Laine Ketner and Walker Percy, Edited by Patrick H. Samway, S.J. (Correspondence) [posthumous]
- (1996) The Correspondence of Shelby Foote and Walker Percy, Edited by Jay Tolson, contains limited references to Percy's semiotics (Correspondence) [posthumous]
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(2019) Symbol and Existence: A Study in Meaning – Explorations of Human Nature, by Walker Percy, Edited by Kenneth Laine Ketner, Karey Lea Perkins, Rhonda Reneé McDonnell, and Scott Ross Cunningham (Non-Fiction Book) [posthumous]
View PDF Document (includesForeword, Preface, Table of Contents)
This feature interview occurred not long before Percy's publication of Lost in the Cosmos including its section on semiotics in 1983.
Interview Collections
See select interviews in the following collections.Both edited by Victor A. Kramer and Lewis Lawson.
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(1985) Conversations with Walker Percy
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(1993) More Conversations with Walker Percy
Multimedia
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(1989)
The Fateful Rift: The San Andreas Fault in the Modern Mind (Video, TRT: 1:01:55)
Select the above link to view the full video of Percy's National Endowment for the Humanities Jefferson Lecture in the Project's multimedia section. The video to the right begins at the 10 min. mark when Percy begins his lecture.
*This lecture is included as an essay in Signposts in a Strange Land (1991).Summary: This lecture examines the natural sciences through the lens of the humanities, particularly focusing on the nature and role of language in our knowledge of the world. It examines the complexity of human language and its relationship to consciousness, highlighting the interdependence language creates between individuals when understanding language as a "triadic" event. Overall, it calls for Percy's contention that a new anthropology is needed for mankind.
Percy Papers Collections & Archives
- View The Project's Walker Percy Papers Collections section for information about the major Percy collections at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Loyola University, New Orleans, as well as other supporting collections. Each listing includes a collection description and links to the related inventory. Numerous materials feature Percy's developing interest in semiotics over his writing career.
Secondary Materials — Essays, Critical Books, Biographies, and Bibliographies
Essays on Walker Percy's Semiotics
- Walker Percy's Philosophy of Language (Semiotics) by Henry P. Mills
Critical Books
- Critical Books on Walker Percy, listed by publication date
Each listing includes a book description and original publication information; consult all books for numerous discussions of Percy's semiotics. The first critical book on Percy's writings was published in 1972.
Biographies (Books)
(1978) Walker Percy, An American Search, by Robert Coles
Book Description- (1992)
Walker Percy: Pilgrim in the Ruins, by Jay Tolson
Book Description | Preface (by permission)- (1997) Walker Percy: A Life, by Patrick H. Samway, S.J.
Book Description- (1992)
Project Bibliographies on Percy's Semiotics
These two items are listed in the highlight box in the primary materials section above.- Walker Percy's Writings on Language (By Original Publication and Date)
- An Annotated Bibliography of Walker Percy's Writings on Language
Additional Resources on Percy's Semiotics
Book Reviews of Primary Books
- A Thief of Peirce: The Letters of Kenneth Laine Ketner and Walker Percy, Review by Gary M. Ciuba (1995)
- Symbol and Existence: A Study in Meaning – Explorations of Human Nature (2019) [forthcoming]
Specialized Project Resources
- Project Bibliographies on Walker Percy section (All specialized bibliographies)
- Books by Walker Percy (A complete bibliography of fiction, non-fiction, interviews, correspondence, and forewords)
- Walker Percy Bibliographies Published as Books to 1988 (Kramer et al; Wright; and Hobson)
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Percy researchers, students, and general readers may wish to submit research or discussion questions to the Percy-L listserv community.
WALKER PERCY: A SEMIOTIC PROFILE*
Novelist of ideas
Philosophical novelist
Comedic satirist
Cautionary moralist
Diagnostician
Prophetic essayist
Post-modern thinker
Existentialist
Southern gentleman
Wayfarer-Pilgrim
Martian castaway
Homo symbolificus
Bourbon afficianado
Triadic scientist
Cenophythagorean
Semiotician
Apocalyptic cultural critic
Christian apologist
Kierkegaardian Roman Catholic
None of the above/
All of the above
*See Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book (1983)