DOCSLIB.ORG

Charley Shively Prize for Gay Liberation and Activism

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Charley Shively Prize for Gay Liberation and Activism William A. Percy Foundation for Social and Historical Studies no. 1 UpdateFall 2019 INSIDE THIS ISSUE — Charley Shively wright, and author – the two men have been vocal free speech ad- • Palm Springs and Boston Prize for Gay vocates, with Jim having Residential Fellowships served as director of the Liberation and Boston Coalition for • Update on our Analysis of Freedom of Expression. Prisoner Data Activism Robert Chatelle, Harvard ’63, is a com- • Insiders’ Bookstore Project In January, the William A. Percy puter programmer and Bob Chatelle • New Research Project on Foundation announced Bob Chatelle writer who has served on and Jim D’Entremont as recipients of the executive board of the National Prison Sex the the first annual Writers Union • Questions and Answers Charley Shively (UAW Local 1981 Prize for Gay Lib- / AFL-CIO). As about Kids and Sex: What Does eration. chairperson of the Science Say? Through their union’s Political journalism and Issues Commit- organizing, Bob tee, he dealt with Baran, the first daycare worker wrong- and Jim – founders a range of free fully imprisoned in the nationwide of the National expression issues moral panic of the 1980s. He and/or Center for Reason pertinent to pub- his partner James D’Entremont visited and Justice (NCRJ) lishing and higher Baran at the Massachusetts Treatment – have brought education. In Center weekly for seven years until attention to falsely 1990, he became a 2006, when Baran was released after accused people founding mem- winning his bid for a new trial. During whose trials were Charley Shively as a graduate student ber of the Boston that time, Bob Chatelle founded the in American history the early 1960s often tinged by ho- Coalition for National Center for Reason and Justice mophobia. In a number of prominent Freedom of Expression (BCFE). An (NCRJ). The non-profit organization cases, their work has helped win the affiliate of the National Campaign for was at that time chiefly dedicated to release and exoneration of the unjustly Freedom of Expression, the BCFE was reversing false convictions, including convicted. In the late 1990s, both men a response by artists, writers, and arts many carrying a taint of homophobia. became advocates for Bernard Baran, administrators to predominantly ho- The organization has helped secure the first daycare worker wrongfully mophobic, right-wing attacks on artists the release of a number of wrongfully imprisoned in the nationwide mor- and cultural institutions. In 1997, Bob convicted individuals, and has provid- al panic in the 1980s over “Satanic Chatelle became active on behalf of ed advocacy and support for Abuse,” with Baran’s conviction finally persons falsely accused and con- others who remain in pris- being vacated by the Massachusetts victed of “Satanic Ritual Abuse,” on, both the unjustly in- Appeals Court in 2009. particularly caregivers convict- carcerated innocent and In addition, Bob has been active in ed of crimes against children. the overpunished guilty. union organizing, and together with Beginning in 1998, he became Jim Mr. Chatelle his partner Jim – journalist, play- the principal advocate for Bernard D’Entremont continues to serve as the NCRJ’s executive director, supporters of Paul Shanley, a former and is currently an active member of priest wrongfully convicted of child Who was Boston’s Sex Offender Policy Reform rape in a trial whose flaws and biases Initiative (SOPRI). are documented in his coverage of the Charley Shively? James D’Entremont is a journal- case for The Guide. v ist, fiction writer, and playwright. He As scholar and activist, poet and is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer muse, Charley Shively (1937-2017) (Tunisia 1967-’69) and formerly the was a major figure of the post-Stone- artistic director of Boston’s Harlequin New Research wall gay liberation movement. Theatre Company. Through the 1990s, Growing up dirt-poor in rural Ohio, he was a spokesperson for the Boston Project on Charley ended up earning a PhD Coalition for Freedom of Expression, in history at Harvard, and spent his and eventually its executive director. Prison Sex career teaching first at Boston State From 1991 to 2001, he organized University and later at the University annual Banned Books Week reading Utilizing our list of prisoner contacts of Massachusetts, Boston. vigils featuring banned literary works from the Insiders’ Bookstore, the Wil- Starting in the early 1970s, Char- read aloud by a succession of readers liam A. Percy Foundation is soliciting ley was a guiding light behind the around the clock. From 1996 to 2008, qualitative information from inmates influential gay liberation broadsheet he wrote news articles, criticism, and (both gay and straight) who receive Fag Rag. Over the course of lead features as a staff writer for The books concerning their observation of two books on poet Guide, a Boston-based, internationally and attitudes toward gay sex in prison. Walt Whitman, circulated liberationist LGBT month- GLBT persons are disproportionately Shively exca- ly. His articles on anti-gay censorship incarcerated in the U.S.: the National vated the erot- and the American Christian Right Inmate Survey estimates that 9.3% of ically suffused have also appeared in Index on Censor- males in prison are gay or bi-sexual, friendships ship, the Journal of Gay, Lesbian, and and 42.1% of female prisoners. Over- Whitman Charley Bisexual Identity, and other publica- all, sexual minorities are three times had with Shively tions. In 1998, he joined his partner more likely to be incarcerated than the working-class Robert Chatelle’s campaign to free general population. Participation in men and youths, camaraderie to the late Bernard Baran, a gay daycare underground economies of drugs and which America’s post-Civil War worker whose homophobia-ridden sex work, sting operations in public urbanization gave new scope and trial resulted in three concurrent life parks, HIV criminalization laws, and vitality, and in which Whitman sentences. He continues to be active famously descried solidarities that Artwork drawn by Texas inmate Billy Thomas in the National Center for Reason and in appreciation for reading materials from might redeem America’s violent Justice, the organization built around the Foundation’s Insiders’ Book Club. Thomas depicts the struggles faced by prisoners who birth-pangs and bind a young, di- the Baran case. Through the NCRJ, he try to express themselves erotically – and the verse nation now carrying a beacon has become one of the most steadfast problem of prison rape, exacerbated by prison onto the world stage. authorities’ ban on gay relationships As one who never forgot his roots, Charley grounded his sexual radicalism not only in his imme- diate identification with the down- trodden, but in his deep readings of history and theory, particularly 19th century anarchist thought. The Charley Shively Prize, which includes a $1,000 honorarium, will be awarded to someone who exemplifies in his or her scholarship and activism Charley’s intellectual mettle, radical savoir-faire, and incorruptible boldness. William A. Percy Foundation for Social and Historical Studies. v 2 William A. Percy Foundation Update • Fall 2019 discriminatory enforcement of sex of- fense laws all play their part in putting sexual and gender minorities at greater risk of entanglement with the criminal justice system. Lurid media portrayals of prison suggest an environment of hyper- masculinity in which gay men are especially vulnerable to brutal gang rapes and exploitation by larger and stronger inmates. However, over time, studies are fairly consistent in showing that only about 1-2% of male inmates Overall, sexual minorities are three times more likely to be incarcerated than the general population. admit ever being raped by other into solitary confinement for extended condoms were banned in 98% of their inmates. The Prison Rape Elimination periods, transferred to separate units prisons. Act of 2003 (PREA) does not seem to to break up the relationship, or even Prison officials in the US acknowl- have changed that rate much, but what see their parole denied based on this edge that voluntary gay sex is going it has accomplished is a crackdown disciplinary infraction. But despite on, but refuse to protect public health on all sex in prison, even when com- the risks and intensified surveillance, by allowing condoms or adopting pletely voluntary. Even before PREA, the human spirit finds a way: 67% of the more permissive policies of many correctional officers wrote far more over 1000 GLBT prisoners in the US foreign penal systems, including Can- disciplinary reports for consensual sex surveyed by Black & Pink (https:// ada’s. Our new study aims to refute the and “prostitution” than for suspected www.blackandpink.org/coming-out- contention that gay sex is “disruptive” rape. Crowded prisons offer minimal of-concrete-closets) say they have had to prison discipline and creates conflict privacy, and those caught may be sent consensual sex in prison, even though by providing information about inmate William A. Percy Foundation Update • Fall 2019 3 attitudes toward the phenomenon, Public Library, Rancho Mirage Public renewal if more time is requested in which are mostly tolerant, as long Library, and College of the Desert writing for completion of the proj- as the sex is discreet. The success of Library can be supplemented by the ect. Send a CV and letter (up to three conjugal visitation programs (allowed library of the University of California pages) to Professor Thomas K. Hub- in only five states) in reducing prison at Riverside, which is an hour away by bard ([email protected]), describing the violence suggests that a more lenient bus. proposed project, its social science or regime toward gay sex might actually There are many libraries in the Los public policy implications, the extent improve prison discipline. Some evi- Angeles area (which is two to three of the work that has been done so far, dence from our surveys also indicates hours away by car, bus and train): ONE and a timetable for the project’s com- that voluntary gay sex in prison may National LGBT Archives at USC, the pletion.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Sewanee | the University of the South 3
    COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES SCHOOL OF LETTERS CATALOG AND POLICIES 2018 Information contained in this catalog is current as of the date of publication. Table of Contents School of Letters .................................................................................................................................................. 2 The University ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 Purpose ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 About the University ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Accreditations and Approvals .............................................................................................................................. 6 Administration (University) ................................................................................................................................ 6 About the School of Letters ..................................................................................................................................... 7 General Information ......................................................................................................................................... 7 Academic Calendar .....................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Stuart Wright Booklet
    Joyner Library Presents Stuart Wright: A Life In Collecting September 7, 2011 A Message from the Dean East Carolina University® Like Tom Douglass, I first met Stuart Wright when I stepped off the train with my wife Sue in Ludlow, England—the English country squire waiting for us soon proved to be a Southern Gentleman in exile. In fact, I think this was confirmed the night STUART WRIGHT: Sue prepared “southern fried chicken” and mashed potatoes. Stuart asked for the recipe after his first helping, feasted on the leftovers for several days, and said it The Badger of Old Street stirred memories in him from long ago. On our short visit to 28 Old Street, Stuart showed and told us as much as we could absorb about the extraordinary collection of southern American literature that he hoped would eventually come to East Carolina University and Joyner Library. I was delighted with what I saw and heard and carefully calculated how much space we would need to house the collection if we could agree on price and terms. Being only acquainted with the work of some of the authors like Robert Penn Warren, Randall Jarrell, and Eudora Welty, I could not truly appreciate the importance of the book collection or the exceptional quality of the many boxes of letters, journals, and manuscripts that comprised the collection. Fortunately, Tom Douglass could and he and Stuart spent many hours poring over the materials and discussing their significance while I could only listen in amazement. My amazement and delight have only increased markedly since the collection has come to Joyner Library.
    [Show full text]
  • Finding Aid for the Small Manuscripts (MUM00400)
    University of Mississippi eGrove Archives & Special Collections: Finding Aids Library November 2020 Finding Aid for the Small Manuscripts (MUM00400) Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/finding_aids Recommended Citation (Item Name). Small Manuscripts (Box #), Archives and Special Collections, J.D. Williams Library, The University of Mississippi This Finding Aid is brought to you for free and open access by the Library at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Archives & Special Collections: Finding Aids by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact [email protected]. University of Mississippi Libraries Small Manuscripts MUM00400 TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY INFORMATION Summary Information Repository University of Mississippi Libraries Collection History Creator Arrangement University of Mississippi. Dept. of Archives and Special Administrative Information Collections Related Materials Title Collection Inventory Small Manuscripts Small Manuscripts 1976 ID MUM00400 Small Manuscripts 1977 Small Manuscripts 1978 Date [inclusive] circa 1750-2008 Small Manuscripts 1979 Small Manuscripts 1980 Extent 37.26 Linear feet 92 boxes + 18 boxes Small Manuscripts 1981 Abstract: Small Manuscripts 1982 Contains individual items and small collections. Small Small Manuscripts 1985 Manuscripts at the University of Mississippi Department of Archives and Special Collections was Small Manuscripts 1986 assembled through the collecting activities of the Department over the past thirty years. The collection Small Manuscripts 1987 documents unique and discrete individual moments of Small Manuscripts 1988 history associated with the State of Mississippi. A variety of material formats can be found in the Small Manuscripts 1989 collections including individual diaries, ledgers, Small Manuscripts 1990 corporate records, correspondence, and broadsides. Small Manuscripts 1995 Small Manuscripts 1991 Prefered Citation (Item Name).
    [Show full text]
  • College of Arts and Sciences Sewanee School of Letters Catalog
    College of Arts and Sciences Sewanee School of Letters Catalog 2010 Table of Contents Introduction The University of the South ....................................................... Sewanee School of Letters.......................................................... Academic Information Course requirements ............................................................... Thesis ................................................................................... Policy on Transfer Credit .......................................................... Grading Policy ........................................................................ Academic Support Services ........................................................ Technology ............................................................................ duPont Library Collection ......................................................... expectations ........................................................................... Courses ...................................................................................... Administration, Faculty, School of Letters Committee, and Advisory Board ..................................................................... General Information Student identification Cards ...................................................... Banner number ...................................................................... housing ................................................................................ Meals ...................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Southern Sources
    Presented at Southern Sources: A Symposium Celebrating Seventy-Five Years of the Southern Historical Collection, 18-19 March 2005, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Who Owns the Dead? Biography, Archives, and Ethics Bertram Wyatt–Brown University of Florida 18 March 2005 The biographer and those who control the necessary sources live in different ethical worlds. The storyteller seeks to uncover the full personality and actions of the figure to be written about. The keepers of family memories, on the other hand, strive to have the public perceive their loved ones—and even their loved ones’ enemies—exactly as they do. Needless to say, revelations about the past can lead to violations of ethics and possibly law. Who should prevail in such circumstances, the guardians of family secrets or the literary exposer of them? The latter profession requires a thorough examination of leads wherever they may alight. The poet Allen Tate in “The Oath,” asks of his friend Andrew Lytle, “Who are the dead?”[1] The concern here, however, is to explore the question, who owns them? We live in a glaringly confessional age. Dissecting and destroying reputations of the celebrated have no limits. In America weak libel laws offer little protection for those who feel they have been victimized. Be that as it may, when poets or novelists use their own lives as the substance of their work, they surely can expect investigations into what is pure imagination and what is factual. According to Charles Molesworth, it appears that the tranquilizing and vacuous 1950s aroused poets of that era to turn inward and expose what they found there.
    [Show full text]
  • BIOGRAPHY Walker Percy Was Born in Birmingham, Alabama, on 28
    BIOGRAPHY Walker Percy was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on 28 May 1916. When his father, lawyer Leroy Percy, committed suicide on 9 July 1929, the widow and her three sons moved to Greenville, Mississippi, where they lived with Leroy's bachelor cousin, William Alexander Percy. Then, William Alexander Percy adopted the boys in 1931, following their mother's death in an automobile accident. William Alexander Percy provided Walker with a means of ameliorating, the burden of his Southern past by introducing him to art. Besides, William Alexander Percy was known as the author of several works, including an autobiographical memoir of the South entitled Lanterns on the Levee (1941). In the early 1930's, Percy attended Greenville High School, where he wrote a gossip column and became the close friend of Shelby Foote, who was committed to a literary career. At the University of North Carolina, which was noted for its school of behaviorism, Percy majored in Chemistry and received a B.S. in 1937. He then enrolled in Columbia's college of Physicians and Surgeon (M.D., 1941), where in addition to his studies, Percy underwent psychoanalysis and became frequent moviegoer. The turning point in his life came in early 1942, when as a resident at Bellevue Hospital in New York, Percy was contracted tuberculosis. As a working pathologist in New York, Percy was called upon perform autopsies on indigent alcoholics, many of whom died of tuberculosis. Within a year Percy contracted the dreaded lung disease himself; he spent most of the following three years in a sanatorium. During his two-year convalescence at Saranac Lake, he began reading extensively in French and Russia literature, philosophy and psychology, such as Sartre, Albert Camus, Soren Kierkegaard, Gabriel Marcel, Fyodor Dostoevski, Nicolai Gogol, Leo Tostoy and Franz Kafka.
    [Show full text]
  • Southern Conservative Superfluity and the Work of William Alexander Percy, Walker Percy, and Peter Taylor William Matthew Immonss University of South Carolina
    University of South Carolina Scholar Commons Theses and Dissertations 6-30-2016 The Last Gentlemen: Southern Conservative Superfluity and the Work of William Alexander Percy, Walker Percy, and Peter Taylor William Matthew immonsS University of South Carolina Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Simmons, W. M.(2016). The Last Gentlemen: Southern Conservative Superfluity and the Work of William Alexander Percy, Walker Percy, and Peter Taylor. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/3508 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you by Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Last Gentlemen: Southern Conservative Superfluity and the Work of William Alexander Percy, Walker Percy, and Peter Taylor by William Matthew Simmons Bachelor of Arts North Carolina State University, 2005 Master of Arts North Carolina State University, 2008 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English College of Arts and Sciences University of South Carolina 2016 Accepted by: Robert H. Brinkmeyer, Jr., Major Professor Brian Glavey, Committee Member David Shields, Committee Member Susan Copeland, Outside Reader Lacey Ford, Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Dedication To Meredith, for everything and more. To Sallie Jo, that you might one day come across this and perhaps understand something about your daddy. To Mama, God rest your soul, for teaching me to love books. Soli Dei gloria.
    [Show full text]
  • The Education of Walker Percy
    REFLECTIONS The Education of Walker Percy Since the mid-1940s, when tuberculosis forced him to abandon a medical career, Walker Percy, M.D., has been living and writ- ing in the small Louisiana town of Covington, slowly adding to a body of work that now ranks among the best of recent American literature. In five highly acclaimed novels, two volumes of non- fiction, and a series of essays on topics ranging from bourbon to semiotics to race relations in Mississippi, Percy has established himself as an ironic moralist and as a deftly comic chronicler of life in one of America's most peculiar subcultures-the New South. Here, Jay Tolson looks at the novelist's ties to an older South and at other influences on Percy's life and work. by Jay Tolson When Walker Percy's first novel, The Moviegoer, appeared in 1961, the initial critical reaction was anything but encouraging-little more, in fact, than a few bland short notices in the New York Times and other major review outlets. It was just the sort of literary debut that has driven fledgling authors into real estate sales or computer software design. But just as the The Moviegoer was beginning its quiet passage to that special oblivion reserved for unnoticed first novels, the New Yorker writer A. J. Liebling picked up a copy of the book, having heard that it was set in New Orleans, where he had recently completed research for an article on Earl Long. Liebling liked the book so much that he recommended it to his wife, Jean Stafford, who happened to be on the 1961 National Book Award panel.
    [Show full text]
  • Hell in High Water Study Guide
    Study Guide Marcus Gardley’s Hell in High Water New Stage Theatre Education SEASON 53: THE POWER OF PLACE NEW STAGE THEATRE EDUCATION STUDY GUIDE: Marcus Gardley’s Hell in High Water Table of Contents Table of Contents Page 1 Audience Etiquette Page 2 Discussion Questions and Classroom/Research Activity Page 3 About the Author: Marcus Gardley Page 4 About the Play Page 5 Statistical Comparison of the Great Flood of 1927 and the Flood of 1993 Page 6 The Cast of Characters and Production Staff Page 7 New Stage Theatre’s Production: Scenic Design Page 8 Costume Design and 1920’s Fashion Page 9 Director’s Notes: Francine Reynolds, Artistic Director Page 11 Quotes from Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi Page 13 A Brief History of the Levee System in Mississippi Page 14 The Mississippi River Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers Page 16 The Cotton Belt: The Mississippi Delta Page 17 The Yazoo and Mississippi Valley/Illinois Central Passenger Train Page 19 The Flood of 1927 Page 20 Life on the Levee and the American Red Cross Page 23 Robert Moton and the Colored Advisory Commission Page 25 The Flood’s Aftermath Page 27 About Vasti Jackson, Composer and Musical Director Page 28 Delta Blues Music and Famous Blues Artists Page 30 The Great Migration Page 31 The Percys Page 34 William Percy’s speech from Lanterns on the Levee: Recollections of a Planter’s Son Page 37 Perspectives of the Flood and Disaster Relief Page 38 Crossword Puzzle of The Great Flood of 1927 Page 41 Crossword Answer Key Page 42 Further Reading and Resources Page 43 Teacher Evaluation Form Page 44 Student Evaluation Form Page 45 1100 Carlisle Street Jackson, MS.
    [Show full text]
  • {PDF EPUB} Lanterns on the Levee Recollections of a Planter's Son by William Alexander Percy Lanterns on the Levee
    Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Lanterns on the Levee Recollections of a Planter's Son by William Alexander Percy Lanterns On The Levee. Lanterns On The Levee by William Alexander Percy Book Summary. Born and raised in Greenville, Mississippi, within the shelter of old traditions, aristocratic in the best sense, William Alexander Percy in his lifetime (1885–1942) was brought face to face with the convulsions of a changing world. Lanterns on the Levee is his memorial to the South of his youth and young manhood. In describing life in the Mississippi Delta, Percy bridges the interval between the semifeudal South of the 1800s and the anxious South of the early 1940s. The rare qualities of this classic memoir lie not in what Will Percy did in his life—although his life was exciting and varied—but rather in the intimate, honest, and soul-probing record of how he brought himself to contemplate unflinchingly a new and unstable era. The 1973 introduction by Walker Percy—Will's nephew and adopted son—recalls the strong character and easy grace of "the most extraordinary man I have ever known." Lanterns On The Levee (William Alexander Percy) Book Reviews. Free International Money Transfer Enjoy high maximum transfers into more than 20 currencies while saving up to 90% over local banks! The cheap, fast way to send money abroad. Free transfer up to 500 USD! Advertorial Score: 5/5. Robhead5895Head DrKarenLCox All Gods Dangers, Life of Nate Shaw by Theodore Rosengarten. Lanterns on the Levee by William Alexande… . Robhead5895Head Score: 5/5. RedArkGuy DrKarenLCox Richard Wright's Black Boy.
    [Show full text]
  • The Percys of Mississippi: Politics and Literature in the New South
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1981 The eP rcys of Mississippi: Politics and Literature in the New South. Lewis Turner Baker Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Baker, Lewis Turner, "The eP rcys of Mississippi: Politics and Literature in the New South." (1981). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 3668. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/3668 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. /' INFORMATION TO USERS This was produced from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1. The sign or "target” for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is “ Missing Page(s)”. If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting through an image and duplicating adjacent pages to assure you of complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a round black mark it is an indication that the film inspector noticed either blurred copy because of movement during exposure, or duplicate copy.
    [Show full text]
  • The Critical Response to Philosophical Ideas in Walker Percy's Novels
    3~?9 A/8/d THE CRITICAL RESPONSE TO PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS IN WALKER PERCY'S NOVELS DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Elizabeth Ellington Gunter, Ph. D Denton, Texas December, 1985 Copyright by Elizabeth Ellington Gunter 1985 Gunter, Elizabeth Ellington, The Critical Response to Phi1osophica1 Ideas in Walker Percy's Novels. Doctor of Philosophy (English), December, 1985, 213 pp., bibliography, 298 titles. Walker Percy differs from other American novelists in that he started writing fiction relatively late in life, after being trained as a physician and after considerable reading and writing in philosophy. Although critics have appreciated Percy's skills as a writer, they have seen Percy above all as a novelist of ideas, and, accordingly, the ma- jority of critical articles and books about Percy has dealt with his themes, especially his philosophical themes, as well as with his philosophical sources. This study explores, therefore, the critical response to philosophical ideas in Percy's five novels to date, as evidenced first by reviews, then by the later articles and books. The critical response developed gradually as critics became aware of Percy's aims and pointed out his use of Christian existentialism and his attacks upon Car- tesianism, Stoicism, and modern secular gnosticism. These critical evaluations of Percy's philosophical concerns have sometimes overshadowed interest in his more purely artistic concerns. However, the more a reader understands the underlying philosophical concepts that inform Percy's novels, the more he may understand what Percy is trying to say and the more he may appreciate Percy's accomplishment in expressing his philosophical ideas so skillfully in fic- tional form.
    [Show full text]