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The Walker Percy Project

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.

On His Semiotics

"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).
  • Feature Interview: The Study of Consciousness: An Interview with Walker Percy (1981) with Linda Whitney Hobson
    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.

    Multimedia

    • (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.

    Project Bibliographies on Percy's Semiotics

    These materials provide resources for advanced study.

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    Secondary Materials — Essays, Critical Books, Biographies, and Bibliographies

    Essays on Walker Percy's Semiotics

    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)

    Project Bibliographies on Percy's Semiotics

    These two items are listed in the highlight box in the primary materials section above.

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    Additional Resources on Percy's Semiotics

    Book Reviews of Primary Books

    Specialized Project Resources

    * * *

    Percy researchers, students, and general readers may wish to submit research or discussion questions to the Percy-L listserv community.

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    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)