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第1回（1980年） Winner
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第4回（1983年） Winner
Walker Percy
ウォーカー・パーシー
Wōkā Pāshī
プロフィール
- 性別
- 男性
- 生誕
- 1916-05-28 （Birmingham, Alabama）
- 死没
- 1990-05-10 （Covington, Louisiana） 73歳
- 国籍
- United States
- 言語
- English
- 宗教
- Roman Catholic 1947年受洗
- 居住地歴
- Covington, Louisiana → New Orleans area, Louisiana → Greenville, Mississippi → Saranac Lake, New York
経歴
- 職業
- Writer, Novelist, Essayist, Critic, Teacher (occasional)
- 活動期間
- 1961年〜1990年
- 所属
- Loyola University New Orleans (teaching; archival collections), Fellowship of Southern Writers (charter member)
- 所属団体
- Information Council of the Americas (INCA)
- 影響を受けた人物
- Søren Kierkegaard, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Gabriel Marcel, Jean-Paul Sartre, Franz Kafka, Thomas Mann
- 影響を与えた人物
- John Kennedy Toole, Contemporary Southern writers (influenced)
学歴
| 学校 | 学部 | 学科 | 学位 | 期間 | 国 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | College of Arts and Sciences | Chemistry | B.A. | 1933–1937 | United States |
| Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons | College of Physicians and Surgeons | Medicine | M.D. | 1938–1941 | United States |
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
College of Arts and Sciences
/ Chemistry
学位:
B.A.
期間:
1933–1937
卒業年:
1937
国:
United States
Contributed to the Carolina Magazine while a student
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
College of Physicians and Surgeons
/ Medicine
学位:
M.D.
期間:
1938–1941
卒業年:
1941
国:
United States
Intended to specialize in psychiatry; abandoned medical career after tuberculosis
受賞歴
| 年 | 賞名 | 対象作品 | 部門 | 主催 | 結果 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | National Book Award for Fiction | The Moviegoer | — | National Book Foundation | 受賞 |
| 1985 | St. Louis Literary Award | — | — | Saint Louis University Library Associates | 受賞 |
| 1989 | Laetare Medal | — | — | University of Notre Dame | 受賞 |
| 1989 | Jefferson Lecture | The Fateful Rift: The San Andreas Fault in the Modern Mind | — | National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) | 選出・講演 |
National Book Award for Fiction
1962
対象作品:
The Moviegoer
主催:
National Book Foundation
結果:
受賞
St. Louis Literary Award
1985
主催:
Saint Louis University Library Associates
結果:
受賞
Laetare Medal
1989
主催:
University of Notre Dame
結果:
受賞
Jefferson Lecture
1989
対象作品:
The Fateful Rift: The San Andreas Fault in the Modern Mind
主催:
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
結果:
選出・講演
受賞・候補エディション
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第18回（1985年） Winner
作品
代表作
The Moviegoer
1961年 Philosophical novel / Southern Gothic 224ページSet in and around New Orleans, it follows Binx Bolling as he confronts modern alienation and existential questions, seeking meaning through everyday acts and moviegoing.
AlienationFaith and religiositySelf-searchingConflict between Southern tradition and modernity
The Last Gentleman
1966年 Novel / Southern literature 256ページA narrative exploring the protagonist's inner life and family history, depicting Southern family legacy and personal dislocation.
Family historyMemoryIdentity
Love in the Ruins
1971年 Satirical novel / speculative elements 304ページUsing satire and dark humor in a near-future setting, it interrogates social maladies and ethical dilemmas of modern civilization.
Critique of civilizationEthicsTension between science and religion
The Thanatos Syndrome
1987年 Thriller / Social critique 368ページExamines ethical decay and social breakdown under the guise of medicine and science, addressing eugenics and senicide among other themes.
Medical ethicsCritique of eugenicsSocial collapse
Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book
1983年 Essays / Philosophy 192ページA partly humorous collection of pieces reflecting on human selfhood, language and semiotics.
SemioticsSelf-awarenessOntology
全著作
- The Moviegoer (1961)
- The Last Gentleman (1966)
- Love in the Ruins (1971)
- Lancelot (1977)
- The Second Coming (1980)
- The Thanatos Syndrome (1987)
- Lost in the Cosmos (1983)
- The Message in the Bottle (1975)
- Various essays and shorter texts
翻案
- Walker Percy: A Documentary
作品の翻訳
- Works translated into multiple languages (Japanese translations exist)
作風・主題
- 文体
- Concise, witty prose with philosophical reflectionInfluence of Southern GothicSemiotic perspective
- 頻出モチーフ
- Alienation and lonelinessFaith and repentanceMismatch of language and meaningFamily and Southern inheritance
健康
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Tuberculosis1942–1944（入退院・長期療養）Forced to abandon a medical career and helped precipitate his turn to writing.
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Prostate cancer (with metastasis)1988–1990Underwent surgery in 1988; enrolled in experimental treatment in 1989; died of the disease in 1990.
評価・遺産
Walker Percy is regarded as a writer who fused Southern tradition with modern existential anxieties. He explored religious and philosophical themes in fiction and essays and influenced contemporary Southern literature.
記念館・博物館
- Loyola University New Orleans Archives (Walker Percy Collection) New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
- UNC-Chapel Hill Southern Historical Collection (Walker Percy Papers) Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
関連学会
- Fellowship of Southern Writers (charter member)
資料所蔵先
- Loyola University New Orleans, Special Collections & Archives (Walker Percy materials)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Southern Historical Collection (Walker Percy papers)
大衆文化への影響
- Mississippi Writers Trail historical marker installed in Greenville, Mississippi
引用
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I was the happiest man ever to contract tuberculosis, because it enabled me to get out of Bellevue and quit medicine.
出典: More Conversations with Walker Percy (quoted) (1993年) -
Hospitals are no place for anyone, let alone a sick man.
出典: Walker Percy's correspondence (to Shelby Foote)
豆知識
- Converted to Roman Catholicism in 1947 with his wife.
- Adopted a first daughter and later had a biological daughter who became deaf.
- While teaching at Loyola University New Orleans he helped get John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces published.
- Became a secular oblate of St. Joseph Benedictine Abbey late in life.
- Associated with the anti-communist Information Council of the Americas (INCA).