Writer as Shaman: Pilgrimages of Conrad Aiken and Walker Percy - Hardcover

Spivey, Ted R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 086554199X ISBN 13: 9780865541993

Publisher: Mercer University Press, 1987

Synopsis

Long an advocate of the need for cul- William James. Ultimately, ina discus-ntural renewal through the merger of sion that takes into account the thoughtnhumanistic and scientific values, Ted R. and emotion of Emerson, Kierkegaard,nSpivey in The Writer as Shaman boldly Freud, Jung, Buber, Heidegger, and ofnparallels the prophetic quests for tran- various Oriental philosophers as well,nscendent meaning made by two Ameri- Spivey discovers in the work of Aikenncan pilgrims, Conrad Aiken and and Percy a comprehensive vision of anWalker Percy, in the face of the cultural mode of communication that, at oncenchaos of the twentieth century. Al- intellectual and spiritual, offers thenthough the reader may initially doubt, possibility of redemption from ourneven resist, the idea of pairing Aiken psychic isolation in a society of special-nand Percy, he will find Spiveys Wide- ized function by the restoration of mm"snranging study to be not only a plausible capacity to seek a transcending cul-nbut also a convincing demonstration of tural harmony. A book that acknowl-nthe logical necessity ofbringing these edges todays fashions, yet isntwo authentic men of letters into a independent of them, The Writer asncommon focus. Spivey proceeds in part Shaman demands the attention of stu-nby a striking argument in which he dents of modern literature, philosophy,nshows how the motives of Aiken and and history, both American and Euro-nPercy are related to the concept of pean.Lewis P. Simpson, Editor, ThenAmerican liberalism as it issued in Southern Review

Edition details

• Publisher: Mercer University Press
• Publication date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 086554199X
• ISBN 13: 9780865541993
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 216