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Walker Percy's cinema-verite
Abstract
The major novels of Walker Percy are examined for evidence of cinematic stylistic techniques to gain insight into the ways in which Percy achieves his narrative objectives. In particular, his use of "framing" techniques which distance the reader from the characters as well as of cinematic images indicate the kinship between Percy's writing and cinema-verite. Like the cinema-veritist, Percy seeks to alter perception of the boundaries between reader, writer, and character, the seer and the seen. Percy's preoccupation with cinema is shown to reflect his philosophical concerns as a Catholic novelist. The metaphors of film, projection, and acting represent modern man's inability to achieve an authentic existence, which can be achieved only through faith. The pervasiveness of cinematic language and image has finally for its object the debunking of cinematic myths.
Subject Area
American literature|Motion Pictures
Recommended Citation
Fister, Charles Francis, "Walker Percy's cinema-verite" (1988). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI8813217.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI8813217