On the Malaise of Youth: Walker Percy's The Moviegoer and the Existential Plight of the Student

• In Event: Roundtable Session 44
  In Roundtable Session: Narratives of Teachers and Students

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to use the existentialist novel The Moviegoer by Walker Percy to examine the existential plight of the contemporary K-12 student subject position. We interpret this novel to examine a particular “malaise” of our current historical moment as experienced by young people enrolled in traditional forms of schooling. We also wish to show that particular themes in existential philosophy, which can be teased out in novels such as The Moviegoer, can go beyond assisting in our analysis of the contemporary malaise of the student to provide theorists, educators, and youth advocates with possible ways of responding to it.

Authors

• Kathleen Knight-Abowitz, Miami University

• Kip Kline, Lewis University