poetry, topologetics

[Daniel Stein]

On the matter of "print" and "language".

The fashion in litcrit being what it is, and failing to have Pynchon
authentically revealed to us outside of his oeuvre (and, of co(a)rse, the
Dick Cavett show), we are left projecting our own thoughts, NAMING it (in
this case) the AUTHOR'S ambivalence. I realize this is only the first
curlicue of the first letter of the first word in the first sentence in
the long (and frequently mooringless) piece that accounts for modern
critical theory, and I fear to tread very far into its trackless
wonderland...a dimension of meme, a dimension of mind...DA da-da-da DA
da-da-da....

I actually quite agree with 'arch' enemy John Mascaro's urging Gebhardt
<<indeed>> to distinguish (not just in thought, as we are not telepathic,
but in deed) the figures of "print" (one of many dialects) on the
background of "language" (although his imputation that Gebhardt offers us
"some equivalence" of the two is too strong). Pynchon presses on us more
than ambivalence: DENOUNCING the "German mania for name-giving", the
chemist's "diddling" with the language of hydrocarbon chains, u.s.w., at
the same time lifting the language game to new elevations in his best
prose.

Or...DENOUNCING the <<printed>> (or wiped) manifestations of 'Shit, Money,
and the Word', the translation of the oral Kirghiz tradition (Ah, saga! Oh,
epic!) into the new alphabet, somethin' Turkic you upside the head!

It is our happy(?) obligation as practitioners of language to distinguish
the figures of the named on the nameless background of creation. Or
distinguish the figure of"figures" on the background of "background". But I
suppose I had best leave that kind of play to them what invented it. (The
elf with JD in his pocketses? JD hisself??) Or are painting and sculpture
the untainted forms of litcrit?

Bad writing ain't nearly as bad as imprecise thinking, when one considers
the residues.
Since we are not telepathic, we require language to communicate thought.

Mathematics is a language with no more failings than most.
Topology ain't as pretty as poetry unless you look at it hole-istically.
(Puns may not be poetry, but if Pynchon uses 'em, I guess they're OK, hm?)
The best poetry arises from very precise thinking. So:

Imprecise thinking has holes in it.
A jug (with a handle) is a hole with matter dangling from it.
A jug with no handle leaves one juggling with no grasp of the matter.

The imperious imp may have no closure on!


DANL


Daniel J. Stein        {; < 0>         stein at magma.geol.ucsb.edu
Geological Sciences                http://www.geol.ucsb.edu/~stein
University of California        (805) 893-8130 (voice)
Santa Barbara, CA 93106        (805) 893-2314 (fax)