Pynchon vs French Intellectuals (was: Uncomfortable TV)

[Paul Mackin]

Did Pynchon _need_ 1968 to contruct (in part 4 of GR) his "examination
of the impossibility of creating an entirely alternative structure of 
power/language" (Matthew Percy's words)?

Any evidence in the earlier books that P, unlike that "certain school
of French philosopy" KNEW IT ALL THE TIME?
				
Did the whole sick crew ever think about bringing down the system?

					P.
					

On Thu, 11 Jul 1996 matthew.percy at utoronto.ca wrote:

> 
> Probably the only way to subvert is through "irresponsible use of the 
> harmonica".  Check the last book of _GR_, for example: I've always 
> considered it to be an examination of  the impossiibility of creating an 
> entirely alternative structure of power/language (i.e. a symbolic order 
> that doesn't rest on the idea of exclusion).  Pynchon seems to stress 
> that we use "their" tools/objects for "our" purposes (which is also a 
> fairly accurate description of how his prose style works, borrowing from 
> the popular and re-imagining it in a more literary form).  I think 
> Pynchon attempts to avoid dogmatic distinctions such as 
> proletariat/bouergeois;disempowered/empowered;1 and zero... he seems to 
> assert that it is impossible (at this stage in the game) not to be 
> tainted by "their" systems of though; ergo, the only thing to do is to 
> practice those systems dialogically or recognize the "play" implicit in them.
> 
> Of course, the (eternal) question remains - how to do this?  It's pretty 
> much a matter of personal responsibility and recognizing in yourself how 
> you exclude/disenfranchise others through your actions, I'm told by a 
> certain school of French philosophy.  But then again, I have no idea/