Africans in GR

[Jan Klimkowski]

My own tuppence on this is that Pynchon uses the story of the Herero in at 
least two fashions:  historically, as a peculiarly Teutonic model & 
prototype of the Holocaust; and, artistically/imaginatively, after 
establishing the presence of (mythical/cinematically created/real) Black 
Rocketeers in the Zone, to shine a light both on all genocides and on 
post-war  jive-ass race relations.

Amusingly, there are some African Studies scholars at SOAS (School of 
Oriental & African Studies) & Birkbeck that I ran into one drunken night who 
learnt about the Herero genocide from Gravity's Rainbow....

Less amusingly, Jim Jones was fond of telling his People of the races who 
had committed suicide rather than live in the White Man's world....

jan