reply to Elana Bailes

[ckaratnytsky at nypl.org]

     Good essay, Elana, and I know where you're going -- but I've got to 
     quibble:  You write, "Emphasis on pluralism created the commercialism 
     our society is based on."  Hold on thar, Baba Looey!  Emphasis on 
     personal gain and instant gratification created the commercialism that 
     runs rampant in American society.  Pluralism, if I'm understanding the 
     concept correctly, is a striving, isn't it?, towards commonality, in 
     which the diverse social structure seeks to find its shared culture, 
     its group traditions.  This plurality, then, is the hidden link -- one 
     of 'em, anyway -- that binds this land of rock-landing pilgrims, 
     westward ho pioneers, lonesome cowboys and on-the-road hipsters into 
     something resembling a society.  Without it we're all just dueling 
     Brandos -- everybody doin' their own lonely I coulda been a 
     *contedah*, I coulda *been* somebody routine in the mirror.  Or 
     something like that.
     
     Now, about pop culture refs:  I think TRP, especially in VINELAND, has 
     a fucking blast with them suckers.  It may *feel* too easy to us as 
     readers because we have a more or less instant understanding of the 
     reference (and because it's very often tied into TV or mega-hit 
     movies) -- but an allusion as a literary device is *still* an 
     allusion.  And, yes, I think there's a difference between an allusion 
     as a smirk (or, as you say, "hip, amusing  evidence of The Post-modern 
     Way") and an allusion as a hint of something larger.  My general 
     guideposts:  What's the context?  What's the quality of the writing?  
     I usually have no problem jumping into TRP's bowl of Jello.  And, now 
     that I think of it, someday I bet his readers are going to need 
     something called ALLUSIONS IN VINELAND (or whatever), as Joyce's 
     readers, me included, have gotten a whole lotta mileage out of 
     ALLUSIONS IN ULYSSES.  Whether we like it or not TV and movies are a 
     part of our common culture -- yes, our plurality...
     
     For a flip-flop on the pop culture ref issue, see my gig review of the 
     Pynchon House Band, Lotion.  (A shameless self-promoter I am, totally 
     shameless...)
     
     Chris Karatnytsky