Pynchon and women

[Murthy Yenamandra]

Vaska Andjelkovic writes:
> [Re: Frenesi's and DL's agency] I found it strange that a writer for
> whom questions of control -- and the need to liberate oneself from
> heteronomy -- are so central would, and in relation to a woman
> character, suddenly resurrect (approvingly) the ideal of
> self-surrender.  The wording, I think, is important.  And in this
> particular context, it looks very much like the traditional religious
> ideal of the good woman as a vessel of God: i.e. not a free agent in
> any sense of the word.

A couple of points here. Pynchon distinguishes between Frenesi's and
DL's ideas of agency. It's only DL who is operating under her sensei's
dictum of being the selfless agent of someone else's will (or at least
wants to and comes up short - how desirable or effective is this dictum
any way?). DL is trying to live up to the ideal of self-surrender, but
Frenesi isn't (but manages to be the one who somewhat surrenders her
self). I think Pynchon is sabotaging both these ideas - that one could
disown one's agency (as Frenesi seems to do, but doesn't quite succeed)
and that one could really become a selfless agent (as DL wants to, but
fails to do - failing to keep cool while caring?).

What would be helpful here is some explanation of the Japanese subplot
in Vineland. I've asked on the list before, but came up empty.  Pynchon
seems to want to say something about agency and responsibility (and the
illusion of control, that one can _do_), but it doesn't come through
clearly. Had he managed to do that, it would've been quite a synthesis
of the traditional left and right - the desire to radically change
things and the realization that no one can _do_, or in other words, the
desire to change the other and the desire to realize oneself.

As for the rest of our discussion, I share a lot of your concerns and
would love to find more satisfactory answers.

Murthy

-- 
Murthy Yenamandra, Dept of CompSci, U of Minnesota. mailto:yenamand at cs.umn.edu
"Always there's that space between what you feel and what you do, and in
that gap all human sadness lies." - _Blue Dog_