TV & Pynchon (was Re: M&D truthtelling, etc.)

[Kathleen Fitzpatrick]

Re the comments about references to television in Pynchon:  This is a big
part of my dissertation, so I've spent a lot of time poring over these
mentions.  "Television" as an entity appears in all four novels pre-M&D.
In V., there are two major refs: Fergus Mixolydian connecting himself to
the TV set, and Raoul writing for TV.  In COL49, the refs are more
abundant; the major examples I'd point to are the Metzger seduction scene
with _Cashiered_ on the tube, Mr. Thoth's accusation that the tube can
infiltrate your dreams in talking about the Porky Pig cartoon, and Nefastis
watching the "young stuff" dance while Oedipa attempts to communicate with
the demon.

In GR, there are really only a couple of covert references (that I've
found): in describing the conditions under which Imipolex G is "erectile,"
the narrator includes a description of a "beam-scanning system," which is
of course a description of the technology behind television.  Not to
mention Gottfried's strangely colored, slightly convex "window" in the
00000; with this window and the speaker embedded in his ear, Gottfried
completes Fergus's project of becoming one with the tube.

And VINELAND, of course, is all about television.

Kathleen

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Kathleen Fitzpatrick
kqf3143 at is2.nyu.edu
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