MDMD(1) - Comments: china

[dennis grace]

Doug 'splains:

>China became the object of colonial interest, intrigue, and exploitation by
>the British and other great powers, of course, in a history that culminates
>in British importation of opium to China in the last century, and this
>month's return of Hong Kong to the PRC -- given Pynchon's recurring
>treatment of colonial and imperial themes, China certainly represents more
>than "color" or something "cool" to throw in the book. There's also a rich
>vein to mine in the "chinoiserie" craze of the 18th century, when Chinese
>art and architecture motifs invaded and inspired Europe, along with spices
>and coffee and other exotics.

Yeah, but there's more to the chinoiserie of M&D than mere mimickry of
Enlightenment fads.  I know some of this has already been discussed more or
less in other contexts but here's some random thoughts (more on this later):

1.  Both the Transit of Venus and the M&D line represent connections of a
sort of East with West.

2.  "'Tis the Age of Reason, rrf?" the L.E.D. reminds us (22) on the same
page that he introduces Mason to the concept of Mu, koans, and the divine
Buddha.  The Age of Reason was a rather uneasy time, what with Hume _et al_
laying the groundwork for the death of God and all.  With the Age of Reason,
Europe and the colonies were being dragged by the heels into an era in which
science supplants religion and relegates the old rationales to the realm of
superstition. It was, no doubt, enough to make any rational human being
paranoid or--in the parlance of the age--melancholy.  This, I think, is a
good deal of the source of Mason's malaise with respect to the late missus;
as a man of science, he's been taught that he should essentially consider
the old girl a memory and some scattered atoms and go on with his life.  In
spite of Lucretius' admirable effort to the contrary, it isn't exactly a
comforting view of mortality.  In this light--i.e., the old God is dead, and
the new God doesn't give a rat's ass about us--far Cathay offers a whole new
array of philosophies.  Of course, the real irony here is that Buddhism
ultimately offers only disolution and Nirvana--so we're back to Lucretius.

3.  I've been taking my sweet time about reading through M&D (I've also had
a dozen other novels I need to finish before the summer's out, but excuses
excuses), but I think the Feng Shui consideration also comes into play
partly for the same reason that all the Chinese stuff is introduced so
early--alternate philosophies untainted by the Age of Reason/Church
conflict.  Plus, of course, all that stuff about trying to impose an
inappropriate construct (fat straight line) on a naturally non-linear setting.

4.  The interplay alternate philosophies have long been a concern of TRP's,
thus the imposition of the Advent calendar, the Tarot, the White Visitation,
and the Khirgiz Lights onto a plot so heavy with Wien bridge amplifiers and
V2s and Pavlovian conditioning and plastics.  

dgg
_____________________________
Dennis Grace
University of Texas at Austin
English Department
Recovering Medievalist

That's right, you're not from Texas, but Texas wants you anyway.
                                                  --Lyle Lovett