MDMD(0) : Opening Call For The Mass Discussion of Mason & Dixon

[andrew at cee.hw.ac.uk]

Whatcheer Bonnie Lads and Lasses and Welcome One and All to . . .

                THE MASS DISCUSSION OF MASON AND DIXON 

                              (MD of MD) 

                             on pynchon-l 

Official Charter 
----------------

We shall be employing the services of the Pynchon List Server to host
a Mass Discussion of Mason & Dixon traversing through the Book in
Steps of roughly 3 Chapters (30 Pages) every Fortnight (2
Weeks). Granted a total of 78 Chapters the Complete Discussion should
take roughly 1 Year in Toto (if such a Period seem overlong then
consider attending for the duration of the First Section which should
endure no more than 18 Weeks, that is 8 Reading and 8 Subsequent
Discussion Periods).

Reading of the First Section commences 23rd May 1997 and endures until
5th June. Each subsquent Fortnight will be allocated a Master of
Ceremonies who will be responsible for posting Observations and
Queries to initiate Discussion of the Section just read. Which
Discussion will continue in parallel with reading of the following
Section until it's alloted Fortnight has expired. The full Itinerary
is available suing the services of the World Wide Web (Details
enclosed below). Naturally, List Members may post whenever and
whatever they desire on the Subject of Mr Pynchon's Writings.
Nevertheless, it is preferred that Contributors to the Discussion
refrain from making Advance Reference to Sections not yet arrived at
in the Itinerary where possible.


Posting Protocols
-----------------

Protocol, being a more or less relaxed Form of Tyranny, shall be kept
to a Minimum, the List being a Free and Open Forum for Discussion, not
to be hijacked by any Individual or Group of Individuals. Posters are,
therefore, encouraged to post on any Topick and any Detail in or
outside of the Book (or indeed Mr Pynchon's other Novels). Recall that
the Purpose of a Mass Discussion is to obtain as many different
Insights and Interpretations as possible. Clearly, the Tardy Pace is
intended to encourage a Close Focus on the Current Section but should
not debar Discussion which considers the Remainder of the Book, Mr
Pynchon's other Novels or related Fact and Fiction (the Discussion has
been timed so that those who were keen to read the Whole Book before
embarking upon our Discussion had time to do so - those wishing to
remain Unpolluted by Advance Notice of Events in the Narrative will
oblige Themselves as much as Participants by avoiding Postings
associated with the Discussion).

A Secondary Protocol which it would be *useful* to adopt is to label
Postings with a Tag which identifies them as belonging to the Mass
Discussion and preferably with a Section Number to help locate the
Comments contained therein. So, Postings should contain the Ackronym
"MDMD" in their Title, or preferably "MDMD(n)" where n is the Number
of the Section currently under Discussion. As well as alerting those
not participating this should also be of help in the subsequent
Identifickation and Sorting of Contributions.

There is yet no Intention to Excerpt, Summarise, Reprint or otherwise
make available Postings other than to incorporate them into the
existing Archive. If any of the Material merits Publickation in some
form or other Contributors must be approached for Permission to
include their Writings. This is a Stipulated Condition under which
Anyone who contributes to the Discussion or Employs the List Archives
must agree to be bound by this restriction.

The Archive may be located on the World-Wide Web by employing the
following Universal Resource Locator:

    http://www.cee.hw.ac.uk/~andrew/pynchon-mdmd.html

Alternatively, the Pynchon List Server accumulates Postings at its own
Site, which may be obtained using the File Transfer Protocol, the
relevant Address being:

    ftp://waste.org/pub/lists/pynchon-l/


Suggested Topicks for Discussion 
--------------------------------

As no Subject is exempt from Discussion I intend to make no suggestion
of anything specifick. Besides, such Recommendations are for the
relevant Master of Ceremonies to provide. Nonetheless, the following
Subjects might merit Attention:

      Plot - Mason & Dixon seems to be a far more Linear Narrative
      than Mr Pynchon's previous Magnum Opus, Gravity's Rainbow. So
      providing a Summary and Analysis of the Plotting should be no
      Onerous Task. It is my Intended Preference that the Master of
      Ceremonies provide a Summary Plot of the Current Section in his
      Opening Note for the Discussion Period. If Time and Tide serve
      to foil such Intentions I would be grateful should any other
      Contributor to the Discussion remedy the Omission.

      Technique - Mason & Dixon appears equally as Polished in its
      Technickal Mastery as Gravity's Rainbow. At First Impression, it
      appears that it will manifest the same Tricks of Narrative,
      Feats of Language and Juxtapositions of Location and Chronology
      (both within and without the Narrative) as we chart our way
      through the Novel. But let us not just narrow our Comparisons to
      Mr Pynchon's other Works. This is a much more markedly
      Historickal Novel than its Predecessors and adopts a suitably
      Historickal Tone. Is it also a Modern (or dare I invoke the Term
      a Postmodern) Novel?

      Tradition - Mr Pynchon's latest Novel is merely one Star in his
      personal Constellation. It would take an Astronomer Royal to
      locate its exact Position in the Firmanent but its Placement in
      a Rough Guide to the Heavens for the Use of the Amateur
      Stargazer on a cold clear night would be more than welcome.

      Background & Sources - Mason & Dixon seems as stuffed full of
      Esoterick Facts as Mr Pynchon's other Works. Many of them are
      explicated on the Page, obviating the need to resort to Books of
      Reference. Yet, Pynchon's Forte is a Kind of Literary
      Transsubstantiation, turning Base Facts into the Philosopher's
      Stone of his Fiction. The Identifickation of Mr Pynchon's likely
      Sources or even the Provision of Related Material will help us
      determine how well he has realised History in his Fiction. Some
      might joak that he has rather `invented history'. And other
      Philosophers might disagree with such a Sentiment by agreeing
      that History is all Invention - I shall preempt such Disputes
      and merely request Alternative Histories. Direct us to the
      relevant Literature, provide us with Diagrams, Schematicks or
      Depictions, Songs or Sheet Musick. Quoted Text, Images encoded
      using the GIF, JPEG or MPEG Standards or even Recorded Sounds
      would be most welcome (But please do not attempt to distribute
      Images and Sound Recordings by encoding them in Postings.  They
      may be made available using the File Transfer Protocol or the
      World Wide Web. I will be happy to act as a Broker for such
      dissemination through personal Communickations.).

      The World - Mr Pynchon's previous Magnum Opus, Gravity's
      Rainbow, is marked by the Tendency of its Story to spill out
      over the Edge of it's Pages into the Real World, drawing in
      Science, History, Philosophy etc. It may be too early to answer
      such a request but does Mason & Dixon do the same?  Is a
      Macrocosm embedded in Mason and Dixon's Microcosm.

      Other Works - I observe great continuity between Mason & Dixon
      and Mr Pynchon's earlier Novels, particularly Gravity's
      Rainbow. But do they really form a Constellation? Or are they a
      mere Random Pattern into which we read more Significance than
      they merit?


Section 1 - MDMD(1)
-------------------

The Text Proper for the First Fortnight's Reading is chapters 1 - 4
(perversely we are including 4 Chapters in the first Section since
Chapter 2 is particularly short - normally we will cover 3 Chapters
per Fortnight). I will be attending as your master of Ceremonies for
the First Discussion Period which will commence on 6th June when I
will post my Opening Remarks for MDMD(1).


Preliminary Exercise MDMD(0)
----------------------------

By way of Gentle Exercise for those new to the Medium, Preliminary
Discussion during the first Reading Period shall begin at the
Beginning with the Cover and Cover Artwork. Also, do not omit to
consider the Dedickation, Title Page, Details of the Printing etc.



Andrew Dinn
-----------
We drank the blood of our enemies.
The blood of our friends, we cherished.