GRGR(6) - Ep. 15 Reader Dissonance.

[rj]

Gary:

> I don't think the "Menippean satire" idea is
> generally enough known to be a commonplace.

The connection, of course, comes via Bakhtin. McHale devotes some space
to it: "Postmodernist fiction is the heir of Menippean satire and its
most recent historical avatar." See _Postmodernist Fiction_ (1987: p.
172-3), where GR heads his list of egs. But I first ran across the term
applied to Pynchon's fiction in one or more of the standard critical
texts even earlier than this (1983-4ish). I don't have these to hand at
present, but I'll fish the references out when I can. I only remember it
because I had no idea what "Menippean" referred to (my total ignorance
of all things Classical rears its ugly visage yet again) but I was
tempted to poach the citation anyway. (I didn't, as it turned out.)

I think you have a better chance of arguing the cartoon-qualities of
Pynchon's characterisations in _Lot 49_, or even _V._, than in _GR_. And
I think the story 'Entropy' comes close to Menippean satire, as I
understand the term at least. There are elements of many genres and
modes present in _GR_, including Menippean satire, but I think that the
deliberate eclecticism and incongruity of their combination within the
text is more to the point.

best