V.V..9

[Stacy Borah]

Now, this is my kind of email, save for the little jab at jbor at the top.  
I'm not taking sides, people, I just want to exchange ideas and learn.  
Emails like this one will keep me on the list.

Stacy



>From: "J Suete" <jsuete at postmaster.co.uk>
>To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: V.V..9
>Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2000 23:23:50 +0100
>
>I'm sure that jbor does not hold that there are not as many
>Valid and Legitimate ways of reading a text as there are
>Readers of said text or texts. The same cannot be claimed for
>His position on writing about texts. So, a magic eye's view
>Or an Angel's view or an insider's view or whatever, is a claim of
>"privlidge" and is therefore not legitimate or valid as a written 
>commentary
>on reading a text.
>
>
>Of course, the point of the essay in question is that anyone can see the
>Three-dimensional figures beneath the surface (the fore-grounded  
>post-modern palimpsest in seemingly infinite regress). It not a magic eye 
>that only works in Baltimore. However, if you read the language of the 
>essay with jbor's political eye you can, first excerpt "overtly" 
>"privileged" claims by the author. Second, implicate the author in a crime 
>against the laurel-crowned conquerors of New Critical hegemony.  Third, 
>conjure up some shadowy elect/preterite incantations from Mr. Pynchon's 
>holy books. Fourth, torture and  distort and misapprehend, the language and 
>meaning of the commentaries.   Fifth, toss a deconstructing monkey wrench 
>in the witch's brew if things get too hot in the torture chamber. 
>Unfortunately, or maybe not, others on this list-serve not only egg him on, 
>they have their own dirty tricks.  And, there are those that enjoy playful 
>repartee, but that doesn't work too good, not on cranky old bitches like me 
>when its hot and humid and I'm out of prune juice.
>
>
>I'll start with that wicked pack of cards (52 pages, IV suits), Chapter 9 
>of V.
>
>PS
>
>
>Transmogrification:
>     transmogrify (tràns-mòg´re-fì´, trànz-) verb, transitive, To change 
>into a
>     different shape or form, especially one that is fantastic or bizarre. 
>(The
>     American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition).
>
>
>
>  Carnival, is Latin for farewell to meat. Mondaugen steps over a wall "and 
>it seemed some tropic as well, for the life there he found too lavish, 
>spectral, probably carnivorous; not in good taste."  Part II M's S
>
>"Eternal" Fasching
>
>  The Roman Catholic Shrovetide carnival as celebrated in German-speaking 
>countries. There are many regional
>  differences concerning the name, duration, and activities of the 
>carnival. It is known as Fasching in Bavaria and
>  Austria, Fosnat in Franconia, Fasnet in Swabia, Fastnacht in Mainz and 
>its environs, and Karneval in Cologne and
>  the Rhineland. The beginning of the pre-Lenten season generally is 
>considered to be Epiphany (January 6), but in
>  Cologne, where the festivities are the most elaborate, the official 
>beginning is marked on the 11th hour of the 11th
>  day of the 11th month of the year. Merrymaking may get underway on the 
>Thursday before Lent, but the truly
>  rambunctious revelry associated with Fasching usually reaches its high 
>point during the three days preceding Ash
>  Wednesday, culminating on Shrove Tuesday. The names of these final days 
>also vary regionally.
>
>  Although the exact historical origins of Fasching are unclear, the 
>observance of its rites is mentioned in Wolfram
>  von Eschenbach's Parzival (early 13th century). It was a festival that 
>originated in the cities--most notably Mainz
>  and Speyer--and was already established in Cologne by 1234. 
>Traditionally, it was not only a feast before Lent
>  but also a time during which the rules and order of daily life were 
>subverted. This gave rise to such customs as
>  handing over the keys of the city to a council of fools or ceremoniously 
>letting women rule. It also inspired noisy
>  costumed parades and masked balls; satirical and often impertinent plays, 
>speeches, and newspaper columns; and
>  generally excessive behaviour--all of which are still common elements of 
>contemporary Fasching celebrations.
>  After the Reformation, Protestant areas of Europe took exception to such 
>Roman Catholic excesses, and carnival
>  practices began to die out in them.
>
>
>Aircraft in Africa & Abraham Morris:
>Aircraft  as a new weapon system, were applied and
>tested by a number of Western states during the inter-war period. Aircraft 
>proved
>the supreme weapon system in dealing with massed "feudal" armies. Our first 
>case
>study is close to home. What become known as the Bondelswart Uprising 
>occurred
>a brief three years after the end of the First World War; and immediately 
>showed
>the value of a tactical air force to a still skeptical public.
>
>The Bondelswart tribe, located in modern Namibia, protested against a South
>African government decision not to concede certain land claims. A force was 
>raised
>in May 1922, when the captain of the tribe refused to deliver a number of 
>his
>followers who were allegedly guilty of misdemeanor and theft. The force 
>initially
>comprised two field guns and one hundred mounted troops. This force 
>surrounded
>and bombarded Haib, the Bondelswart stronghold, on 29 May. On 30 May the
>settlement surrendered after their leader, Abraham Morris, together with
>approximately fifty followers had escaped through the cordon. Morris hoped 
>to join
>Nicolaas Christiaan and his men, and make a stand in their ancient 
>stronghold - the
>Fish River Canyon. In an attempt to prevent the insurrection from spreading 
>to the
>Richtersveld, an airstrip was prepared near Steinkopf and two aircraft 
>dispatched to
>the area from Pretoria. On 2 June, one of these aircraft spotted smoke in a 
>saucer in
>the mountains; and the Bondelswart were bombed and machine-gunned from the
>air. Some 20 were killed and more wounded: the survivors learned to hide by 
>day
>and move at night. They ate their last donkey on 4 June and in a skirmish 
>with
>ground troops on the same day, Morris was killed. What remained of his 
>followers
>surrendered on 7 June. Over the following weeks, the two aircraft made 
>intimidation
>flights over all the reserves around Keetmanshoop.
>
>Please pass the fan,
>
>Jane
>
>
>
>
>

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