GRGR(30) 'Alarming'et alia

[Paul Mackin]

On Mon, 26 Jun 2000, Michel Ryckx wrote:

> p.657.6: 'and this is quite alarming'  Why is it alarming?
> p.657. 13. The Paranoia Song.  Which accent does the chorus use?  (this
> is one of my main difficulties: the different dialects mr. Pynchon
> uses). I vaguely connect it with (to?) a 30's Hollywood film -of which I
> have not seen many.  Did they use black choruses at the time?
> p. 661.9. '... to sound like a woman of the 40s.'  How did such a woman
> sound?
> p. 662.  Blicero's letter.  I've allways had the impression he was
> reassuring himself, rather than telling the truth.  Am I wrong?

Well, it can only be alarming if Katje doesn't latch onto the strong
possiblity that she actually IS in one of these 30s-movie type
extravaganzas, an actuality which soon becomes clear to her. Dancers and
singers and full orchestras poping out from seeming nowhere were
commonplace in movie reality. The fact that everyone is black may be the
alarming thing since race and blackness seem much on the girl's mind. One
if not alarming at least strange thing is the not Black but
White-American-common-man speech of the chorus largely invented by
Hollywood writers, then taken up by movie goers--life immitating art as it
were.  The dialect on the previous page such as "Gwine jump on dis drum
hyah" is supposed to be Black.

Hope this might help a little.

		P.