grgr: nazi occultism

[Paul Mackin]

On Mon, 8 May 2000, Terrance wrote:

> 
> 
> Muchasmasgracias at cs.com wrote:
> > 
> > This will be a tedious point, especially since I mean it in the least
> > accusatory sense possible (which may run counter to the tenor of the
> > list...), but when I saw the above quoted I instantly felt like I would be
> > more comfortable to see it written as '"German" sickness' to mock the very
> > idea that it is something inherently Germanic which is at issue here.  After
> > all, if we are attributing something to the influence of "texts" then that is
> > as fundamental to the issue as anything.
> 
> Well it's both, it's something Historically German--german
> nazism, german idealism, but inherent in MAN, in
> Europeans--European tradition,  in Americans--"It has
> learned EMPIRE from its old metropolis." The Rocket travels
> from Germany to America, the connection is the most
> important one in the novel. Why is the issue the idea that
> it is something inherently Germanic? That misses the whole
> point of the novel, doesn't it?


Ours is a "history of lost messages" might you say. (not sure I'm quoting
correctly but . . . )

I read the "German" dysfuntional youth psyche stuff in GR as satire as I
assume you do.

Howevvvvvver aren't you running a terribly risk of inciting the wrath of
practitioners among us of "French" lit crit by implying the novel has
"a" point???

Laughingly,

			P.