VV(12): Weissmann

[Dave Monroe]

"a Lieutenant Weissmann" (V., Ch. 9, Sec. ii, p. 236)

"A professional Aryan even in name," is J. Kerry Grant's annotation here in 
A Companion to V. (Athens: U of Georgia P, 2001), a citation from David 
Richter, Fable's End: Completeness and Closure in Rhetorical Fiction 
(Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1974), p. 109.  Anyone familiar with this book?  
Wondering just how extensively it discusses anything of Pynchon's, as I 
don't recall seeing it come up anywhere else.  But might prove interesting 
on that question of contemporary reception ...

But I'm inclined to agree.  "Weissmann" = "white man" (cf. "Blicero" = 
"Bleicherode" = "Blicker" = "bleacher") = perfect name here.  Perhaps even a 
little too perfect, but ... but, while even I'm inclined to think that 
Pynchon's choice here is perhaps coincidental--though I can easily imagine 
him having come across it, and it having stuck and mutated as things seem to 
do in those Pynchonian texts--do note that there did exist indeed one Herman 
von Wissmann, "Deutschlands groesster Afrikaner," "Germany's greatest 
African," who, as Johannes Fabian's Out of Our Minds: Reason and Madness in 
the Exploration of Central Africa (Berkeley: U of California P, 2000), 
notes, was "one of the first to employ the Maxim gun in putting down the 
Bushiri revolt in East Africa" (p. 273) ...

JBFRAME was kind enough to post this link ...

http://www.dnai.com/~soongliu/SavageAndSoldier/articles/africa/GermanWars.html

See "German East Africa," on The Abushiri Rebellion ...

"Responding to the crisis, the German government sent thirty-four year-old 
Hermann von Wissmann as the first commissioner to the colony. With Wissmann 
were twenty-one officers, forty NCO's and 600 Sudanese and 400 Shangaen 
mercenaries who would soon become the core for the new Schutztruppe.

"Wissmann used the navy to restore control over the coastal cities taken by 
the rebels.  Naval bombardments soon forced their defenders out and allowed 
the German forces to reoccupy them. The Navy was further used to set up a 
tight blockade of the coast in order to stop any possible arms or equipment 
going to the rebels.

"In May 1889, Wissmann moved against Abushiri's stronghold at Jahazi, a 
fortified village near Bagamoyo. By this time, Abushiri's alliance had 
collapsed. Most of the native tribes had given up towards the end of 1888 
and Abushiri had to hire Arab mercenaries in order to defend his stronghold 
and keep the rebellion alive. On May 8th, German forces under Wissmann 
attacked Jahazi defended by Abushiri's well-armed    mercenaries and 
surrounded by a 2.5 meter high wall. Using artillery fire, Wissmann drove 
the defenders back from the wall then led a charge that stormed the fort. 
One hundred and six Arabs were killed in the attack, Jahazi was taken but 
Abushiri escaped into the interior where he persuaded the Yao and Mbunga 
tribes to continue the war.

"As Wissmann was busy retaking the cities of Pangani, Sadani, and Tanga, 
Abushiri led new assaults against Dares Salaam and Bagamoyo which were 
repulsed with heavy losses to the natives."

That Schutztruppe sound a bit Scwartzkommandoish?  By the way, did misstate 
myself on that one there, jbor, was trying to separate out Enzian's faction 
and the Empty Ones, which Lhmaon doesn''t quite do, but he seems a pretty 
smart guy, I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt there.   But 
I'm hoping to do a little follow-up here, have been hunting and gathering 
around Fabian's very interesting text, seems we could use some historical 
background on German (for starters) colonialism in Africa ...
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com