Problems of Paranoia [...]

[Eric Rosenbloom]

jbor wrote:
> Someone like Updike, for example, who can be labelled as a Post-Modernist
> author writing in the period of, and about, postmodernity, does not
> necessarily embrace the postmodern aesthetic in his work. I think that
> Pynchon -- also Post-Modernist and also writing in the in the period of, but
> only sometimes about, postmodernity -- perhaps does embrace this aesthetic.
> I don't know if it is useful to think of it in this way: it is for me.

Me too. There also are plenty of "Modern" writers (e.g., D.H. Lawrence)
whose work is much more than "Pre-Modern" with more sex (which of course
is fine; I really enjoy the novels of Marie Corelli).


> > Your postmodernist is a
> > bundle of neuroses thanks to that war of theirs.
> 
> I would say that it is a type of humility rather than a "neurosis" (with the
> implication of sickness and disease or, indeed, that a "healthier"
> alternative exists somewhere). With postmodern art comes an admission that
> the artist is as uncertain, as fearful or hopeful about what is and what has
> been (and, what will come) -- that his or her perspective is inevitably a
> subjective and culturally-produced one, and that the number of such
> perspectives extends (again, potentially at least) to near-infinity -- and
> that up against it she or he feels as powerless and humbled as the next Jo.
> In this respect I don't believe that Pynchon's decision to abjure public
> celebrity or academia is neurotic or "paranoid" in the least.

True again. Pynchon shows a way out. His work, as Art, is
transformative, not simply reflective of the times  . . . .

--
Eric r



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