pynchon-l-digest V2 #1610

[Paul Mackin]

Not entirely sure I had much in mind in my 'why does it matter' post except to
express essential agreement with Jody on a point or two. With regard to
political interpretation put on P I do truly wonder why people take such
pleasure and devote so much effort  to repetition of the already said--when
there are so many relatively unchartered domains remaining to be explored.
Thought this in itself would be a good topic for research.

I agree one should keep an open mind.


P.

Dave Monroe wrote:

> ... quite a bit to respond to here, not much time to do it in, but ... Paul:
> in the grand scheme of things (if not necessarily The Grand Scheme of
> Things), it might well not be important to ferret, tease, or otherwise
> discern out possible, probable, whatever historical, political, economic and
> so forth references in those Pynchonian texts.  some here--jody, maybe?
> Maybe even me ...--might see the stakes as somewhat higher in the human
> scheme of things, but ...
>
> But neither then is it any more important to read for any other
> sort--literary, scientific, musical, religious, technological,
> philosophical, pop cultural, mystical, whatever--of references either. How
> to adjudicate bewteen all these elements?  Some are just more inclined,
> better prepared, whatever to concentrate on one or the other (or the other
> or the other ... my inclination, preparation leans more toward the
> scientific, the technological, but ...), and no one can be expected to say
> everything that needs to be, much less can be, said ...
>
> And that's the value of an interpretive community ((c) Stanley Fish) such as
> this list, that coming together of various interpreters of various
> inclinations, backgrounds, but ... but what I'm most interested in, and
> wherein I think the particular "genius" of those Pynchonian texts lie, are
> the articulations betwixt all the aforementioned elements.  And I think
> Terrance in particular here is hinting at some pretty interesting, perhaps
> even pretty compelling, articulations between, say, literature and
> philosophy and religion and mysticism and technology and politics, but ...
> but, well, I am nothing if not patient, so ...
>
> So, anyway, I'm hoping to contribute to, and, if not what I'm hoping to
> receive (with, again, that Derridean caveat about the Levinasian gift, that
> a gift is something that is not exchanged, that is not to be returned, and
> that, on occasion, might be circulated instead in Bataillean potlatch of
> ruinoius giving), what I'm expecting to partake in, what perhaps one should
> expect to partake in, is such an interpretive community, an open
> interpretive economy, in which observations, interpretations, readings are
> made available for the use of whomever might have use for them, and not a
> so-called "free market"  in which "market pressures"--that so-called
> "Invisible Hand," the allegedly "free" "choices" of those participating,
> willfully or otherwise, in that market--determine what is  and isn't
> available at any given moment ...
>
> Hm ... on that dubious rhetorical articulation betwixt market and political
> "freedoms," see
>
> Frank, Thomas.  One Market Under God: Extreme Capitalism,
>      Market Populism, and the End of Economic Democracy.
>      New York: Doubleday, 2000.
>
> ... but if politics, history aren't on your wish list, well, fine, but I try
> to remain open to the fact that one can never be sure of what one might find
> interest in, use for, need of later.  Fair enough?
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