V.V.(8) sfacim and sewer stories

[jbor]

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>From: Michael Perez <studiovheissu at yahoo.com>
>

> 140.6  "sfacim":

Yes, I agree with you that the "semen" or "spunk" interpretation is
corroborated by Benny's subsequent ruminations. This is what it means for
him I think, and he has a couple of bittersweet and self-deprecatory
reflections on the diametric opposition between the one ("sfacimento" as
destruction or decay, and "sfacim" as the bringer of fertility and
regeneration), in terms of what consorting with him might result in for the
girls. Of course, this is not necessarily what the term means to the girls
(or, indeed, the reader), but it has obviously been perceived by Lucille &
co. as an extremely offensive term (and "semen" -- with the insinuation that
Benny is assuredly going to fuck one or all of them -- rather than "shit" or
"bastard" -- seems most apt, in that it would seem to insinuate the girls as
whores.)

The girls seem appeased by the explanation that it is short for
"sfacimento"; from that it seems reasonable to suggest that "sfacim" has an
entirely separate meaning or connotation.

> There are many times in this chapter that Benny is connected to
> the inanimate.  He ìfigured at first that he was the disembodied object
> of a corporal work of mercyî [134.3] and, as above, wants to remain
> just that.  The music at the after-hours club are ìthe sounds inanimate
> calluses slapping inanimate goatskin, felt hitting metal, sticks
> knocking togetherî [135.34]  When he passed out drunk, the others
> carried him around ìall chanting, ëMierda.  Mierda.  Mierda.íî [136.8]

Yes, and I also like the theriomorphic trope Pynchon employs at 144.26, when
the "twinkling of switchblades, tire irons and filed-down garrison belt
buckles" sees the gang members suddenly possessed of "fangs, talons, tusks".

And the paragraph at 142.10 seems to illustrate Pynchon's concerns about the
generation of "myths" from "sewer stories"; I detect a certain
self-consciousness or reflexiveness here.

Thanks for your notes and comments. Plenty of food for thought and further
investigation, particularly on the Pentecostal and White Goddess
connections.

best