V.V. (8) Pynchon's Journalistic Journey 1 (Re: Problems ...

[jbor]

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>From: <lycidas2 at earthlink.net>
>
> the Watts essay 

In terms of "context" and where Pynchon's head was at during the early to
mid-60s it might be a good time to have another look at that Watts essay,
which was published in the _New York Times Magazine_ in July 1966

http://www.pynchon.pomona.edu/uncollected/watts.html

Along with the Slow Learner 'Intro' it is perhaps the most forthcoming of
all of Pynchon's published pieces in terms of his personal convictions. I
think that it forms a nice pair with 'The Secret Integration' (rather than
either _V._ or _Lot 49_) and have addressed it as such previously (in 1989),
however, I think it germane to consider it in relation to both of those
texts also. From the very first sentence to the last Pynchon's sympathies
with the plight of the residents of the Watts enclave are made clear. As
with 'TSI'

    the issue tackled is racism in the United States, however, here Pynchon
    relinquishes a literary mode in favour of standard journalistic
    reportage and commentary. The article deals with the negro community of
    Watts in Los Angeles just under a year after severe race ritoing in the
    neighbourhood. Pynchon begins the article dramatically, detailing the
    recent brutal shooting of a young negro by a Los Angeles policeman, then
    delineates the various attitudes of and measures adopted by the factions
    involved in the racial tension and turbulence of the community.

    Though the article is not structured as fiction, and Pynchon is not
    concerned with the perfection of technical aspects of the writing, nor
    with the resolution of the problem of a suitable narrative agency,
    Pynchon's absence as the active compiler of the information presented is
    striking. Passive grammatical constructions abound throughout the
    article, as in his fiction. As David Seed points out: "Intermittent
    details ... suggest that Pynchon is locating his point of view among the
    blacks; the coroner's verdict of accidental death comes 'to no-one's
    surprise'." (Seed, _Fictional Labyrinths_, 152)

    Pynchon's use of the "simple device of the pronoun 'you'", which Seed
    identifies as "the main polemical thrust of the article", is actually a
    rhetorical device which derives from Pynchon's need to objectify his
    subject matter when proffering generalised statements or 'examples':
    " ... how very often the cop does approach you with his revolver ready,
    so that nothing he does with it can then really be accidental ... how,
    especially at night, everything can suddenly reduce to a matter of
    reflexes: your life trembling in the crook of a cop's finger because it
    is dark." (p. 35)

    It is a 'Realist' strategy of narrative ambiguity which here masks what
    is essentially descriptive social commentary rather than journalism.
    However, as Seed again observes, the technique "draws the reader into
    the dramatic predicament of the blacks ... inviting the reader to
    participate ... in these experiences, so as to understand black
    frustration." (Seed 152-3) A fictive mode is here employed to sensitize
    the reader's perceptions: to effect a 'suspension of disbelief' or,
    rather, to achieve a bridge from the projected consciousness of a
    generalised "mind of Watts" into the reader's consciousness.

    However, Pynchon fails to modulate the tone of his writing, and the
    opinions and assertions offered in the piece often appear as unsupported
    and oratorical, patronising erudition rather than 'objective' reportage.
    He is unable to avoid a tendency towards excessive or misplaced
    'literariness' which detracts from the piece as socially-engaged
    journalism. For example, he describes Watts as being on the flight path
    into L.A. International Airport: "The jets hang what seems only a couple
    of hundred feet up in the air; through the smog they show up more white
    than silver, highlighted by the sun, hardly solid; only the ghosts or
    possibilities of airplanes." (p. 78) The realities of noise and smog are
    lost in the florid imagery. [ ... But the absolute unattainability of
    'flight', both literal and metaphoric, for the Watts residents *is*
    effectively alluded to by this passage ... ed.]

    There are also moments when Pynchon falls victim to journalistic
    doubletalk, or journalese: "But somehow nothing much has changed."
    (p. 35) And there are other instances where Pynchon's prose becomes
    blurred by bitterly emotive language or sensationalised generalities and
    stereotypes: "But in the white culture outside, in that creepy world
    full of pre-cardiac Mustang drivers who scream insults at one another
    only when the windows are up ... it is next to impossible to understand
    how Watts may truly feel about violence." (p. 84)

    Yet, despite Pynchon's inexperienced exploitation of the journalistic
    medium there is much that is forceful in 'A Journey Into the Mind of
    Watts'. Typical themes from Pynchon's fiction appear as bitter asides in
    the article: "While the white culture is concerned with various forms of
    systematized folly -- the economy of the area in fact depending on it --
    the black culture is stuck pretty much with the basic realities like
    disease, like failure, violence and death, which the whites have mostly
    chosen and can afford to ignore. The two cultures do not understand each
    other, though white values are displayed without let-up on black
    people's TV screens ... (p. 35, 78)

                                                        [cont.]

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I have another commitment now but would be happy to type the other pertinent
excerpts up later on if anyone is interested. Let me know ...

best