Pynchon's Badass

[Phil Wise]

I know what you mean; I'm not interested in being easy on fascists.

The term fascist is currently being used in New Zealand on occasion by a
Libertarian party to describe anyone interested in using the state to offer
health and education (both long-established norms here), by a left wing
party to describe the aforementioned libertarian party, by several parties
to describe a right wing party of neo-liberal economic purists with a
conservative social bent, by anti-free-trade protesters to describe the WTO
and World Bank, by people defending free trade to describe the anti-free
trade movement, by malcontents to describe the police, by everyone to
describe white power cells...

If you follow what I mean, to label someone you disagree with fascist has
become a banality, draining the term of much of its meaning and historical
context.  In the wake of the recent "is Blicero totally evil" debates
hereabouts, which I haven't formed an opinion on, it seemed prudent to try
to keep any discussion of his fascism within technical bounds for now.

I think Pynchon is able to make some political use of "fascist" because, for
me, anyhow, he lets us know what he means by it through his psychological
portrait of Brock Vond.  Without much care, "fascist" as a descriptor in a
political context can just be a name to call someone who appears to be
abusing their authority or stopping someone doing something.

I've got a two-year-old who is sick of me typing, so I'll post later with
some Vond/Theweleit specifics.

Phil
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Monroe" <davidmmonroe at yahoo.com>
To: <philwise at paradise.net.nz>
Cc: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2001 6:35 AM
Subject: Re: Pynchon's Badass


> Hmmmn (scratches, well, something) ...
>
> I now see why the "politically correct," perhaps even
> relativism, is conservative, ultimately serving the
> right rather than, as the conservatives claim it does,
> the left.  Even "fascist" (not to mention "Nazi") can
> be claimed to have been drained of any "pejorative"
> sense.  What, are we being too hard on the fascists?
> But I susepcted from that earlier post of yours, Phil,
> that you've read yr Theweleit.  Very good.  I'd be
> interested in an explication of that possible
> Theweleit-Pynchon-Vond connection.  Not that I
> disagree, just hadn't occured to me, and I've never
> reread Vineland, so ... so Wilkommen, is all ...
>
> --- Phil Wise <philwise at paradise.net.nz> wrote:
> > Hmmmn (scratches head)
>
> > I don't intend that fascist is used as a
> > pejoritive but rather as
> > descriptive, a tool to help understand him.
>
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