Herero

[Eric Rosenbloom]

jbor wrote:
> 
> >From: Eric Rosenbloom <ericr at sadlier.com>
> > The Herero it seems are for Pynchon a model of what we all must come to
> > terms with, the hateful legacy upon which our present-day lives are built.
> 
> Surely there is a distinction being made between "the west and non-west",
> between Christianity "valuing analysis and differentiation" and the tribal
> cosmology with its "unified concept of creation" where human, animal and
> nature's "soul" are one. I think Pynchon's letter to Hirsch conclusively
> illustrates that Pynchon wasn't simply endorsing such a glib platitude in
> his research into and representation of the disintegration of Herero society
> and culture in _GR_:

Christianity is a young religion in northern Europe. As Anglo-Saxons
prepare their souls for Easter, e.g., their own submission to the kings
who sold their mother (Eostre) to Rome might provide some uncomfortable
background noise. And the Nazis were after something pre-Christian in
their one-folk dream. Or as the Herero assimilate into German culture,
their experience is not especially different than immigrants the world
over -- the "old country" must be given up.

Although Pynchon uses the Christian-West/non-Christian-east duality in
his letter, his fiction is a lot more complicated. The West is nominally
Christian but you could hardly call a belief in transubstantiation or
parthenogenesis an example of "linear" and "analytical" thinking.
Christianity in the West is part of a much more complex arrangement in
the imperial program. In Gravity's Rainbow, Lyle Bland, for example, the
paragon of American industry, is affected by Freemason magic and
willfully leaves his body forever. And Pynchon makes it pretty clear
that Christianity has tended to be used to favor the Elect (who are
Elect not because they are more like Jesus but because they can pay the
membership fees).

To expand on the glib platitude, then: For the Preterite the world over,
the choice forced on the Herero, to adapt or die, is pretty much what
every working day entails.

--
Eric R



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