SLSL "TSR" frogs = death?

[jbor]

on 4/12/02 7:51 PM, Otto at ottosell at yahoo.de wrote:

> Intertextuality:
> I think it's impossible to use a choir of frogs in literature without
> automatically pointing out/alluding to the Aristophanes-play.

It's a realistic story set in a swamp after a hurricane. Isn't it more
likely that they're actual frogs? Pynchon makes no mention of the play in
his 'Intro' even though he refers explicitly to the sex scene and the "too
fancy to read" language it is framed in (5-6). And he's already sourced the
"literary" intertexts he used for the story.

I think that there's a difference between a conscious allusion made by an
author and a reader making a connection, though these are both aspects of
"intertextuality". You seem to be saying that any connection a reader makes
is "automatically" an allusion made by the author. I disagree with this, but
I'd be interested to hear your argument.

best


> But note that
> there it's a choir of frog-ghosts (dead ones, not living creatures trying to
> attract females, the purpose of their croaking is altered) down at Hades.