MDDM Christ & History

[Otto]

No Christ at all in this textpiece, but a lot on American history:

"Facts are but the Play-things of lawyers,-- Tops and Hoops, forever
a-spin... Alas, the Historian may indulge no such idle Rotating. History is
not Chronology, for that is left to lawyers, -- nor is it Remembrance, for
Remembrance belongs to the People. History can as little pretend to the
Veracity of the one, as claim the Power of the other,-- her Practitioners,
to survive, must soon learn the arts of the quidnunc, spy, and Taproom
Wit,-- that there may ever continue more than one life-line back into a Past
we risk, each day, losing our forebears in forever,-- not a Chain of single
Links, for one broken Link could lose us All,-- rather, a great disorderly
Tangle of Lines, long and short, weak and strong, vanishing into the
Mnemonick Deep, with only their Destination in common." (349)

Sam Moyer:
"Here Cherrycoke asserts that history is not truth or one official account
of events past, but rather a collection, a story, a perception of events,
gossip, and such, combining multiple views to arrive at a disorderly tangle
of stories creating a common past. Historical Method for Cherrycoke is then
that of collecting gossip, spying, and then entertaining?
(...)
The name of this piece is "Christ and History."  The historical Christ (that
of the bible? - but then wasn't Paul a lawyer?) is what? a collection of
recollections... gospels and letters... not so much a true, or factual,
account of Christ."

Good remark ("wasn't Paul a lawyer?") on the apostle, should alert us about
the "facts" that the Bible and history books tell us. This is what Andreas
Freitag has to say:

"Die traditionelle amerikanische Geschichtschreibung beschreibt die American
Revolution als "a Chain of Single Links" und hält damit den Mythos aufrecht,
der die Ideologie der Manifest Destiny stützt. "Mason & Dixon" zerschlägt
diese Kette, nimmt die einzelnen Glieder auf, stellt sie in einen neuen
Zusammenhang und schafft damit einen neuen "Tangle of Lines". Im Zuge dieser
Umwertung wird Amerikas Sonderstellung als "object of hope that Miracles
might yet occur, that God might yet return to Human affairs, that all the
wistful Fictions necessary to the childhood of a species might yet come
true,...a third Testament" (M&D, S. 353) in Frage gestellt."
(" We hold these truths to be self-evident... "  Andreas Freitag: Die
Umwertung der Amerikanischen Revolution in Thomas Pynchons Mason & Dixon)

translation:
"The traditional American history describes the American Revolution as "a
Chain of Single Links" and maintains the myth that supports the ideology of
the Manifest Destiny. "M&D" destroys this chain, takes up the single links
and puts them into a new context, thus creating a new "Tangle of Lines". In
the course of this revaluation America's special position as "object of hope
that Miracles might yet occur, that God might yet return to Human affairs,
that all the wistful Fictions necessary to the childhood of a species might
yet come true,...a third Testament" (M&D, S. 353) is questioned."


Manifest Destiny, the Philosophy that Created a Nation
"American history was built on a chronological record of significant events,
each event having a cause and subsequent effect on another event. Historical
events are presented in history as being tangible, being tied to a date, or
an exact happening. Manifest Destiny on the other hand, is a phenomenon. It
can not be tied to a date, event or even a specific period of time. Manifest
Destiny existed and still exists as the philosophy that embraces American
history as a whole. Manifest Destiny is an intangible ideology that created
American history. In its simplest form, Manifest Destiny can be defined as,
"A Movement." More specifically, it would be the systematic body of concepts
and beliefs that powered American life and American culture.
(...)
.... the right of our manifest destiny to over spread and to possess the
whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of
the great experiment of liberty and federaltive development of self
government entrusted to us. It is right such as that of the tree to the
space of air and the earth suitable for the full expansion of its principle
and destiny of growth."
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/E/manifest/manif1.htm

This is what is being questioned, rejected by Pynchon in "Mason & Dixon,"
offering the reader the information of how this ideology of "spread &
possess" inevitably was based upon slavery and genocide. Ives LeSpark knows
this and therefor insists on a single version of truth that leaves no room
for a critical reading of American history (350.21-27).

Otto