1984 Foreword: Internet and social control

[jbor]

on 4/7/03 8:48 PM, Otto at ottosell at yahoo.de wrote:

> Pynchon says a lot of potentially positive things about a world-wide-web
> in the Luddite-essay and he's warning of the negative possibilities too in
> the _1984_-Foreword.

This is quite correct. In the 'Luddite' essay (1984) he does focus on the
potential positive effects of the "data revolution". But there's the _Stone
Junction_ intro (1997), where he is also very critical of the intrusive use
of the Internet by the police, and about cyber-technology in general being
used for the purposes of "Control". In other words, there has been a
considerable shift in his attitude in the time between 1984 and the late
1990s, which isn't all that surprising.

I think that the main thing which concerns him about surveillance and
monitoring via communications networks is the invasion of personal privacy.
In this light it continues one of the prominent themes in _Lot 49_ about the
"official" mail systems being suspect, and to be avoided or sabotaged at all
costs. (Admittedly, _Lot 49_ mocks the whole conspiracy theorist clique. His
more recent rants about the Internet do indeed seem excessively paranoid and
cranky by comparison.)

In the _1984_ Foreword (2003) Pynchon's description of the Internet as a
"development which promises social control" on a massive scale repeats some
of the criticisms he makes in the _Stone Junction_ Intro, and it similarly
reiterates an observation he makes earlier in the essay that "surveillance
of ordinary citizens has entered the mainstream of police activity, [and]
reasonable search and seizure is a joke" (xvi). In fact, this is something
which Pynchon has been focused on since the 'Watts' article (1966). Privacy,
not politics, is the primary issue.
 
best