VLVL2 and NPPF: Cultural Elitism

[Otto]

The Tube is the "other world" that's intruding our world in "Vineland." A
pre-fabricated "mock reality" begins to influence the reality whose mere
reflection it pretends to be.

"(...) what a character in "The Crying of Lot 49" calls 'another world's
intrusion into this one' (88, [Picador 83]), that Pynchon has made his
subject. One cannot oversimplify Pynchon's only story: it is the oldest
fairytale of all."
(Douglas Fowler: "A Reader's Guide to Gravity's Rainbow," Ann Arbor,
Michigan, 1980, p. 11)

If you're clearly no cultural elitist like Zoyd you begin to say things
like the following and expect the other to understand what you mean:

"It's like Mr Sulu laying in coordinates, only different."

I pretty much agree to Isaiah 2:4 on p. 373.

Otto

----- Original Message -----
From: Tim Strzechowski
To: Pynchon-L
Sent: Sunday, July 20, 2003 3:51 PM
Subject: Re: VLVL2 and NPPF: Cultural Elitism


Game shows ...

TV sitcoms ...

Films ...

Pynchon-invented made-for-TV movies ...


Since all can be viewed on the Tube, what are the metephoric patterns that
each one serves in the narrative?


In Vineland, the repetition of TV sitcoms and pop culture references serves
a converse purpose: while readers of Vineland may find the references mildly
amusing and nostalgic, Pynchon is nevertheless establishing a system of
metaphor (e.g. the "game show" motif) that will reflect the moral
complexities and ambiguities of many of the novel's characters.  In essence,
what seems to the casual reader a passing reference to some element of pop
culture becomes, later in the novel, an ever-growing network of symbol and
metaphor (cf. Paul N's and Michael J's thread discussing mythology) that
will vibrate throughout the work.