VLVL2 (1) Missed Communications: Beginnings

[Michael Joseph]

Elaine, Not to be peevish, but I wasn't thinking that "rat" was a literary
invention. I certainly recall the term and that unenlightened pre-Beatles
era, which is conjured up by it. I am fine with the suggestion
that "rat" reveals Zoyd's own cerebrations, although I have a marginal
curiosity about why someone so echt post-Beatle would subconsciously
relate to retro ideals of femininity, although he is obviously aware of
the motorhead culture in which they passed. I also accept that Pynchon may
have preferred "rat" to the more common "tease" because it is more
colorful, more unusual, and more pleasurable to read. It reminds us of
itself, and of "tease." Compare Updike's use of "tease" in Couples
(1979) iv. 171 "Her hair bleached platinum and teased to a bouffant mass."
It does not remind us of "rat." It is more purely functional.

But, my point is that, as a less purely functional, more literary and
self-conscious term, rat may serve additional purposes, e.g. the ones I
proposed earlier. On what reasonable basis can we preclude this
possibility?


Michael


On Mon, 21 Jul 2003, Elainemmbell at aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 7/17/2003 12:01:20 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> mjoseph at rci.rutgers.edu writes:
>
> > To "rat" one's hair is
> > such an unusual term,
>
> actually, this is not an unusual term--it was a very common colloquialism in
> the early 60's and was a synonym for "teasing" or "back-combing", a
> hairdressing method used to create those big, poufy bouffant hairdos that were then in
> vogue.  I doubt that either "teasing" or  "rat" were literary inventions.
> Elaine M.M. Bell, Writer
> (860) 523-9225
>