Pynchon and Dialect ( was NP Ebonics (was It ain't only Rock & Roll, it's Jazz too))

[davemarc]

From: David Morris <fqmorris at yahoo.com>
>
> My first post to this thread stated that those most adept at breaking the
rules
> are those who best know the rules.  "Ghetto-talk" has its rules, granted.
But
> they won't get you into college.  If one wants to teach black youths
> ghetto-talk-self-esteem it should only be in the context of rules of
standard
> grammer.  The rules of ghetto-talk are a luxury for those who know the
rules of
> Standard English.

As the links I posted should have made clear, the educators believe that
being honest and respectful regarding their students' "home languages"
should
help them learn standard grammar--or, as David put it, "grammer."

Let's say "grammer" was part of David's home language.  The "old school"
might insist that David was categorically wrong, no matter how many examples
David could cite from his home language.  In contrast, the "new school"
might inform David that the standard English spelling is "grammar" without
demeaning David's intelligence or that of his family, community, or culture.
What's so bad about that?  It's much more scholarly.

This discussion has reminded me of Pynchon's own respect and enthusiasm for
language as dialects.  So I'm glad to take this back on topic.

Note the Intro to Slow Learner, where Pynchon writes about the "exciting,
liberating, strongly positive" effect of seeing how "at least two very
distinct kinds of English could be allowed in fiction to coexist," citing
Kerouac and the Beat writers, the diction of Saul Bellow, and the voices of
Herbert Gold and Philip Roth.  "It was not a case of either/or, but an
expansion of possibilities."  Note Pynchon's early desire to show off his
"ear" as a dialect writer despite not yet appreciating "that in different
areas of this real or civilian South, even in different parts of Virginia,
people spoke in a wide number of quite different accents."

See "A Journey Into the Mind of Watts" for Pynchon's attempt to capture
authentic Watts speech and note how clear those expressions remain despite
the passage of decades.  Example:  "'Time was,' you'll hear, 'man used to go
right in, very mean, pick maybe one kid out of the crowd he figured was the
troublemaker, try to bust him down in front of everybody.  But now the
people start yelling back, how they don't want no more of that, all of a
sudden The Man gets very meek.'"  And don't miss this, from Pynchon himself:
"A Watts kid knows more of what goes on inside white heads than possibly
whites do themselves; knows how often the little man has looked at him and
thought, 'Bad credit risk'--or 'Poor learner,' [ed note: uh-huh, bigotry
about learning ability as well as an early relative of "slow learner"] or
'Sexual threat,' or 'Welfare chiseler'--without knowing a thing about him
personally."  Yet Pynchon also writes, "The two cultures do not understand
each other....Watts is country which lies, psychologically, uncounted miles
further than most whites seem at present willing to travel."  No surprise,
then,
that the two countries communicate in different dialects.

A-and hey:  Also note Pynchon's interest in capturing Valley speak, pachuco
dialect, and Japanese English in Vineland, and his frequent attempts to
simulate Yinglish throughout his oeuvre.

The original Subject Header references to Rock & Roll and Jazz hold up
vis-a-vis V., too.  Sphere's "sound was like nothing any of them had heard
before.  The usual divisions prevailed:  collegians did not dig, and left
after an average of 1-1/2 sets.  Personnel from other groups, either with a
night off or taking a long break from somewhere cross town or uptown,
listened hard, trying to dig.  'I am still thinking,' they would say if you
asked."

Maybe its easier to accept the legitimacy of linguistic dialects if they're
considered as analogous (but not identical) to the legitimacy of musical
dialects.  But, as we all know, the collegians sometimes do dig the
different--given enough time.  Who knows?  Maybe the Chinese government will
come around eventually to "Brown Sugar," too.

And--what the heck--check out how Pynchon notes dialect humor in his liner
notes
to Spiked! and how, in Mason & Dixon, his joking reference to Popeye (a
comic strip that was saturated with dialect) also echoes an African American
dialogue in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man (see below from p. 231, ancient
Signet).

d.

*

>From Invisible Man:

This is all very wild and childish, I thought, but to hell with being
ashamed of what you liked.  No more of that for me.  I am what I am!  I
wolfed down the yam and ran back to the old man and handed him twenty cents,
"Give me two more," I said.

"Sho, all you want, long as I got 'em.  I can see you a serious yam eater,
young fellow.  You eating them right away?"

"As soon as you give them to me," I said.

"You want 'em buttered?"

"Please."

"Sho, that way you can get the most out of 'em.  Yessuh," he said, handing
over the yams, "I can see you one of these old-fashioned yam eaters."

"They're my birthmark," I said.  "I yam what I am!"

"Then you must be from South Car'lina," he said with a grin.