VLVL(7) Vocabulary

[Toby G Levy]

I found more cool and esoteric words to look up in Michael's first 
commentary on Chapter 7 than in the text.

But first, from the text, in the text:

"belvedere" (p92)  defined as "a structure, such as a summerhouse or
an open, roofed gallery, situated so as to command a fine view."

"bougainvillea" (p92) defined as "any of several woody tropical American
vines
having inconspicuous flowers surrounded by showy red, purple or orange
bracts."

"ventunesimo" (p93) not in my dictionary but from the context clearly
meaning
twenty-one in Italian.  Is there any Italian  or Italian-American
tradition for having a special party for a son when he turns 21? An
Italian bar-mitzvah???

"tournedos" (p94) defined as "a fillet of beef cut from the tenderloin,
often bound in bacon or suet for cooking."

"quotidian" (p94) I think Pynchon has used this word before.  I vaguely
remember looking it up while reading either GR or M&D (or maybe both!)
The word simply means "everyday, commonplace."

"deuteragonist" (p95) defined as "The actor taking the part of second
importance in a classical Greek drama" and "a person who serves as a
foil to another."

"napery" (p95) "household linen"

"kunoichi" (p104) "female ninja"

"gunsel" (p105) "gunman"

OK, now let's turn to Michael's commentary of 8 October.

"palazzo" Italian for palace

"trope" figure of speech


"dialectic"  defined as "the art of arriving at the truth by disclosing
the contradictions in an opponent's argument and overcoming them."

"simulacrum" an image or representation of something


"syntactically" not in my dictionary, but evidently having to do with
syntactics, the branch of semiotics that deals with the formal
properties of signs and symbols.  (Semiotics is a fancier version of the
word Semantics, the study of meaning in language.)

"mimetically" -- imitative / "mimesis" -- imitation of nature in art
or literature.

"redolent" pleasantly odorous

"conjoined" united (how does this differ from just plain joined?)

"eclogue" a pastoral poem

"deconstruct" from Deconstruction, defined as "A philosophical theory of
criticism (usually of literature or film) that seeks to expose
deep-seated contradictions in a work by delving below its surface
meaning. This method questions the ability of language to represent a
fixed reality, and proposes that a text has no stable meaning because
words only refer to other words, that metaphysical or ethnocentric
assumptions about the meaning of words must be questioned, and words may
be redefined in new contexts and new, equally valid and even
contradictory meanings may be found. Such new interpretations may be
based on the philosophical, political, or social implications of the
words of a text, rather than solely on attempts to determine the
author's intentions.`"

"reactualize" - not in my dictionary, but having to do with actualize,
which means "bring into existence"

"epithalamium" a lyric ode in honor of a bride or bridegroom.

"valorizing" The only dictionary definition I have doesn't make sense
in the context of Michael's commentary ("reaffirms the marriage of Zoyd
and Frenesi--if not the fact, in principle: as a creative mimesis, a
valorizing imitation of nature.")  The dictionary defines Valorize as
"to establish and maintain the price of a commodity by governmental
action"

Toby


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