Robberds: New Historicist Creepers of Vineland

[jbor at bigpond.com]

Essay (pdf) by one-time p-lister, discusses _Vineland_ in the context 
of Foucault, New Historicism (Greenblatt's "cultural artefacts") and 
mathematical Group Theory:

'The New Historicist Creepers of _Vineland_' by Mark Robberds.
_Critique_ 36.4, 1995, pp. 237-248.

Excerpt:
"Although references to science and technology are not as overt in 
_Vineland_ as they are in Pynchon's other works, Joseph Slade has 
located a number of references to Galois's Group Theory in the text. 
Slade claims that the character of Weed Atman seems to be modeled 
closely on the historical Galois. Both are characterized as brilliant 
mathematicians who became involved in radical political organizations. 
Slade also points out that there are many passages about light in the 
novel that reveal the application of Group Theory to perception by the 
psychologist James Gibson. [...]" (241)

Robberds' discussion is well-constructed and worthwhile . Like most 
readers, he recognises the ambivalence/s at play in the text. He asks: 
"How clear-cut are Pynchon's politics in _Vineland_?" (243)

best