Melville and Pynchon

[Alex Anderson]

I am hoping to write, for my senior seminar, a paper outlining the
influences Moby-Dick has had on the postmodern novel, especially
structurally.  I was considering doing a parallel reading of Melville's text
alongside a text written by an exemplary postmodern author and, naturally,
Pynchon comes to mind.  I know that my parameters are quite broad, but if
anyone could point me to any examples that they see in Pynchon's works that
parallel, directly or indirectly, Moby-Dick, I would greatly appreciate it.
I've considered using Mason & Dixon, as the travel narrative and chapter
arrangement seem to suggest some influences, but I think it would be quite
difficult to argue for the influence of a novel written after the fictional
timeframe of Pynchon's.  But I am certainly open to any suggestions or
comments.  Thanks.

-Alex-
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20060327/28f287fe/attachment.html>