ATDDTA(10) A Screaming Comes Across The Creek [294-295]

[Ya Sam]

>
>Just imho,  Pynchon jokes *just a bit* too much about Finns.

Bekah, to tell the truth, his jokes are too much about every nationality 
(especially Americans!). Finns dance in skis, Japanese take photographs, 
Russians out of the blue start dancing kazachok, Brits keep saying 'oh dear' 
(not to mention the description of the full English breakfast), Belgians 
extoll the virtues of mayonnaise etc. Pynchon consciously uses these 
stereotypes and piles them one after another to make the reader aware of the 
narrow-mindedness of those taking these received ideas for granted. Your 
response is exactly he aims at eliciting: 'What, drunk Finns and in skis to 
boot, that's absolutely bad taste!' Yes, it is. And on purpose. I know that 
not all Finns are like this, so maybe not all Japanese make a point of 
photographing any incident that catches their attention while abroad and not 
all Brits guzzle down full breakfast with ecstatic gusto, and not all Tuva 
people practice throat singing. This strategy harks back to the stereotyping 
of the Columbian Exposition and it works just fine.

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