AtDTDA : 12 "My Native land is not a country" #2, 326

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

Again, consider the regional boundaries in this passage of Tesla's: 

          "My native land is not a country but an artifact of 
          Habsburg foreign policy, known as 'the Military 
          Frontier,' and to us as Granitza. The town was 
          very small, above the Adriatic coast in the 
          Velebit range, where certain places were better 
          than others for . . . what would you call them? 
          Visual experiences that might prove useful."

Pynchon's notions concerning regional/national boundaries are central to GR (the 
"Zone", after all. is a temporary region of Anarchy), M & D and AtD. And Trieste 
is an exemplar of that sort of stateless floating world:

          Trieste flourished as part of the Austro-Hungarian 
          Empire during the period 1867–1918 when it was 
          Central Europe's prosperous Mediterranean seaport 
          and a capital of literature and music. However, the 
          collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Trieste's 
          annexation to Italy after World War I led to a decline in 
          its economic and cultural importance.

          Today, Trieste is a border town.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trieste

Note that 'Granitza' means "boundary" in a number of Slavic languages.

http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATD_318-335

>From another on-line site concerning Trieste:

          The fall of the Roman Empire heralded a period 
          of great uncertainty. After a succession of 
          Barbarian invasions, the region passed through 
          the hands of the Goths, the Longobards, the 
          Byzantines and the French. The situation was 
          barely any better throughout the Middle Ages. 
          Violent battles for control over the Adriatic lead 
          to Trieste pledging allegiance to the Austro-
          Hungarian Empire, or rather to Duke Leopold 
          of Austria. 

          In 1382, an indissoluble bond was created between 
          Trieste and the Hapsburgs. It was a bittersweet 
          bond based on love and hate, respect and submission. 
          It was indeed the Austrians, towards whom many 
          people of Trieste still feel conflicting emotions, that 
          ordered the construction of the castle on San Giusto 
          hill, between 1470 and 1630. This castle has now 
          become one of the principle symbols of the city. 

          It was in accordance with the wishes of the Hapsburgs 
          (a huge international power) that Trieste was swiflty 
          transformed from a sleepy seaside village to a large 
          European port. With the exception of a few other 
          periods of foreign rule (Venetian, Spanish and finally 
          Napoleonic), Trieste remained subjugated by the 
          Hapsburgs until 1918. 

          Merchants, entrepreneurs and adventurers from all over 
          the world flocked to Trieste and the city was radically 
          restructured in the eighteenth century by the energetic 
          Empress Maria Teresa. By the end of the nineteenth 
          century the city numbered over one hundred and fifty 
          thousand inhabitants. Large insurance and shipping 
          companies began to appear and shipyards and factories 
          also opened their doors. 

          Trieste became an important port under Viennese control 
          and numerous economic and cultural initiatives were set up. 
          Thousands of people arrived here from Greece, Turkey and 
          other countries even further afield. This migration gave rise 
          to a multi-ethnic community unpararalled in the rest of 
          Europe. Numerous religions and corresponding places of 
          worship were welcomed to the area; many of these remain 
          standing to this day. Great writers such as Italo Svevo Scipio 
          Slataper, Rainer Maria Rilke and James Joyce lived here. 
          The city's streets are laiden with charm, charisma and mystery; 
          it is full of places of historical interest such as the ancient cafe 
          or bookshop owned by the poet and intellectual Umberto Saba. 

http://uk.holidaysguide.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-42485-trieste_history-i

Treiste is a frequent locale on our itinerary in Against the Day, and its 
presence in the book continues themes of territorial boundries, ownership.
slavery and religious difference found throughout Pynchon's writing.

This is purest conjecture on my behalf, but Pynchon's constant focus on
places named/not named, whole regions/countries taken over by outside 
interests, his siding with Anarchists even while knowing they're going to fail 
anyway---Pan's Labyrinth comes to mind, the notion of those "Other" 
spiritual forces siding with the Anarchists. Again, there's a line in Gaddis'
"The Recognitions" that comes to mind:

          As it has been, and apparently ever shall be, gods, 
          superseded, become the devils in the system which 
          supplants their reign, and stay on to make trouble for 
          their successors, available, as they are, to a few for 
          whom magic has not despaired, and been superseded 
          by religion. 102