Pataphysics?

[Roman Kudryashov]

I dont know if this has been brought up yet, but does anyone think the idea
of pataphysics and pataphors applies to Pynchon's work?


"*Pataphysics*, a term coined by
French<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France>writer Alfred
> Jarry <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Jarry> (1873 – 1907), is a
> philosophy <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy> dedicated to studying
> what lies beyond the realm of metaphysics<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics>.
> It is a parody <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parody> of the theory<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory>and methods of modern science and is often expressed in
> nonsensical <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonsense> language<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language>
> ."
>
> "The *pataphor* (Spanish <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language>:
> *patáfora*, French <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language>: *
> pataphore*), is a term coined by writer and musician Pablo Lopez ("Paul
> Avion" <http://www.paulavion.com/pata.html>), for an unusually extended
> metaphor based on Alfred Jarry's "science" of 'pataphysics. As Jarry claimed
> that 'pataphysics existed "as far from metaphysics as metaphysics extends
> from regular reality," a pataphor attempts to create a figure of speech that
> exists as far from metaphor <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor> as
> metaphor exists from non-figurative<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-figurative>language. Whereas a metaphor is the comparison of a real object or event
> with a seemingly unrelated subject in order to emphasize the similarities
> between the two, the pataphor uses the newly created metaphorical similarity
> as a reality with which to base itself. In going beyond mere ornamentation
> of the original idea, the pataphor seeks to describe a new and separate
> world, in which an idea or aspect has taken on a life of its own. [1]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pataphysics#_note-0>
> [2] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pataphysics#_note-1>
>
> Like 'pataphysics itself, pataphors essentially describe two degrees of
> separation from reality (rather than merely one degree of separation, which
> is the world of metaphors and metaphysics). The pataphor may also be said to
> function as a critical tool, describing the world of "assumptions based on
> assumptions," such as belief systems or rhetoric run amok. The following is
> an example.
>
> Non-figurative
> Tom and Alice stood side by side in the lunch line.
>
> Metaphor
> Tom and Alice stood side by side in the lunch line, two pieces on a
> chessboard.
>
> Pataphor
> Tom took a step closer to Alice and made a date for Friday night,
> checkmating. Rudy was furious at losing to Margaret so easily and dumped the
> board on the rose-colored quilt, stomping downstairs.
>
> (The pataphor has created a world where the chessboard exists, including
> the characters who live in that world, entirely abandoning the original
> context.)[3] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pataphysics#_note-2>"
>

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pataphysics
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