ATDTDA: 19 what is time? [544/545]

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

We start this excursion into the mysteries of  
"La Mayonnaise" with a Proustian tangent:

          She was in pale violet peau de soie, and a hat so beguiling that Kit 
          was only momentarily suprised to find himself with an erection. It 
          was still early in the study of these matters, only a few brave 
          pioneers like the Baron von Krafft-Ebing had dared peep into 
          the strange and weirdly twilit country of hat-fetishism—not that 
          Kit noticed stuff like that ordinarily, but it happened to be a gray 
          toque of draped velvet, timmed with antique guipure, and a tall 
          ostrich plume dyed the same shade of violet as her dress. . . .

Going to "In Search of Lost Time:

          . . . .No less than of her limbs, Albertine was
          directly conscious of her toque of Leghorn straw and of the silken
          veil (which were for her the source of no less satisfaction), and
          derived from them, as we strolled round the church, a different sort
          of impetus, revealed by a contentment which was inert but in which I
          found a certain charm; veil and toque which were but a recent,
          adventitious part of my friend, but a part that was already dear to
          me, as I followed its trail with my eyes, past the cypress in the
          evening air. She herself could not see it, but guessed that the effect
          was pleasing, for she smiled at me, harmonising the poise of her head
          with the headgear that completed it. "I don't like it, it's restored,"
          she said to me, pointing to the church and remembering what Elstir had
          said to her about the priceless, inimitable beauty of old stone.
          Albertine could tell a restoration at a glance. . . .

Much more at:

http://tinyurl.com/3x4opp

          "How much do you know of La Mayonnaise?" she inquired.

          He shrugged, "Maybe up to the part that goes 'Aux armes, citoyens'—

That line translates: "To arms citizens Form your battalions".

          But she was frowning, earnest as he had seldom seen her. . . .

Let's pick up on those lyrics, shall we:

          Arise children of the fatherland
          The day of glory has arrived
          Against us tyranny's
          Bloody standard is raised
          Listen to the sound in the fields
          The howling of these fearsome soldiers
          They are coming into our midst
          To cut the throats of your sons and consorts

          To arms citizens Form your battalions
          March, march
          Let impure blood
          Water our furrows

          What do they want this horde of slaves
          Of traitors and conspiratorial kings?
          For whom these vile chains
          These long-prepared irons?
          Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage
          What methods must be taken?
          It is us they dare plan
          To return to the old slavery!. . . .

http://www.marseillaise.org/english/english.html

Slavery, particularly the Sadean aspect of slavery, is a Pynchonian constant. 

Back to Pléiade:

          "La Mayonnaise," Pléiade explained, " has its origins in 
          the moral squalor of the court of Louis XV—here in           
          Belgium the affinity should not be too suprising. The 
          courts of Leopold and Louis are not that different except 
          in time, and what is time?"

And who was Louis XV anyway?

          Louis XV was king of France from 1715 to 1774. He was 
          nicknamed 'the Well-Beloved', but his failures contributed 
          to the crisis that brought on the French Revolution.

The next king—Louis XVI, grandson of Louis XV—

          . . . .was king of France when the monarchy was overthrown 
          by the French Revolution. He was guillotined in 1793.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/louis_xv.shtml

Pynchon certainly has his way with La Marseillaise, it pops up in Vineland with 
the Marquis De Sod. The 'Sadean aspect' of that late-nite spot is also echoed in 
AtD:

          ". . . .the egg yolk perhaps regarded as a conscious entity—cooks 
          will speak of whipping, beating, binding, penetration, submission, 
          surrender. There is an undoubtly Sadean aspect to the mayonnaise, 
          no getting past that."

Oh yeah, Laura, thanks for your tasteful contributions 
to this discussion:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=W0mZ1azrzpc

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XP4hst9Ekc8

The Pynchon Wiki and the Chumps of Choice offer up a few points  
worth considering.

>From the Pynchon Wiki:

          cottonseed oil

          Mayonnaisse like Smegmo and Crisco is a hydrogenated fat; 
          cottonseed oil is a common factor to all three. Indeed, the 
          name Crisco derives from the intial sounds of "crystallized 
          cottonseed oil". Note in the next few pages a mention of 
          Candlebrow -- underscoring a tie-in between Mayonnaisse 
          and Smegmo.

          It may be of interest to note that hydrogenation may have a 
          symbolic use for Pynchon. The process entails bubbling 
          hydrogen through oil in the presence of a metal catalyst 
          such as nickel, platinum, aluminum at 248 to 410 degrees. 
          Remnants of these metals stay in the finished product, and 
          when consumed can lead to an increase in heavy metals 
          in the human body.

          Eating hydrogenated oils is like eating plastic. The body does not 
          recognize that these molecules have been mutated and tries to 
          use them as essential fatty acids. But they cannot perform the 
          same function, and as a result hydrogenated oils can cause short 
          circuits in the electrical flow that controls the heartbeat, nerve 
          functions, cell division and mental balance. They also create free 
          radicals (anarchists!) that are linked to cancers. Free radicals plus 
          metal remnants are a major contributor to cancer, heart disease, 
          immune system dysfunction, osteoporosis, depression, chronic 
          fatigue, Alzheimers, and neurological diseases. It is estimated 
          that over 200 million people have died prematurely because of the 
          hydrogenated oils found in our diets.  Not to mention innocent 
          bystanders killed by mentally imbalanced people whose imbalance 
          may stem from the ingestion of hydrogenated oils -- there may be 
          some underlying reality to the "Twinkie defense."

http://tinyurl.com/2kycjr

>From the CoC blog:

          Kit runs into Pleiade again at a a cafe where she tells him the 
          cultural history of Mayonnaise (which starts with a great "La 
          Marseillaise" joke by Kit, page 544:32), and then makes a 
          tryst with him for that evening at the Mayonnaise Works on 
          the edge of town. It turns out to be a set-up for Kit's Murder 
          by Mayonnaise, but in a "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory" 
          scene Kit narrowly escapes from drowning by kicking out a 
          window and being pushed by the force of the mayonnaise into 
          a canal below, where he is rescued by Rocco and Pino who 
          happen to be test-driving their torpedo. End of section.


          At Thursday, May 10, 2007 5:37:00 AM, Will Divide said:

          . . . .The view into the human-less machinery which renders 
          eggs into mayonnaise seen on pg 546 can be read as a nifty 
          metaphor regarding the inhumane process of mechanized 
          Capital -- the crushing of all life potential (eggs, Italian, no 
          less!) into an oily, bland mass. Seeing it up close sends Kit 
          into a panic.

http://tinyurl.com/26jnxf