VLVL (13) p. 272 - "misoneism"

[Mark Kohut]

Pynchon's inherited thematic Calvinism, the religious belief that some of
us are predestined to be "saved"--the Elect--- and others of us are not, 
which is a pattern savaged/overturned in many of his fictions, as we have discussed, seems

perhaps to be mirrored in the real-life Lombroso, fictionally channeled by Brock Vond
since Lombroso felt he/we could tell--scientifically--- who was BAD/inferior by their pysiognomy
and therefore who was not. Good folk = the Elect. Others, NOT. 

Pynchon used Lombroso's work,  he seemed to find a secular, culturally sanctioned
embodiment of prejudging 'losers"....(I want to emphasize from reading "Typecasting" how accepted
as science Lombroso's ideas were in our then-world. Candlebrow U. loved his authority-mongering
work, so to speak.)
 
Seems to me that TRP put such into the character of Charming Bad Guy Vond in Vineland 
to carry his theme of Society against the individual further. If a pre-emptive condemnation is
not (proto)-fascist, a blow against "freedom", then I can not imagine what is.



----- Original Message ----
From: Richard Ryan <richardryannyc at yahoo.com>
To: Pynchon-L <pynchon-l at waste.org>; Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 3:17:49 PM
Subject: Re: VLVL (13) p. 272 - "misoneism"


That sounds intriguing Mark - but I'm not sure what to do with it.  Elaborate, please?

--- On Sat, 3/14/09, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: VLVL (13) p. 272 - "misoneism"
> To: richardryannyc at yahoo.com, "Pynchon-L" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Date: Saturday, March 14, 2009, 11:16 AM
> 
> I want to suggest that Brock's Lombrosian pre-emptive
> judgment is
> very like the Elect-Preterite "distinction. 
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: "richardryannyc at yahoo.com"
> <richardryannyc at yahoo.com>
> To: Pynchon-L <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 8:47:08 AM
> Subject: VLVL (13) p. 272 - "misoneism"
> 
> 
> "What really got [Brock's] attention was the Lombrosian
> concept of 'misoneism.'"
> 
> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misoneism
> 
> Main Entry: miso·ne·ism Listen to the pronunciation of
> misoneism
> Pronunciation: \ˌmi-sə-ˈnē-ˌi-zəm\ 
> Function: noun 
> Etymology:
>     Italian misoneismo, from Greek misein + neos new +
> Italian -ismo -ism — more at new 
> Date: 1886
> : a hatred, fear, or intolerance of innovation or change
> 
> See also:
> 
> http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/misoneism
> 
> [which cites its appearance in "Vineland" as the only
> exemplary use of this term....]
> 
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> 
> Quoth RR: In my (admittedly limited) web browsing for this
> term I have been unable to find more than a few passing
> examples of its use.  It's appearance on this page
> represents Pynchon at his most lexicographically obscure;
> one certainly understands why Brock would embrace this
> concept, but how likely would he be to use it?
> 
> 
> 
>