VLVL (13) p. 272 - "misoneism"

[Kevin Dunn]

Just came across "Dr. Lombroso" on page 172 of AtD:

"Many quoted Dr. Lombroso's observation about how lowland folks tended  
to be placid and law-abiding while mountain country bred  
revolutionaries and outlaws. That was over in Italy, of course."

Interesting this thread would go up on the day I happened to peruse a  
particularly related  chapter... Synchronicity, anyone?

Kevin

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 14, 2009, at 3:46 PM, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com> wrote:

>
> 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?
>>
>>
>>
>>
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