Review of Gravity's Rainbow, Domination, and Freedom

Kai Frederik Lorentzen lorentzen at hotmail.de
Tue Aug 19 06:30:21 CDT 2014


 > The ‘Freedom’ section is particularly innovative, focusing on the 
socio-political implications of the novel’s presentation of ‘tarot 
readings, astrological divinations, fantasist surrogacy, trance 
speaking, spirit possession, and out of body journeys’ (166). Herman and 
Weisenburger claim that these aspects embody three core features of 
Pynchon’s novel: ‘a persistent suggestion that models for 
intersubjective communication and solidarity may exist outside 
routinized channels [...] the very apersonality and non-intentionality 
of the divinatory process of non-Western societies might have something 
to teach first world people [and, finally] people might also learn from 
[...] acausal, nondeterminist, and recursive ways of knowing what it is 
right and just to do’ (166).<


Hm. Ain't this an exoticist projection? Although astrology has 
Babylonian roots and although the tarot probably came with the Gypsies, 
both have been for centuries part of the Western tradition. When some 
Afro-Caribbean and, later, Native American religions picked up the 
tarot, they took it from the West, not vice versa. And while "trance 
speaking" and "spirit possession" - where is that in Gravity's Rainbow? 
- can indeed be connected to "non-Western societies",  it must be said 
that these were, just like "out of body journeys", always known in 
Europa, too. From the historical witches to the Order of the Golden 
Dawn: Geli and "Mr. A.E. Waite" (p. 738) are certainly not members of 
"non-Western societies". Do we learn anything about the Herero culture's 
"non-intentionality of the divinatory process"? Can't remember, but it 
might be there. What I'm sure about is that, in Gravity's Rainbow (for 
Pynchon II the case might be a little different), spiritual techniques 
like those mentioned are neither in the first place non-Western (except 
for the I-Ching, p. 746), nor - and that's perhaps even more relevant 
for the concept of 'freedom' Herman and Weisenburger go for! -  
necessarily good, let alone that they teach "what is right". Actually 
these techniques are essentially interwoven into the deadly rocket 
gnosticism: It's the lift-off of the final rocket where most of the 
tarot (and kabbala) references can be found. "A-and if you don't think 
there are Marxist-Leninist magicians around, well /you/ better think 
/again/!" (p. 748). So not even the anti-religious furor of 
Marxism-Leninism makes it immune against the use of spiritual 
techniques, since they might prove valid by success. A similar logic is 
working at the White Visitation. The mingling of magical and 
polit-economical rationality becomes most obvious in the spooky seance 
scene - and here it is where we indeed have trance speaking and spirit 
possession! - where leading folks from IG Farben invoke the spirit of 
Walter Rathenau who then speaks from the Other Side: "'You are off on a 
winding and difficult road, which you conceive to be wide and straight, 
an Autobahn you can travel at your ease. Is it of any use for me to tell 
you that all you believe real is illusion? I don't know whether you'll 
listen, or ignore it. You only want to know about your path, your 
Autobahn./'All right, Mauve: that's in the pattern. The invention of 
mauve, the coming to your level of the color mauve. Are you listening, 
Generaldirektor?'/'I am listening, Herr Rathenau,' replies Smaragd of IG 
Farben./'Tyrian purple, alizarin and indigo, other coal-tar dyes are 
here, but the important one is mauve. (...) Then the discovery of 
Oneirine. Ask your man Wimpe. Look into the clinical effects of the 
drug. I don't know. (...) There is a link to the United States. A link 
to Russia. Why do you think von Maltzan and I saw the Rapallo treaty 
through? I was necessary to move to the east. Wimpe can tell you. Wimpe, 
the V-Mann, was always there. Why do you think we wanted Krupp to sell 
them agricultural machinery so badly? It was also part of the process. 
At the time I didn't understand it as clearly as I do now.'" (pp. 
165-166). This is not about freedom or humanism, is it? The 
non-scientific origin of the technique does not at all guarantee a 
non-corporatist output.  It's all business!


On 18.08.2014 18:11, Dave Monroe wrote:
> Thanks, Martin Eve!
>
> https://pynchon.net/owap/article/view/114
>
> http://www.ugapress.org/index.php/books/gravitys_rainbow_domination_and_freedom 



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