M&D Deep Duck Read. Mock-epic

[Mark Kohut]

M & D is labelled mock-epic by many who label. From wikipedia:

"An epic is traditionally a genre of poetry, known as epic poetry.[1]
However in modern terms, epic is often extended to other art forms,
such as epic theatre, films, music, novels, plays, television shows,
and video games, [1] where in the story has a theme of grandeur and
heroism,[2] just as in epic poetry."

"By the time of Pope, however, the mock-heroic was giving ground to
narrative parody, and authors such as Fielding led the mock-heroic
novel into a more general novel of parody. Ironically, the ascension
of the novel drew a slow end to the age of the mock-heroic, which had
originated in Cervantes's novel. After Romanticism's flourishing,
mock-heroics like Byron's Don Juan were uncommon."

TRP has been likened to Fielding and accused, rightly, of 'narrative
parody' and a more general novel of parody.


if Romanticism killed the mock-heroic, then M & D is set in the end
times--or is another anachronism of its time--- of what came before
Romanticism: " Margaret Drabble described Romanticism in literature as
taking place "roughly between 1770 and 1848",[20] and few dates much
earlier than 1770 will be found. In English literature, M. H. Abrams
placed it between 1789, or 1798, this latter a very typical view, and
about 1830, perhaps a little later than some other critics.[21]"
--wikipedia on Romanticism.

The original of Barth's Sot-Weed Factor, another modern mock-heroic,
was written three generations earlier, for example. 1708.

TRP has done some trash-talking of Romanticism in AtD....so, is he
setting this in the period before
Romanticism or the Turning into It for thematic reasons? :

 The Enlightenment, a movement in Western history that came just
before romanticism, was itself a rebellious movement that developed
out of a prior period that emphasized ideas such as religion. In
addition, before this period, there was more weight given to
speculations about god and the natural order of things whereas with
the Enlightenment empiricism became one of the core ideas. During the
Enlightenment movement new rebellious ideas about the nature of man's
connection to the universe as well as the concept of the individual
with natural rights emerged. These were rebellious notions, especially
since before this time people viewed themselves as part of a hierarchy
based on many religious and social notions such as class. Science and
observation were at the forefront of this movement and many thinkers
of the time wished to know the truth through their own experience and
process of experimentation and hypothesis. This period in artistic
history was a rebellion against the old order because before many
people were content to believe in disprovable truths, such as the
nature of the heavens or of things such as weather or medical
phenomena. Although the Enlightenment sought to keep people rational,
this would not be enough for later rebellious movements such as
Romanticism, where people began to look behind facts and closer into
the individual experience.

lots of Mason & Dixon 'facts' of their work, etc. above (More to come on this)
-
Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l