M&D notes from chs. 7,8 fringe markets, eco edges

[Joseph Tracy]

M&D Ch 7 
OLD post(Bonk of the V.O.C.

 Entering the colony of Cape Town. New Lines. New rules.  A world taken by force and edged by terror. M&D Bonked awake to the limits and awake to the  watchful eyes of the patriarchal Dutch. The edge that rings Capetown is reminiscent of the lines of separation that are being drawn the measurements made, the earth itself weighed and sized and divided like an apple. 

      Alas the best laid plans of patriarchs and papas, so many things to keep an eye on- star watching strangers, that pesky  apple, that hunger to know and  Eve renamed Johanna of the hungry eye, the nubile daughters so hard to straighten, so impossible to rule. )

Well close to impossible ….

The most effective rule is the one embraced by the ruled and here in Capetown the rule is profit and the profit is in slaves. The sisters Vroom are slave traders expertly taught by the matriarch to arouse the interests of  a prospective high return on investment stud.
CH 8 notes
Dixon treats the africans and Maylay people with respect and hangs out at the edges of Capetown. Edges are important in P’s work, as are markets. 
The edges of an ecosystem is where the action and diversity is (between forest and meadow, jungle and mountain, ocean and land, fresh and salt water). Here is where the non-slave markets abound: music, food, consensual sex work, clothing, instruments, toys… pynchon contasts the singular omnipresent smell of mutton among the dutch to the diverse and savory cooking smells in this market area on the edge of Cape Town, rife with spices, fruit, wild game, vegetables, etc., monoculture vs polyculture.



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Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l