AtD translation: the honor of the Verbindung

[David Morris]

Here, “wishing to maintain the honor” would mean (despite NOT wanting *in
reality* to be overly violent, and especially NOT wanting to  kill)
**aiming instead of real violence** to “leave a [symbolic or ceremonial]
mark.”  Presumably a scar.  “so that a man may then bear for all to see
evidence of his personal bravery.”

But there are two points of irony in this symbolic display of a duel:

1.  Presumably the “winner” of such a duel would walk away without a wound,
and thus have no mark to display his/her personal bravery.  Do both actors,
then, agree to give the other a mark, so that both can walk away with
honor’s badge?  Is there even a “winner” in such a duel?

2.  The concepts of “honor” and “bravery,” having been devalued by the
formulation of a dance without real danger, are clearly meant as a contrast
to the barbaric and lethal version practiced in America. Which version is
better?

David Morris


On Thu, Jul 22, 2021 at 10:47 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> P600.1-7   “In fact,” said Kit, “I was thinking more along the lines of,
> maybe, pistols? I happen to have a couple of Colt six-shooters we can
> use—though as for ‘matched,’ well . . .”
>        “Pistols! Oh, no, no, impulsive, violent Mr. Traverse—here we do not
> duel to kill, no! though of course wishing to maintain the honor of the
> Verbindung, one’s deeper intent is, upon the face of the other, to inscribe
> one’s mark, so that a man may then bear for all to see evidence of his
> personal bravery.”
>
> The wiki says here "Verbindung" means the student corps one belongs to. I
> feel it rather refers to the bond between the two dueling parties, since
> leaving one's mark actually bestows a kind of honor on the opponent. Does
> this make any sense?
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>