COL 49 CH5 notes

[Mark Kohut]

Yes, Freudian psychology took over the middle class, the high middle class
in America in the 50s.

It itself is a form of social control by its narrow Freudian mind set. It's
societal belief system....

Remember TRP gave the OED the first printed use of 'shrink" and

I think Dr. Hilarious is Pynchon's self-named joke on the pervasiveness of
Freudian 'treatment' to do what it was
purported to do....THAT is a joke, he sez....

On Sat, Jun 29, 2024 at 9:54 AM Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net> wrote:

>
> >
> > Hilarius is another layer of the culture of the time, in this case with
> a hidden ‘face’ . Freudian psychiatry was a new secular religion among the
> middle and upper classes with a promise of liberation from past traumas,
> from false social constraints, bad relationships, and anything blocking
> personal ‘fulfillment’.  It was also of high interest to those wanting to
> go further with Edward Bernays’s work in mass psychology to shape desired
> social attitudes, and had entered very dark terrain in the mind-control
> work of Sydney Gottlieb and MK Ultra.  Pynchon has been interpreted as a
> Freudian  but in Hilarius  he is pointing toward the potentials for abuse
> reminiscent of similar themes in GR.  Oddly Bernays went( much earlier) to
> the same high school and college as Pynchon. When OM seeks his help sorting
> out real from unreal, the old nazi has gone batshit crazy and she gets him
> into the hands of the police. One more layer discarded.
> >
> One more layer discarded. OM is clearly perceptive,  intelligent,
> competent enough in basic physics to smell bullshit when that is what is
> being sold, has an instinct for an important line of inquiry and where
> evidence is pointing, a journalistic willingness to seek out witnesses,
> and  remains logical and meta-cognitively  deliberative despite the very
> startling evidence of her direct experience  with WASTE,  and finally more
> psychologically stable and willing to question herself than the supposed
> expert. She handles fear, the crazed arguments of Hilarius, the
> questionable competence and procedural delays of the police with a steady
> courage, perception and skill.  What? Pynchon asks, is the standard of
> sanity in a society engaged in MK ultra mind control experiments
> reminiscent of Nazi German?
>
>
>
>
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>