Pynchon on Marx

[Mike Weaver]

Hi Cormac,
Why don't you search www.marxists.org/archive/marx/

Interesting that a search only produces one mention of 'overseas 
markets' and a couple of 'overseas market'. There are plenty more for 
'colonies' but I'll leave that to you to explore.
cheers
Mike

On 19/03/2026 11:01, Corbeau Castrum via Pynchon-l wrote:
> Hello folks,
>
> In Gravity's Rainbow, there's this famous passage which marks one of Pynchon's very few references to Marx:
>
> "What’s a colony without its dusky natives? Where’s the fun if they’re all going to die off? Just a big hunk of desert, no more maids, no field-hands, no laborers for the construction or the mining—wait, wait a minute there, yes it’s Karl Marx, that sly old racist skipping away with his teeth together and his eyebrows up trying to make believe it’s nothing but Cheap Labor and Overseas Markets. . . . Oh, no. Colonies are much, much more. Colonies are the outhouses of the European soul, where a fellow can let his pants down and relax, enjoy the smell of his own shit" (321-22).
>
> I remember listening to a Pynchon podcast where the guest for that episode found a particular essay/article by Marx that Pynchon must have been referring to, but I can't for the life of me remember or find which podcast it was. Does anyone know what specific writing by Marx Pynchon is referencing in particular?
>
> Thanks much,
> Cormac
> --
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