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! ! ! ! ! TITLES!AND!TOPOI! ! Narrative(Structure(and( Organizational(Devices(in(the(Work( (of(Thomas(Pynchon( ( Xavier!Marcó!del!Pont! ! ! ! PhD!! Department!of!English! Royal!Holloway!University!of!London! ! 2013! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! i! Declaration(of(Authorship( ! ! ! I,!Xavier!Marcó!del!Pont,!hereby!declare!that!this!thesis!and!the!work!presented!in! it! is! entirely! my! own.! Where! I! have! consulted! the! worK! of! others! this! is! always! clearly!stated.! ! ! ! ! Signed:!! ! ! ! ! Date:! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ii! Abstract( ! ! ! ! ! This! thesis! will! extend! the! critical! supposition! common! in! studies! of! Thomas! Pynchon! that! the! author’s! novels! bear! a! direct! structural! correlation! to! their! respective! titles.! TaKing! as! a! starting! point! Samuel! Cohen’s! analysis! of! the! importance!of!the!ampersand!in!Mason(&(Dixon!(1997),!Joseph!W.!Slade!and!Tony! Tanner’s! parabolic! models! for! Gravity's( Rainbow! (1973),! and! Harold! Bloom’s! observations!on!the!VZshape!in!V.!(1963),!I!intend!to!apply!an!analogous!logic!to! The(Crying(of(Lot(49!(1966),!Vineland!(1990),!Against(the(Day!(2006)!and!Inherent( Vice!(2009),!proceeding!chronologically!across!Pynchon's!entire!novelistic!oeuvre.! With!the!exception!of!Cohen,!who!maKes!Mason(&(Dixon’s!titular!ampersand!the! crux!of!his!reading!of!the!novel,!critics!have!simply!gestured!towards!a!connection! between! Pynchon’s! titles! and! possible! visuoZgeometrical! narrative! structures,! without! delving! into! the! broader! implications! of! this! approach! or! basing! their! readings!of!the!novels!on!this!tituloZstructural!correspondence.!Recuperating!this! notion,! this! study! will! extract! it! from! the! realm! of! the! passing! remarK! and! the! interesting!observation,!both!analyzing!it!and!proposing!it!as!a!form!of!analysis!in! itself.!By!attending!to!the!formal!relationship!between!titles!and!topoi!in!Pynchon’s! novels,!not!only!will!this!thesis!offer!new!interpretations!of!this!canonical!author’s! body! of! worK,! but! it! will! also! heed! to! the! thematic! specificity! of! each! individual! text,!encompassing!the!multiplicity!of!Pynchon’s!expansive!fictions.!This!study!will! be!the!first!to!attempt!a!systematic,!coherent!analysis!of!the!interrelation!between! the!structuring!devices!of!Pynchon’s!novels!and!their!titles.!In!this!way,!this!thesis! constitutes!a!unique!contribution!to!Pynchon!scholarship!and,!more!broadly,!the! field!of!American!Studies.! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! iii! ! Contents' ! ' ! Acknowledgements' v!! Dedication' vii! Abbreviations' viii! ' ! Introduction! 1! ! ! 1.!The!Early!Novels!I:!V.’s!Chevron!! 20! ! ! 2.!The!Early!Novels!II:!Gravity’s'Rainbow’s!Parabola! 45! ! ! 3.!Oedipa,!the!Oracle,!and!the!Riddle:!Lost!in!the!Semiopolis!of!The' ! Crying'of'Lot'49!! 71! ! ! 4.!Zoyd!in!TVILand,!or,!Through!the!Television!Screen!and! ! What!Prairie!Found!There:!Vineland’s!Tendrillous!Vines!! 100! ! ! 5.! The! Shortest! Distance! from! Here! to! There:! Tangled! Knots! and! ! Straight!Lines!in!Mason'&'Dixon!! 133! ! ! 6.! Damnable! Stillness:! An! Anatomy! of! CounterIPhotography! in! ! Against'the'Day!! 158! ! ! 7.!‘This!little!parenthesis!of!light,!might!close!after!all’:!The!End!of! ! the!Era!in!Inherent'Vice!! 187! ! ! Epilogue.!At!the!Bleeding!Edge!of!Narrative!! 217! ! ! Works'Consulted!! 221! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! iv! ! Acknowledgements! ! ! ! !! More!people!than!I!could!possibly!mention!in!the!so6called!acknowledgements!page! of! this! thesis! have! helped! make! the! completion! of! this! project! possible.! In! the! course!of!my!doctoral!studies!I!have!relied!on!the!help!and!support,!academic!and! otherwise,!of!a!number!of!people!large!enough!to!populate!an!imaginary!novel!by! Thomas! Pynchon.! I! first! stumbled! my! way! through! the! pages! of! Pynchon’s! ‘gateway! novel’!The1Crying1of1Lot149! on! a! Shimla6bound! train! from! New! Delhi.! A! year! later! –having! reread! it! a! number! of! times–! I! first! discussed! it! within! the! context!of!a!Master’s!course!with!Robert!Eaglestone,!to!whom!I!am!grateful.!I!also! wish!to!thank!Alejandro!Marquínez,!Martina!Canessa,!and!Steve!Morrison,!who!at! different!points!in!my!life!encouraged!me!to!pursue!my!interest!in!literature.! As!a!PhD!candidate!I!met!and!befriended!a!number!of!my!contemporaries,! among! them! Deborah! Lilley,! Daniel! O’Gorman,! Emilia! Borowska,! Matthew! Sangster,! and! Jonathan! Buckmaster! at! Royal! Holloway,! and! Zara! Dinnen,! Tony! Venezia,!Bianca!Legget,!and!Halvard!Haug!at!Birkbeck,!all!of!whom!have!proven!to! be!outstanding!conversationalists!and!avid!coffee!drinkers.!The!list!would!not!be! complete! without! my! contemporaries! in! the! field! of! Pynchon! studies:! Nina! Engelhardt,!Yorgos!Maragos,!Jesse!Sherwood,!Joanna!Freer,!Richard!Moss,!Matthias! Mosch,! Martin! Eve,! Ali! Chetwynd,! and! Simon! de! Bourcier.! I! am! grateful! to! Zofia! Kolbuszewska,!Andrzej!Antoszek,!Tomasz!Basiuk,!and!Pawel!Frelik,!organizers!of! International!Pynchon!Week!2010!in!Lublin,!Poland,!as!I!am!to!Samuel!Thomas!and! Martin!Eve,!organizers!of!International!Pynchon!Week!2013!in!Durham,!England.! No!one!I!have!ever!met!at!these!academic!reunions!has!been!any!less!than!kind!and! generous.!I!also!wish!to!thank!my!secondary!supervisor!Doug!Cowie!and!the!entire! Department!of!English!at!Royal!Holloway.!Needless!to!say,!my!greatest!debt!is!to! my! supervisor! Tim! Armstrong,! without! whose! unyielding! support,! invaluable! advice,! keen! eye,! kind! words,! and! indefatigable! spirit! I! would! not! have! written! more!than!a!few!pages.!Tim!(you!will!no!doubt!cringe!at!the!adjectival!profusion!of! the!previous!sentence),!thank!you.!For!the!strengths!of!this!thesis!I!owe!a!debt!of! gratitude!to!a!vast!number!of!people,!many!of!whom!I!have!mentioned!above;!its! weaknesses,!on!the!other!hand,!are!all!my!own.!! v!! On! a! personal! level,! my! friends! from! the! world! outside! of! academia! have! always!known!how!to!keep!me!grounded!and!put!a!smile!on!my!face,!even!after!I! coerced! some! of! them! to! read! Pynchon’s! novels:! Greg,! Mark,! Nathan,! Emma,! Rosheen,!Daniel,!Leo,!Katerina,!Adam,!Pablo,!Alejandro,!and!–!last!but!certainly!not! least! –! Ignacio.! I! also! wish! to! extend! my! gratitude! to! the! Sutherland6Seu! and! Lemoine6Gorgas!families,!who!have!always!treated!me!as!one!of!their!own.!!! ! I!must!also!thank!Camilla!Sutherland!for!her!unending!support!and!for!the! many!weeks!and!copious!amounts!of!sunlight!she!forewent!when!I!needed!advice,! help,!or!simply!a!hug.!Lastly,!I!cannot!thank!my!family!enough!for!their!love!and! encouragement! over! the! years:! my! uncle! Vianney,! my! grandparents,! Tata,! Papé! and!Mamé;!my!parents,!Horacio!and!Brigitte;!and!what!is!without!a!doubt!the!best! set!of!siblings!anyone!could!ever!hope!for,!Agustina!and!Simón.!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! vi! ! Dedication1 ! ! ! ! ! To!Charles,!Henriette,!and!Patrick,!whom!I!miss!every!day.!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! vii! ! Abbreviations11 1 1 1 The! novels! of! Thomas! Pynchon! will! be! referenced! within! the! body! of! the! text! throughout,!utilizing!the!following!abbreviations:!! ! 1 V.1 V.1London:!Vintage,!2000.! CL491 Crying1of1Lot149.!London:!Vintage,!2000.! GR1 Gravity's1Rainbow.!London:!Picador,!1973.! VL1 Vineland.1London:!Minerva,!1991.! M&D1 Mason1&1Dixon.!New!York:!Henry!Holt,!1997.! AD1 Against1the1Day.!London:!Vintage,!2007.! IV1 Inherent1Vice.!London:!Jonathan!Cape,!2009.!!1 ! ! 1 ! ! viii! ! Introduction! ! Titles'and'Topoi' ! ! ! “Must! a! name! mean! something?”! Alice! asked! doubtfully.! ! “Of!course!it!must,”!Humpty!Dumpty!said!with!a! short! laugh:! “my! name! means! the! shape! I! am! –! and! a! good! handsome! shape! it! is,! too.! With! a! name!like!yours,!you!might!be!any!shape,!almost.”! ! Lewis!Carroll,!Through'the'Looking'Glass' ! !! ! ! ! In! Vladimir' Nabokov:' The' American' Years,! Brian! Boyd! quotes! Ross! Wetzsteon’s! reminiscence!of!a!trick!Nabokov!liked!to!play!on!his!students!at!Cornell!University.! ‘I! want! you! to! copy! this! exactly! as! I! draw! it,’! he! would! begin,! stating! he! would! represent!in!graphic!form!the!different!motifs!of!Charles!Dickens’!Bleak'House.!On! a! blackboard! he! would! then! chalk! the! themes! of! inheritance,! generations,! social! consciousness,!and!so!on,!breaking!only!to!reiterate!his!initial!statement:!‘I!want! you!to!be!sure!to!copy!this!exactly!as!I!draw!it.’1!Finally,!he!would!trace!the!last! thematic!diagram,!by!which!point!his!students!would!come!to!the!realisation!that! they!had!been!fooled!into!drawing!a!smirking!Cheshire!cat,!one!that!‘smiled!out!of! [their]!notebooks!in!mockery!of!the!didactic!approach!to!literature.’2!Knowing!that! Thomas!Pynchon!attended!Cornell!University!whilst!Nabokov!was!working!at!the! institution! and! may! have! witnessed! one! such! lecture, 3 !and! being! aware! of! Pynchon’s!predisposition!towards!mischief!and!his!fondness!of!patterns,!this!study! will!attempt!to!shed!light!on!the!importance!of!the!visuoZgeometric!organisational! devices! in! the! author’s! novelistic! oeuvre.!As!Samuel!Cohen!states,!‘Pynchon’s! big! novels!have!all!had!central!geometric!figures,!which!are!even!referred!to!in!their! titles:! V.! (1963)! has! the! chevron,! Gravity's' Rainbow! (1973)! has! a! parabola,! and! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1!Ross! Wetzsteon' quoted!