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REDEEMING the BETRAYED BODY: Technology and Embodiment in the Fiction of Thomas Pynchon and Don Delillo

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REDEEMING the BETRAYED BODY: Technology and Embodiment in the Fiction of Thomas Pynchon and Don Delillo Durham E-Theses REDEEMING THE BETRAYED BODY: Technology and Embodiment in the Fiction of Thomas Pynchon and Don DeLillo FAHIM, ABEER,ABDEL,RAOUF How to cite: FAHIM, ABEER,ABDEL,RAOUF (2012) REDEEMING THE BETRAYED BODY: Technology and Embodiment in the Fiction of Thomas Pynchon and Don DeLillo , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3494/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 REDEEMING THE BETRAYED BODY: Technology and Embodiment in the Fiction of Thomas Pynchon and Don DeLillo Abeer Abdel Raouf Fahim Doctor of Philosophy Department of English Studies University of Durham 2011 1 Thesis Abstract Abeer Abdel Raouf Fahim Redeeming the Betrayed Body: Technology and Embodiment in the Fiction of Thomas Pynchon and Don DeLillo This thesis presents a reading of the fiction of Don DeLillo and Thomas Pynchon that focuses on the significance of embodiment in the authors’ technologically mediated worlds. The study draws upon the work of Vivian Sobchack, Steven Connor, Merleau-Ponty, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Critics of DeLillo and Pynchon’s fiction have generally avoided phenomenological perspectives; as a result, the concept of corporeality has not been thoroughly examined. Thus, the thesis examines the fiction of Pynchon and DeLillo in light of theories of embodiment that have been overlooked. Central to the thesis is a study of the theoretical and technical aspects of visual and auditory technology that is focused on how the authors depict an intrinsic connection between the physical body and prosthetics. To subvert the conventional dichotomy between the human and the technological, the thesis explores the sensory experiences of the characters, drawing attention to the inextricable connection between the body and the world. The analysis also considers the significance of the unity of the senses and the connection this has to the manner in which the body’s materiality is depicted. Moreover, the concept of monstrosity is used to explore how the authors portray the fluidity and the multiplicity of the human body. Giving a close reading of the body’s inherent connection to technology and the prominence of materiality, the thesis suggests that the characters depict subjective experiences that are rooted in their physicality. Technology is not perceived, in its conventional sense, as a means of disembodying the characters; on the contrary, it is the gateway to exploring corporeality. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Introduction: 6 - 17 Back to the Senses Chapter 1: 21-72 “Looking Easily his Double”: Shape-Shifting and Metamorphing in Gravity’s Rainbow Chapter 2: 73-120 “The Devil Behind the Glass”: Vision and Surrealism in Against the Day Chapter 3: 121-168 “The Body in the Voice”: Sound and Voice in Underworld, The Body Artist, and White Noise Chapter 4: 169-237. Embodiment in Slow Motion: Cosmopolis, Falling Man, Point Omega Conclusion: 238-240 Complete Bibliography: 241-255. "The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged.” 3 Acknowledgments I am very grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Ulrika Maude, for her support throughout the years. I will always appreciate her patience and encouragement, especially during stressful moments. Years ago I attended Dr. Maude’s Samuel Beckett seminars and her insightful and interesting discussions inspired me to write about technology and embodiment. And today, it is because of her guidance, knowledge, and enthusiasm that I have reached the stage where I can thank her in these acknowledgments. I would also like to thank the English Department at Durham University for all the continued support. A special thank you to Professor Patricia Waugh and Professor Timothy Clark. And many thanks for Dr. Mark Sandy’s support. I am also very grateful for the Overseas Research Student Award. I am fortunate to have received this funding for my research. My appreciation goes to Dr. Judith Caesar and Dr. Nawar Golley. I have always been inspired by them, and they have always supported me. I am truly grateful. A thank you goes to my aunt and uncle, Mervat and Mohammed, for always being there for me. I am blessed to have them in my life. My gratitude also goes to my uncle Maher and Dalia for being reassuring. A heartfelt thank you also goes to my cousins Sherif and Hesham and to Nagla, Engy, and Deena for taking care of me. To Nardine and Mennat, thank you for making sure I took a few fun breaks when I needed them. Thank you To Abdo and Israa for praying for me. I am also grateful to my best friend Dana. I am honoured to have her as a best friend. And a heartfelt thank you to her family, Magda, Rama, and John, for being a family to me. Thanks to Allison for supporting me and allowing me to vent. And a special thank you to Sira who gave me care, support, and courage during the last year of the PhD. Thank you, thank you Sira. 4 Nausheen, thank you so much for always being there for me. Thank you for being so patient. As I complained and worried, you listened and gave me courage. I will forever be grateful. I would also like to thank my sister and brother, Khulood and Mido, for their love and encouragement, and especially for making sure I always smile. Also a thank you goes to their lovely mother Rehab for her prayers and support. I am grateful to my dad, Abdel Raouf, for his love and support and for helping me stay strong. And a special thank you goes to my brother Khalid for always being a hero. I learn from his strength. Last, but certainly not least, I thank my mother, Magda. Thanks to God’s guidance and to her endless sacrifices, I have had a life full of love and amazing opportunities. This thesis is dedicated to my mother. 5 INTRODUCTION: Back to the Senses Thomas Pynchon and Don DeLillo have provided some of the most detailed and insightful depictions of twentieth and twenty-first century American society. More than any other authors, their fiction has tackled various topics related to modern technology, ranging from the limitations and problems that it causes to the freedoms that it facilitates. Considering the significance of their fiction in the literary canon, many scholars have repeatedly discussed their work, focusing on the numerous themes, including science and technology, that are especially prominent in their rich oeuvre. The work of both authors is almost always synonymous with the term postmodernism; while Jeremy Green describes DeLillo as “the representative postmodern novelist for the end of the century,”1 several renowned Pynchon critics explore how Pynchon’s work epitomizes the thematic and structural concerns of postmodernity. Although it is debatable whether it is DeLillo or Pynchon that gives a more representative portrayal of America, it is often agreed upon that their fiction is equal in its significance to the work of Samuel Beckett and James Joyce. Before establishing the argument of this thesis, I will begin with a question that I find necessary to justify the pairing of the authors in this study. Given that Pynchon and DeLillo are often grouped together, and that many of the connections between their work have already been examined, is it necessary to provide another study of their work? The answer to this question, I believe, depends on the direction that the study takes. Yes, there is a need to address the fiction of the authors, once again, by focusing on a gap in the available criticism. When the body is re-examined, we find that there is a kind of void. Criticism has focused 1 Jeremy Green, Late Postmodernism: American Fiction at the Millennium (New York: Palgrave, 2005) 4. 6 mostly on the emptiness of the body, the body as a representation, not the body as flesh, the body as complex materiality. One is reminded of Pynchon’s depiction of the Bordando El Manto Terrestre (1961) ; at the top of a circular tower, frail girls are seen “embroidering a kind of tapestry which spilled out the slit windows and into a void, seeking hopelessly to fill the void.”2 Fortunately, the attempt to re-establish the corporeality of the body in Pynchon and DeLillo’s fiction is not a hopeless one. It does, however, require a new approach. The relationship between DeLillo and Pynchon is especially evident when we compare The Crying of Lot 49 (1966) and White Noise (1985). Both texts are focused on characters that are in search for meaning in the midst of a world of visual representations. For both Oedipa Mass and Jack Gladney, there is an incessant desire to find a tangible presence behind intangible symbols. The Trystero symbol and “The Most Photographed Barn in America” are only two examples of such representations. Moroever, the theme of the quest is connected to a state of paranoia, a concept that critics have thoroughly examined in the authors’ work.
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