DARK SAYINGS: TOWARD A THEORY OF THE PARABOLIC MODE (Spine title: Dark Sayings: Toward a Theory of the Parabolic Mode) (Thesis format: Monograph) by Dura GUngQr Graduate Program in Comparative Literature A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada ©Dura Gttngdr 2011 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-89475-0 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-89475-0 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Canada THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO SCHOOL OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION Supervisor: Examiners: Dr. Calm-Andrei Mihailescu Dr. Luca Pocci Dr. Vladimir Tumanov Dr. Bryce Traister Dr. Patrick O'Neill The thesis by Duru Giingor entitled: Dark Sayings: Toward a Theory of the Parabolic Mode is accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Date: January 14,2011 Chair of the Thesis Examination Board: Dr. Albert Katz ii Abstract This project attempts to formulate a fluid theory that accounts for the operations of parabolic language, comprising the text, the teller and the listener. The authors selected to this end, Thomas Pynchon, Franz Kafka, Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino and Flannery O'Connor, are intended as centers around which certain elements of the parabolic mode gravitate and thus become more clearly discernible, although they may be traced to the other authors as well. Therefore, the five chapters of the dissertation converge upon a number of arguments that unfold in each chapter to a different degree, rather than following one another serially in the gradual development of one single argument. The in-depth exploration of the various traits and idiosyncracies that mark each author's use of language yields a number of insights into the operations of the parabolic mode. These concern, in broad sweeps, a structure of revelation based on the notion of the nth line, which accounts more specifically for a parable that has been embedded in a larger text; a pre-textual structure comprising a parabolic core and lines of re/writing that revolve around it, which provides a better understanding of how parables come into existence and operate in isolation; the function of rewriting and repetition in the operations of the said structures; the phantasmic core of parables; the issue and variations of parabolic vision; and the relationship between parabolic language and sacrality. Keywords: parable, parabola, rewriting, repetition, procrastination, sacred, indirect vision, distortion, Pynchon, Kafka, Borges, Calvino, O'Connor, Melville, James, Benjamin, Deleuze, Rilke, unfolding, secrecy, turning, nth line, pre-textual structure, phantasm, gift, humor, lightness. iii To Sabiha Gttngor iv Acknowledgements I am sincerely grateful to Dr. CSlin-Andrei Mih&ilescu for his creative and exacting guidance of this work. Dr. Kugu Tekin has been most generous with her valuable suggestions. Dr. John Mark Vanderheide has always lent me a kind ear in times of doubt and helped me clear the path. Ahu GUngOr TQmbek keeps her unerring good taste and moral support at my disposal, now as ever. I thank both my dear parents, Sabiha and Ugurtan GUngOr, who set me an inspiring example with their discipline and love of work. v Table of Contents Certificate of Examination ...ii Abstract ...iii Dedication ...iv Acknowledgements ...v Table of Contents ...vi Introduction ...1 1. Thomas Pynchon: Parable and Parabola in Gravity's Rainbow ...34 2. Franz Kafka: Procrastination and Rewriting in the Parabolic Mode ...65 3. Jorge Luis Borges: Rewriting and Repetition ...100 4. Italo Calvino: Phantasms of Le citta invisibili ... 130 5. Flannery O'Connor: Parable and the Sacred ... 165 Conclusion ...200 General Bibliography ...209 Vita ...219 vi 1 Introduction Many complain that the words of the wise are always merely parables and of no use in daily life, which is the only life we have. When the sage says: "Go over," he does not mean that we should cross to some actual place, which we could do anyhow if the labor were worth it; he means some fabulous yonder, something unknown to us, something that he cannot designate more precisely either, and therefore cannot help us here in the very least. All these parables really set out to say merely that the incomprehensible is incomprehensible, and we know that already. But the cares we have to struggle with every day: that is a different matter. Concerning this a man once said: Why such reluctance? If you only followed the parables you yourselves would become parables and with that rid of all your daily cares. Another said: / bet that is also a parable. The first said: You have won. The second said: But unfortunately only in parable. The first said: No, in reality: in parable you have lost. "On Parables," Franz Kafka (Trans, by Willa and Edwin Muir) I. "I bet that is also a parable." The man in the act of betting has his feet firmly planted on the ground. Clenched fists, cunning looks, dirty smiles may all be trivial cliches, but the obstinacy displayed by the feet is of great import. The feet stay where they are, as the man holds his breath and waits, in due rigidity, to hear the result of his bet. Both his insignificant victory in reality, and his defeat in parable, are attributable to his having pointed at something with his finger and called it a parable. He loses in parable because of his stasis, his feet planted on the ground, his failure to move together with something that is always on the move. A parable never stops to say solely that the incomprehensible is incomprehensible; it runs straight through the dead end it pretends to offer. The incomprehensible is incomprehensible not because it is extremely difficult or even impossible to comprehend, but rather because it has nothing to do with comprehension; it is not a static object of knowledge, something to be grasped with more or less clarity - therefore, the statement that "we know that already" only proves how mistaken "we" already are in choosing to approach the incomprehensible in terms of knowledge. The incomprehensible is a vector that moves in any direction, and the man may 2 attempt to move with it. If, instead, he chooses, as he indeed does, to attach to the incomprehensible a name, a definition, a category, thereby attempting to turn it into something within his grasp, then with a shrill clank he gets trapped in daily life, which is the only life he has because he is unable to move elsewhere. This study on parables begins with Kafka's "On Parables" not because it provides a useful literary example to trigger a theoretical discussion, but rather because it presents the very principles of one such possible theoiy, in a however condensed and, evidently, parabolic manner. To begin with, the text is marked by that constant tide of oppositions and contradictions proper to a true parable, whereby all conclusive statements are no sooner produced than undermined: our daily life, one is told, is the "only" life we have, and yet how quick is that one and only life, ridden with mundane cares and struggles, to proliferate into an evasive yet enticing "parable" that is something separate from "reality." That is, if there is a realm of parable distinct from reality, then it necessarily follows that daily reality is not the only life we have. The text also reflects the two-faced nature of parables, thanks to which they have been written and interpreted, for centuries, either as simple narrative examples clarifying a point, or as obscure riddlea The text presents both the example and the riddle, without validating one over the other; "Concerning this a man once said..." has all the air of an example that will elaborate, and shed light, upon the preceding discussion, whereas the very next lines about how to become parables present a riddle; and not a trivial one at that, but a brilliant alternative to those questions about parables that ask what they are.