Research Mentor(s)
Dietrich, Dawn
Description
This intertextual analysis discusses the multimodal links between Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, Borgesian metaphorical imagery and story structure, Oulipian mathematic and textual experiments, and Wittgensteinian linguistic philosophy. This analysis also draws on the work of Katherine Hayles in Writing Machines in that it seeks to identify the ways in which a work such as Gravity’s Rainbow requires non-trivial engagement from readers, what Hayles calls “ergodic” engagement, thereby transcending many of the traditional conceptions and functional limitations of texts. The goal of this analysis is to attempt to demarcate Gravity’s Rainbow as a unique form of textual experiment, one both painstakingly formulated and executed, but with traceable connective threads.
Document Type
Event
Start Date
18-5-2020 12:00 AM
End Date
22-5-2020 12:00 AM
Department
English, MFA
Genre/Form
student projects, posters
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Intertextuality; American literature --History and criticism
Type
Image
Keywords
Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow, Oulipo, Oulipian, Wittgenstein, Borges
Poster
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Oulipian Codes, Wittgensteinian Games, Borgesian Labyrinths: The Potential Literature of Gravity’s Rainbow
This intertextual analysis discusses the multimodal links between Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, Borgesian metaphorical imagery and story structure, Oulipian mathematic and textual experiments, and Wittgensteinian linguistic philosophy. This analysis also draws on the work of Katherine Hayles in Writing Machines in that it seeks to identify the ways in which a work such as Gravity’s Rainbow requires non-trivial engagement from readers, what Hayles calls “ergodic” engagement, thereby transcending many of the traditional conceptions and functional limitations of texts. The goal of this analysis is to attempt to demarcate Gravity’s Rainbow as a unique form of textual experiment, one both painstakingly formulated and executed, but with traceable connective threads.