«How had it ever happened here?»: A Constructivist Reading of Thomas Pynchon’s «The Crying of Lot 49» and its Role in the Pynchon Canon (American Culture)

«How had it ever happened here?», Thomas Pynchon’s protagonist Oedipa Maas asks towards the end of his second novel __The Crying of Lot 49__. This question is taken up in this book to explore Pynchon’s novels in the light of constructivist theory. It begins with a detailed reading of __The Crying of Lot 49__, which is carried into readings of Pynchon’s other novels (__V., Gravity’s Rainbow, Vineland, Mason & Dixon, Against The Day,__ and __Inherent Vice__). All are shown to critically deal with the social construction of reality as a central theme, and a development of this theme is traced throughout Pynchon’s novels Content: Cover Acknowledgements Contents Introduction Truths about Realities -- An Overview ofConstructivist Theories Part 1: "This is America, you live in it, you let it happen" 1 Movie-Gaiety, Metal Extensions, and Misunderstandings- Media in The Crying of Lot 49 1.1 Failed Communication 1.1.1 Phone Calls 1.1.2 Face to Face Communication 1.1.3 Written Media 1.2 Huxley's or Orwell's Vision 2 Semiotic W.A.S.T.E. Land -- Language and Modes of Thought in The Crying of Lot 49 2.1 The Naming of Names 2.2 The Naming of Places 2.3 Acronyms & Abbreviations 2.4 Puns and Metaphors. 2.4.1 "Sorting isn't work?" -- The Demon and the Sensitive as Metaphors2.4.2 "The crying of lot 49" -- A Pun on American Fate 3 "G-strings of historical figuration"- History in The Crying of Lot 49 3.1 "How had it ever happened here?"- Tracing the Limits of Society and History 3.1.1 "Inside, safe, or outside, lost" -- Defining Society by its Limits 3.1.2 "Vistas of space and time"- Stamp Forgeries and Counter-Histories 3.1.3 "The penumbra of historical eclipse"- A History of the Tristero 3.1.4 Anarchist Miracles and Power Relations- The Philosophy of History in The Crying of Lot 49. 3.2 "Offhand Things"3.2.1 "The very first military confrontation between Russia and America" -- The American Civil War and The Crying of Lot 49 3.2.2 Switching the Reels of What is Real- Televised History and WWI 3.2.3 "Japs in trees, Krauts in Tiger tanks"- Postwar America and WWII Part 2: The Crying of Lot 49 and the Pynchon Canon I V. -- "Die Welt ist alles was der Fall ist" II Gravity's Rainbow -"We do know what's going on, and we let it go on" III Vineland -- "That whole alternative America, el deado meato" IV Mason & Dixon -- "Bad history." V Against the Day -- "The end of the capitalistic experiment"VI Inherent Vice -"What goes around, may come around" Conclusion -- "Bound for some better shore" Bibliography. Truth about Realities - An Overview of Conctructivist Theories 18 Part 1 24 1. Movie-Gaiety, Metal Extensions, and Misunderstandings - Media in The Crying of Lot 49 26 2. Semiotic W.A.S.T.E. Land - Language and Modes of Thought in The Crying of Lot 49 58 2. "G-strings of historical figuration" - History in The Crying of Lot 49 110 Part 2 168 I. "Die Welt ist alles was der Fall ist" 172 II. Gravity ́s Rainbow - "We do know what ́s going on, and we let it go on" 180 III. Vineland - "That whole alternative America, el deado meato" 188 IV. Mason & Dixon - "Bad history" 198 V. Against the day - "The end of the capitalistic experiment" 204 VI. Inherent Vice - "What goes around, may come around" 212 Conclusion 218 Bibliography 224 «How had it ever happened here?», Thomas Pynchon’s protagonist Oedipa Maas asks towards the end of his second novel The Crying of Lot 49. This question is taken up in this book to explore Pynchon’s novels in the light of constructivist theory. It begins with a detailed reading of The Crying of Lot 49, which is carried into readings of Pynchon’s other novels (V., Gravity’s Rainbow, Vineland, Mason & Dixon, Against The Day, and Inherent Vice). All are shown to critically deal with the social construction of reality as a central theme, and a development of this theme is traced throughout Pynchon’s novels. How had it ever happened here? This title includes question that explore Thomas Pynchon's novels in the light of constructivist theory. How had it ever happened here? This book covers this question to explore Thomas Pynchon's novels in the light of constructivist theory.