TY - JOUR
T1 - Tantra in Pynchon’s Against the Day
AU - Rothfork, John G
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Taylor & Francis.
PY - 2017/5/27
Y1 - 2017/5/27
N2 - Pynchon’s Against the Day seems to be a historical novel describing the struggle between capitalism and anarchy in the Gilded Age. However, the antagonists, Scarsdale Vibe and Webb Traverse, perish without successors. The view from the dirigible, Inconvenience, symbolizes Buddhist detachment from the battle (maya), which is elaborated by allusions to Tantra. The Trespasser, Ryder Thorn, preaches a social gospel to condemn the Chums of Chance for their dreamy detachment (p. 551). But the end of the novel endorses the Chums and the Tantric promise of the Inconvenience that floats above a violent world.
AB - Pynchon’s Against the Day seems to be a historical novel describing the struggle between capitalism and anarchy in the Gilded Age. However, the antagonists, Scarsdale Vibe and Webb Traverse, perish without successors. The view from the dirigible, Inconvenience, symbolizes Buddhist detachment from the battle (maya), which is elaborated by allusions to Tantra. The Trespasser, Ryder Thorn, preaches a social gospel to condemn the Chums of Chance for their dreamy detachment (p. 551). But the end of the novel endorses the Chums and the Tantric promise of the Inconvenience that floats above a violent world.
KW - Buddhism
KW - Pynchon
KW - Tantra
KW - bare-awareness
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84992109819&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84992109819&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/00111619.2016.1226159
DO - 10.1080/00111619.2016.1226159
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84992109819
SN - 0011-1619
VL - 58
SP - 276
EP - 286
JO - Critique - Studies in Contemporary Fiction
JF - Critique - Studies in Contemporary Fiction
IS - 3
ER -