| Summary: | This dissertation uses the concept of various "spaces" in a literary work to attain a
historical perspective on selected works by Thomas Pynchon: The Crying of Lot 49
(1966); Gravity's Rainbow (1973) and Mason & Dixon (1997). The historical space
forms the focal point for a discussion, since history is an important theme in
Pynchon's novels. Different views of history can be constructed from each text by
noting the interaction of the spaces and how they relate to the historical space. The
Crying of Lot 49 focuses on the individual in relation to history from a post Second
World War perspective. Gravity's Rainbow concentrates on the Second World War
and war in general as a metaphor for the twentieth century and how this is situated
historically. Mason & Dixon reaches further into history to the eighteenth century as
the "Age of Reason" to explore it from postmodernism. Throughout shifts in
emphasis the spaces in each novel can be successfully used to bring the theme of
history to the fore and analyse it. === Thesis (M.A. (English))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.
|
|---|
