Difference between revisions of "Pages 154-167"
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Revision as of 13:54, 25 April 2010
This page-by-page annotation is organized by sections, as delineated by the seven squares (sprockets) which separate each section. The page numbers for this page-by-page annotation are for the original Viking edition (760 pages). Editions by other publishers vary in pagination — the newer Penguin editions are 776 pages; the Bantam edition is 886 pages.
Contributors: Please use a 760-page edition (either the original Viking edition with the orange cover or the Penguin USA edition with the blue cover and rocket diagram — there are plenty on Ebay for around $10) or search the Google edition for the correct page number. Readers: To calculate the Bantam edition use this formula: Bantam page # x 1.165. Before p.50 it's about a page earlier; as you get later in the book, add a page.
Finally, profound thanks to Prof. Don Larsson for providing the foundation for this page-by-page annotation.
Contents
Page 154
154.12 Studentenheim
German: student residence or dorm
Page 156
156.18 the Judenschnautze
As Weisenburger notes, Pynchon probably means "Judenschnauze" here, but the term is more likely to mean "Jewish snout" (or nose) than "Jewish jaw." The term reflects Leni’s antisemitic stereotyping. See note at 159.38. Schnauze is a word for a canine face, so it might mean "Jewish mug" as well. It also denotes a manner of speech, as in "Er hat eine berliner Schnauze" ("He speaks the Berlin dialect").
Page 157
157.35 Gymnasium
A type of school in the German secondary education system, typically running grades 6-13. There is a heavy focus on academic study. Graduates take the Abitur exam and many go on to university.
Page 159
159.19 Niebelungen
Weisenburger takes his description of the film from Siegfried Kracauer’s From Caligari to Hitler, but overlooks a key point. It is no wonder that Pokler "missed Attila the Hun roaring in from the East to wipe out the Burgundians"; Attila never did roar in from the East! As Kracauer correctly describes the film’s ending, Attila does massacre the Burgundians, but only after inviting them to dinner and setting a hall on fire (prompted by the urgings of his wife, the wronged Kriemhild). Is the textual error Pokler’s, Leni’s, or Pynchon’s? Given that all the explicit German film references are to films by Fritz Lang and that few of those films were widely available (with the notable exception of Metropolis), we could suspect that Pynchon was working from secondary sources or his own memory of a Lang festival at which he, like Pokler, fell asleep. (Lang did appear at such a festival at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1969, when Pynchon may have been living in the area.) Lang is a useful touchstone for Pynchon in this novel since almost all of his films (including such American movies as You Only Live Once and Scarlet Street) deal with characters trapped by an inexorable destiny. See note at 578.31.
nibeldin.jpg (74051 bytes)
159.38 the Jewish wolf Pflaumbaum
At this stage, for all her professed radicalism, Leni allows herself to be deluded by ethnic stereotyping. Notice her attraction to Rebecca because of her Otherness. Soon, though, Leni will be "Judaized" (219.41), even more so when she is sent to the Dora concentration camp. Of Pflaumbaum’s fate, see note at 582.05. Also see note at 474.39.
Page 160
160.18 It may have been a quota film.
With the great influx of films from the United States to Europe between the wars, several film-producing countries, including Germany, enacted decrees that a certain number of films shown had to be of national origin. These "quota" films were often quick and shoddy productions made only to satisfy government demands so that the more profitable American films could still be shown.
Page 161
161.22 Kurt Mondaugen
Mondaugen was introduced as a character in the South-West Africa episodes of V., especially as the focal point of the chapter "Mondaugen’s Story." See note at 152.21.
161.34-35 true succession, Liebig to [ . . . ] Jamf
Picture of Justus Liebig (right)
161.37 T.H.
German: Technische Hochschule literally 'technical highschool', but really more along the lines of a university
Page 162
162.12 Wandervogel
German youth movement promoting a love of nature and the outdoors; see note here
162.15 kleinbürger
German: the middle class, the bourgeoise; literally 'little citizen'
162.18 Dom
German--cathedral
162.20 Biedermeier
Refers to the historical period between the years 1815 and 1848, particularly in Germany and Central Europe. It is often used to denote the artistic styles that flourished then and that marked a contrast with the Romantic era which preceded it; mainly in the fields of literature, music, the visual arts and interior design. However, it can also be used, as it is here, to imply a petit-bourgeois conformity.
162.28 Bürgerlichkeit
German: the quality of being bourgeois
Page 163
163.20-21 Leni sang with the other children the charming anti-semitic street refrain of the time
The source of Leni’s initially racist attitudes lies here, in her youth.
Page 165
165.21 Herrenklub
German: gentlemen's club
Page 166
166.1-9 All right. Mauve [ . . . ]
For more on the history of this breakthrough in dye-making and organic chemistry, see Simon Garfield's Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World (New York: Norton, 2001).
Page 167
167.29-30 Heinz Rippenstoss
The name of the would-be Nazi wag is literally "nudge in the ribs."
Seemingly a riff on "von Ribbentrob", Hitler's foreign minister, found guilty at Nuremberg and hung.
| 1 Beyond the Zero |
3-7, 7-16, 17-19, 20-29, 29-37, 37-42, 42-47, 47-53, 53-60, 60-71, 71-72, 72-83, 83-92, 92-113, 114-120, 120-136, 136-144, 145-154, 154-167, 167-174, 174-177 |
|---|---|
| 2 Un Perm' au Casino Herman Goering |
181-189, 189-205, 205-226, 226-236, 236-244, 244-249, 249-269, 269-278 |
| 3 In the Zone |
279-295, 295-314, 314-329, 329-336, 336-359, 359-371, 371-383, 383-390, 390-392, 392-397, 397-433, 433-447, 448-456, 457-468, 468-472, 473-482, 482-488, 488-491, 492-505, 505-518, 518-525, 525-532, 532-536, 537-548, 549-557, 557-563, 563-566, 567-577, 577-580, 580-591, 591-610, 610-616 |
| 4 The Counterforce |
617-626, 626-640, 640-655, 656-663, 663-673, 674-700, 700-706, 706-717, 717-724, 724-733, 733-735, 735-760 |
