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History at the Crossroads
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 August 2023
Taking off from an analysis of Mason & Dixon, Chapter 2 analyzes Pynchon’s depiction of how the basic impulses of modernity (the colonialist export of European capitalism and technological and scientific rationalism to the rest of the world) were established in earnest during the Enlightenment. Most critics primarily read Mason & Dixon as a story about America, but through analyses of, for instance, the prevalent theme of westering and the character Bonk, the chapter discusses the novel’s considerable attention to a global space. Furthermore, the chapter discusses Pynchon’s varied historical methods. His historiographical reflections are particularly evident in Mason & Dixon, and drawing on historical theories by Michel Foucault, Hayden White, Carlo Ginzburg, and Niall Ferguson, the chapter discusses how Pynchon in this and the two other global novels balances between immersive and distanced historical perspectives, and how he combines spatial and temporal forms of history writing.
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