Abusing Surrealism: Pynchon's V. And Breton's Nadja

by Alex McAulay

In his introduction to Slow Learner, Pynchon mentions two aesthetic movements which influenced his own writing: that of the Beats, and Surrealism. While he says the effect of the Beat writers was "exciting, liberating, and strongly positive" (7), he also positions his own writing as "post-Beat" (9). In contrast, he says he has "abuse[d]" Surrealism even more extensively than other influences in the years since writing his early stories in the late 1950s and early 1960s (20). This remark suggests that the influence of Surrealism continued to grow rather than wane as Pynchon wrote V. and his other novels, and that Surrealism may be an even more important influence on Pynchon than the Beats. Although the Beats share certain narrative techniques with the Surrealists, as exemplified by works like Burroughs's Naked Lunch and Ginsberg's Howl, the focus in this essay will be on the Surrealist techniques advanced by Andre Breton as they are manifested in V.

20 pages, Unknown Binding

Published April 1, 2000

About the author

Alex McAulay was born in Seattle, but grew up in Dallas, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. He is the author of four novels, including Shelter Me and Bad Girls, which is in development as a feature film. Alex is a graduate of Brown University, and currently lives in Santa Monica with his wife Lisa.