Review of David Letzler’s “Cross-Up Disciplinarity: What Norbert Wiener, Thomas Pynchon, and William Gaddis Got Wrong about Entropy and Literature

摘要

David Letzler's 2015 article seeks to look at the function of entropy in fiction, particularly in the works of Thomas Pynchon and William Gaddis. This might seem a rather banal way to begin this review, but it is worth mentioning due to the position of entropy as a thematic concern in Pynchon criticism. The cornerstone of first wave Pynchon criticism, entropy formed the backbone of early studies from key critics, such as Mendelson, Hite and Tanner, and still informs the basic critical framework for texts like V. and The Crying of Lot 49. In a scholarship that treats entropy as a kind of "heritage study," Letzler attempts to reconsider the position of entropy in postmodern literature by highlighting the technical errors made by both the authors and the critics, and addresses how this older theme can be redefined and used again to approach Pynchon from a fresh angle