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(EN) The present MA thesis focuses on the function of paranoia found in Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow. Pynchon's novel is routinely considered one of the finest pieces of American fiction to emerge after World War II and no discussion of this book can avoid the topic of paranoia. Its usage dates back to the time of Hippocrates and, after centuries of addition, the term paranoia is no longer confined to the medical community. After entering popular usage there is no consensus as to how this term is defined. It now possesses a sort of freedom that Pynchon routinely exploits. Paranoia resists isolation in this text. The specific approach to understanding its function is dependent on three parts. First, the reader must identify the countless forms of paranoia spread throughout Gravity's Rainbow. Next, one must understand why a specific example from the novel represents a form of paranoia in Pynchon's fictional world. Finally, the reader must recognize why an isolated form of paranoia is present and what Pynchon hopes to achieve through its presentation. The paranoia found in Gravity's Rainbow has no fixed meaning. This is a conscious decision on the part of Pynchon and its central goal is to destabilize the entire narrative, which is a central part of paranoia's immense power regularly employed....

This study discusses works by Martin Amis and Don DeLillo in the context of several key scientific and technological transformations that occur in the aftermath of the Second World War. I begin by revisiting one of the most-discussed aspects of DeLillo's work: the currents conspiracy and paranoia that recur in his novels and, he claims, pervade the wider culture. By demonstrating how paranoid narratives strive to accommodate contemporary technologies, I create a context in which the paranoia addressed in works such as Libra and Underworld becomes intelligible as a response to the specific technological character of surveilance and control in the post-War period. The sciences of information and cybernetics also cohere in the years folowing the War, and the second chapter explores the creative tension between metaphors of entropy and information in Amis's fiction as wel as DeLillo's. The third chapter focuses on television as a constitutive element of postmodernity, and traces how DeLillo and Amis adopt narrative strategies that enable them to represent subjects who have grown accustomed to living within an environment mediated, to an unprecedented degree, by visual imagery supplied by or formatted for television. Another product of postmodern technology, commercial air travel reconfigures relationships to place and to time for inhabitants of industrialized countries. Both the liberating and limiting consequences of living in the latter half of the century of flight are addressed in the fourth chapter. The final chapter offers an assessment of the role contemporary media and technology play in establishing the characteristics associated with postmodernity, and concludes with a brief discussion of the role the internet might play within the context of the specific technologies discussed in the body of the thesis.

This study discusses works by Martin Amis and Don DeLillo in the context of several key scientific and technological transformations that occur in the aftermath of the Second World War. I begin by revisiting one of the most-discussed aspects of DeLillo's work: the currents conspiracy and paranoia that recur in his novels and, he claims, pervade the wider culture. By demonstrating how paranoid narratives strive to accommodate contemporary technologies, I create a context in which the paranoia addressed in works such as Libra and Underworld becomes intelligible as a response to the specific technological character of surveilance and control in the post-War period. The sciences of information and cybernetics also cohere in the years folowing the War, and the second chapter explores the creative tension between metaphors of entropy and information in Amis's fiction as wel as DeLillo's. The third chapter focuses on television as a constitutive element of postmodernity, and traces how DeLillo and Amis adopt narrative strategies that enable them to represent subjects who have grown accustomed to living within an environment mediated, to an unprecedented degree, by visual imagery supplied by or formatted for television. Another product of postmodern technology, commercial air travel reconfigures relationships to place and to time for inhabitants of industrialized countries. Both the liberating and limiting consequences of living in the latter half of the century of flight are addressed in the fourth chapter. The final chapter offers an assessment of the role contemporary media and technology play in establishing the characteristics associated with postmodernity, and concludes with a brief discussion of the role the internet might play within the context of the specific technologies discussed in the body of the thesis. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

Text in German / Many treatises and disquisitions concerning "Die Blendung" concentrate on the main character, Peter Kien, as well as on other protagonists. In contrast, this dissertation deals with Pfaff, the primitive force and his influence on Peter Kien, the "Brain", the masterspirit. Common traits of these di verse characters are highlighted and it is explained why Pfaff, the brute, manages to exult over Kien, the intellectual. Their interactions and their interdependence are dealt with and it is shown that insanity which is prevalent in both protagonists prepares the way to Kien's doom whereas it leads to Pfaff's survival. / Das Interesse zahlreicher Untersuchungen Uber "Die Blendung" konzentriert sich auf die Hauptperson, Peter Kien, sowie auf andere Protagonisten. Im Gegensatz dazu beschaftigt sich diese Arbei t mi t dem Hausmeister Pfaff, dem "Schadel", und mit dem EinfluB, den er auf Peter Kien, den "Kopf", den Geistesmenschen hat. Es wird versucht, Gemeinsamkeiten, die diese beiden so gegensatzlichen Charaktere aufweisen, aufzuzeigen und darzulegen, warum der Gewaltmensch Pfaff Uber den wirklichkeitsfremden Wissenschaftler Kien zu triumphieren vermag. Der EinfluB, den sie aufeinander nehmen, und die Abhangigkeit voneinander werden aufgezeigt, und es wird aufge fUhrt, wie der Wahnsinn, dem sie be ide verf all en, zu Kiens Untergang filhrt, wahrend Pfaffs Uberleben durch seinen Wahnsinn gesichert wird / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M. A. (German)

Text in German / Many treatises and disquisitions concerning "Die Blendung" concentrate on the main character, Peter Kien, as well as on other protagonists. In contrast, this dissertation deals with Pfaff, the primitive force and his influence on Peter Kien, the "Brain", the masterspirit. Common traits of these di verse characters are highlighted and it is explained why Pfaff, the brute, manages to exult over Kien, the intellectual. Their interactions and their interdependence are dealt with and it is shown that insanity which is prevalent in both protagonists prepares the way to Kien's doom whereas it leads to Pfaff's survival. / Das Interesse zahlreicher Untersuchungen Uber "Die Blendung" konzentriert sich auf die Hauptperson, Peter Kien, sowie auf andere Protagonisten. Im Gegensatz dazu beschaftigt sich diese Arbei t mi t dem Hausmeister Pfaff, dem "Schadel", und mit dem EinfluB, den er auf Peter Kien, den "Kopf", den Geistesmenschen hat. Es wird versucht, Gemeinsamkeiten, die diese beiden so gegensatzlichen Charaktere aufweisen, aufzuzeigen und darzulegen, warum der Gewaltmensch Pfaff Uber den wirklichkeitsfremden Wissenschaftler Kien zu triumphieren vermag. Der EinfluB, den sie aufeinander nehmen, und die Abhangigkeit voneinander werden aufgezeigt, und es wird aufge fUhrt, wie der Wahnsinn, dem sie be ide verf all en, zu Kiens Untergang filhrt, wahrend Pfaffs Uberleben durch seinen Wahnsinn gesichert wird / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M. A. (German)