As Far as Pynchon "Loves Cameras"

Clément Lévy (1)

1 EHIC - Espaces Humains et Interactions Culturelles

In this paper I study photography as a technique and as a metaphor in Thomas Pynchon's novels (from V., 1963, to Against the Day, 2006). As an object, a photograph is very commonplace, but it can also be a fetish and, in some cases, a crucial conveyor of information. Using critical works by Deleuze and Guattari, and Paul Virilio, I show how photography, after it has become in Pynchon's works a dreadful weapon, takes to pieces the ordinary continuity of space and time. It gives way to contemporary political and ethical problems about which Roland Barthes felt much concern. This could explain why Thomas Pynchon hasn't let any photographer approach him for more than forty years, while he publicly stated his love for cameras.

Cet article, initialement présenté lors de l'International Pynchon Week (Munich LMU) en 2008, est une étude sur la place de la photographie comme technique et comme métaphore dans les romans de l'auteur (de V., 1963, à Inherent Vice, 2009). L'image photographique dont la production est une technique autant qu'un art, est envisagée comme objet quotidien, ou fétiche, et surtout comme vecteur d'information. À partir de travaux classiques de Paul Virilio, je montre en quoi les usages modernes de la photographie en font chez Pynchon un dispositif de surveillance particulièrement redouté.

Mots clés: photography; surveillance; ça-a-été; Thomas Pynchon; reconnaissance; intelligence

Domaines: Littératures

Clément Lévy. As Far as Pynchon "Loves Cameras". Sascha Pöhlmann. Against the Grain: Reading Pynchon's Counternarratives, Rodopi, pp.157-166, 2010, Dialogue, 9042030720. ⟨hal-00956930⟩