The “Hyperreal” Urban Landscape in Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49

Foreign Literature Studies ›› 2019, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (5): 146-157.

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The “Hyperreal” Urban Landscape in Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49

Zhang Hairong

Published:2022-05-23
About author:Zhang Hairong is a professor at the College of International Languages and Cultures, Hohai University (Nanjing 211100, China); her primary research interest is American literature. Email: lucyzhang2005312@sina.com
Supported by:
“Textual Research and Discipline Construction of American Literary Geography” (16ZDA197), sponsored by the Key Project of the National Social Science Fund of China; “Research on American Urban Literature and Urban Spatial Production of American Cities” (19YJA752025), sponsored by the Ministry of Education’s Project of Philosophy and Social Science Research; “Research on American Urban Literature” (17WWB003), sponsored by Jiangsu Province’s Project of Philosophy and Social Science Research

Abstract

Abstract: This article intends to examine the narrative of Californian urban landscape in Thomas Pynchon’s novel The Crying of Lot 49, focusing on the three phases of the author’s representation: the city model, the lakeside community, and the empty city center. Based on Baudrillard’s theory of “Hyperreality”, it attempts to analyze the abovementioned urban landscapes in terms of the concepts of “hyperreality”, “simulation” and “implosion” so as to reveal the “hyperreal” nature of California’s city model and its covert ideology of consumerism and code control. Also, it intends to show how the urbanites’ various attempts and struggles to get out of the labyrinth of the “hyperreal” cityscape in California.

Key words: The Crying of Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon, Hyperreality, urban landscape

Zhang Hairong. The “Hyperreal” Urban Landscape in Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49[J]. Foreign Literature Studies, 2019, 41(5): 146-157.

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