Mettānoia in Thomas Pynchon’s Buddhist Trilogy

Buddhism is central to Thomas Pynchon's fiction, specifically in three novels with female protagonists: The Crying of Lot 49, Vineland, and Bleeding Edge. Each novel features a motherly protagonist whose name contains a Buddhist reference. Beneath surface-level Judeo-Christian, psychological, scientific, and political references, Pynchon has embedded a program for changing one's mind grounded in Buddhist belief and practice. This program is a Buddhist quest for "mettānoia," the author's term for a corrective to paranoia: a change of mind that is inclusive of Christian metanoia but centered on Buddhist mettā, the moment after meditation when the subject attains heightened compassionate care. Mettānoia limits acts of compassion to retain Buddhist detachment from worldly outcomes. The article proposes that mettānoid reading might counter paranoid reading, contributing to discourses of postcritique and the postsecular.

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Abstract

Abstract:This article argues for the centrality of Buddhism in Thomas Pynchon’s fiction. The Crying of Lot 49, Vineland, and Bleeding Edge make a Buddhist Trilogy. As the only three Pynchon novels to have female protagonists, each novel features a motherly protagonist that has a Buddhist reference in her name. Beneath the patina of Judeo-Christian, psychological, scientific, and political references apparent on the surface in this Trilogy’s denouements, Pynchon has sculpted a program for changing one’s mind firmly grounded in Buddhist belief and practice. This program is a specifically Buddhist quest for mettānoia. Mettānoia is the author’s tripartite term for Pynchon’s corrective to paranoia: a 1) change of mind that, while 2) softly inclusive of forms of Christian metanoia, is centered much more on 3) Buddhist mettā, the summary moment after meditation when the Buddhist subject is changed to a heightened sense of compassionate care. However, mettānoia also limits one’s acts of compassion such that they retain a Buddhist detachment from worldly outcomes. This article ends by looking at how mettānoid reading might counter paranoid reading, adding to the current discourses of postcritique and the postsecular.