Paweł Stachura (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań)
The paper discusses representation of space based on imaginary numbers, quaternions, and Riemann’s axioms in geometry; this is the setting of Pynchon’s Against the Day. The paper will also present the (possibly negative) outcomes of the current attempt to find a mathematical structure in the novel’s composition. A comparison with Arkadyi and Boris Strugatski’s Beetle in an Anthill demonstrates the inherent instability of Pynchon’s space, and the distortion and restoration of stability in the Soviet science-fiction novel. Even more striking similarities between Jacek Dukaj’s Lód and Pynchon’s novel demonstrate the inherent organicity of Pynchon’s fiction, as opposed to the psycho-physical duality, which is forcibly retained in the Polish novel. In terms of space, the three texts can be arranged in a sequence, beginning with the Euclidean space in Dukaj’s novel, neutralization of Lobachevskian space in the Beetle, and Riemannian space in Against the Day. The three modes of representation result with three visions of history: fantastic eschatology of “dead past” in Dukaj’s novel, the living past of the Strugatskie, and prophetic history in Pynchon.