The map is not the territory: a spatial reading of Pynchon’s California trilogy

Moving from a geocritical standpoint, this thesis analyzes the development of Thomas Pynchon’s spatial imagination in the so-called California trilogy. It argues that from the Crying of Lot 49 to Vineland and Inherent Vice, the author’s conceptualization of space develops in a constant and original way. To achieve this objective, the thesis addresses the theme of space on different levels. First, it delves into the urban/suburban aspect of Pynchon’s novels through a theoretical analysis of Edward Soja’s urban process “postmetropolitan transition.” Second, it deals with the representation of space in historical terms, as an instrument for the 1960s American counterculture against the political system of power and control. Finally, it investigates the change in Pynchon’s spatial vision through an examination of the role of mythical/fictional spaces in the trilogy, addressing a theoretical argument of the concept of “Thirdspace,” in relation to the question of alternative realities.