Climbing the Dark Mountain: Geography & the Anthropocene in the Work of Thomas Pynchon

My hope is that the project will provide a comprehensive exploration of the way in which Pynchon engages with the natural world in light of recent ecological, cultural and theoretical developments. Through close reading of Pynchon's novels the plan is to demonstrate that he is an author who is deeply concerned with the relationship between man and his organic, or inorganic, environment. Ultimately, the central question of the thesis will be whether an (hitherto underutilised) ecocritical approach to Thomas Pynchon’s writing influences the conclusions critics should draw about the social and political significance of his novels.