Literature of the Americas Literature of the Americas 2541-7894 2542-243X IWL RAS https://doi.org/10.22455/2541-7894-2024-17-67-89  Research Article Articles Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice as a Menippean Satire 2024 Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 This paper explores Thomas Pynchon’s novel Inherent Vice through the lens of Menippean satire, elucidating in particular its intricate interplay of capitalism, counterculture, and spatial dynamics. Drawing upon Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of Menippean satire, which highlights the carnivalesque inversion of societal norms and the critique of established power structures, the analysis delves into the manifold manipulations of human and spatial identities within the context of consumer culture. Examining the novel’s portrayal of spatial conflicts, akin to Pynchon’s earlier work V., the paper contends that the streets and locales in Inherent Vice serve as metonymic battlegrounds, emblematic of broader social struggles between hegemonic powers and countercultural resistance. Through a juxtaposition of the forces of capitalism, represented by governmental and corporate entities, and the carnivalistic ethos of the hippie counterculture, the narrative underscores the tensions inherent in the shaping of American space and identity in the early 1970s. Central to the analysis is the characterization of Gordita Beach, a fictitious Californian town, as a dialectical space where divergent social forces converge and clash. Here, the imposition of capitalist ideals by figures like Mickey Wolfmann intersects with the countercultural resistance, creating a liminal terrain where socio-economic boundaries blur and alternate identities proliferate.   1. 2. Bahtin 1978 — Bahtin, Mihail. Stvaralaštvo Fransoa Rablea i Narodna kultura srednjeg veka i renesanse. Beograd: Nolit, 1978. 3. 4. Bakhtin 1989 — Bakhtin, Mikhail M. O romanu. Translated by Aleksandar Badnjarević. Beograd: Nolit, 1989. 5. Campbell 1988 — Campbell, Elizabeth. “Metaphor and V.: Metaphysics in the Mirror.” Pynchon Notes, no. 22/23 (1988): 57–69. 6. Frye 1957 — Frye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 1957. 7. Hutcheon 1988 — Hutcheon, Linda. A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction. London: Routledge, 1988. 8. Jakovljević 2012 — Jakovljević, Mladen M. “Heterotopija u Pinčonovim romanima V. i Duga gravitacije.” Zbornik za jezike i književnosti Filozofskog fakulteta u Novom Sadu, no. 2, (2012): 375–387. 9. Kharpertian 1990 — Kharpertian, Theodor D. A Hand to Turn the Time: Menippean Satires of Thomas Pynchon. Rutherford, Madison, Teaneck: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1990. 10. Lehan 1998 — Lehan, Richard. The City in Literature: An Intellectual and Cultural History. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1998. 11. Liner 2016 — Liner, John. “Utopia and Debt in Postmodernity; or, Time Management in Inherent Vice.” Orbit: Writing Around Pynchon 4, no. 1, (2016). https://doi.org/10.16995/orbit.174 12. 13. Perišić 2010 — Perišić, Igor. Uvod u teorije smeha: kratak pregled teorije smeha od Platona do Propa. Beograd: Službeni glasnik, 2010. 14. Propp 1984 — Propp, Vladimir. Problemi komike i smeha. Translated by Bogdan Kosanović. Novi Sad: Nišro Dnevnik, 1984. 15. 16. Weisenburger 1990 — Weisenburger, Steven. “A Hand to Turn the Time: The Menippean Satires of Thomas Pynchon,” and: “Writing Pynchon: Strategies in Fictional Analysis” (review). Modern Fiction Studies, no. 4 (32) (1990): 580–583.