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No Light against Entropy: Elfriede Jelinek’s Translation of Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow and Its Impact on Die Kinder der Toten

Abstract:Elfriede Jelinek’s unique translation of the title of Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow (1973) as Die Enden der Parabel (1976, 1981) is representative of the ways in which the Austrian author developed Pynchon’s imagery in her work. In shifting focus to the twofold meaning of parable and parabola, her translation becomes an intervention. The present article traces Pynchon’s impact on Jelinek’s writing, in particular on Die Kinder der Toten (1995). The article argues that Jelinek engages in a poetic exploration of reclaimed agency in an entropic environment; this is an exploration in which Pynchon’s iridescent parables play a pivotal role as agents of self-awareness acting against entropy.