Pictures of a bleak city: historicist indetenninacy and social chaos in doctorow's "The waterworks"

Re is a de Es udios No eame icanos, n.• 4 ( 1996), pp . 257 -265 PICTURES OF A BLEAK CITY: HISTORICIST INDETERMINACY AND SOCIAL CHAOS IN DOCTOROW'S THE WATERWORKS FRANCISCO COLLADO RODRÍGUEZ Uni e sidad de Za agoza Linda Hu cheon's no ion o «his o iog aphic me a ic ion,» as she has su icien ly a gued ( 1988, 1989), clea ly applies o so ne o he na a i es w i en by highly acclaimed no elis s o pos mode n Ame ica. W i e s such as Pynchon, D eL illo, Coo e , o Doc o ow o e in h ei wo ks alid exempli ica ion o he con empo a y mix u e o his o ical wi h ic i e ep esen a ions, a cha ac e is ic ha al hough no uncommon in olde na a i es -!e us hink o The Sca le Le e , o in s ance-, is now p esen ed, as Hu cheon pu i in 1989, wi h a pa icula s ess on « ... he sel -consciousness o he ic ionali y, he lack o amilia p e ence o anspa ency, and he calling in o ques ion o he ac ual g ounding o his o y-w i ing.» (35) In 1991 Hu cheon ex ended he iews on his o iog aphic me a ic ion i ually o all pos modem ic ion while a he same ime a i ming ha h is ype o na a i e, by o eg ounding he ideological componen ha always media es human discu si e p ac ices, was in ac de eloping a c i ica! a ack on humanis alues ( 10 6 e seq.). Hu cheon's s ance a ha momen was clea ly coinciden al wi h Hayden Whi e's pos - lacanian no ions on he «na a i i y» ha con o ms human pe cep ion and ansc ip ion o he wo ld ( 1980, 1987) bu wha he la e c i ic was doing conceming his o iog aphy, Hu cheon was ex ending o he ield o c ea i e li e a u e. In e ec , eade s o he book The Poli ics o Po s mode nism (1989) and o h e essay «Discou se, Powe , ldeology: Humanism and Pos modemism» (1991) will disco e a e y pe cep i e app oach o a con empo a y ype o his o ical ic ion whe e pos s uc u alis no ions seem o be always p esen : he disman ling o [a is o elian ca ego ies and] humanis alues is al eady ope a i e, acco ding o Hu cheon 's iews, in con empo a y ic ion, wi h he pos modem 258 F ancisco Collado Rod íguez and he pos s uc u alis somehow blu ing hei on ie s in his pa adoxical pe iod o Wes e n cul u e: in his way his o iog aphic me a ic ion would be imposing on i s eade s alues ela ed o he no ions o agmen a ion, he ins abili y o he subjec , he ej ec ion o o alizing discou se, o he undecidabili y o meaning. So ne eade s o Hu cheon 's iews may pe haps hink ha she is exagge a ing he impo ance o de idean o oucaul ian no ions on con empo a y ic ion, and ce ainly so ne c ea i e au ho s sha e his opinion. Along 19941 had he oppo uni y o in e iew Ame ican no elis s lshmael Reed, E ic K a , Russell Banks, and Bha a i Mukhe jee and, wi h he excep ion o he i s one -mind you, he mos o e ly me a ic ional o he ou -, he o he w i e s denied he di ec impac o pos s uc u alis in e p e i e heo y on hei wo ks, e en i h e ype o language being used by a w i e like, le 's say, Mukhe jee equen ly b ings o mind echoes o decons uc i is no ions. Hu cheon migh pe haps be exagge a ing when she asse s ha pos modem c ea i e ic ion is o mus be his o iog aphic me a ic ion bu 1 s ill belie e ha a subs an ial pa o he mos celeb a ed con empo a y Ame ican w i e s show in hei wo ks alues e y close o he ones a i med by he Canadian c i ic: we may pe haps, wi h he help o William Paulson (1991 ), e e he e o he appa en in e disciplina y e ec o cul u e, a cha ac e is ic ha helps o explain coincidences among he di e en ields ha con o m he pos modem expe ience o li e. And ce ainly, wi hin he in e disciplina i y o con empo a y cul u e he inde e minacy o his o ical u h also appea s as one o he mos ex ended mo i s. As eade s o his pape may likely know, he e m «inde e minacy» became widely accep ed in pos s uc u alis ja gon p obably due o he impac caused by he sp ead o Heisenbe g 's p incipie o unce ain y ha , in lay e ms, a i ms he ul ima e impossibili y o exac ly measu e he momen um and posi ion o he quan um pa i cle and he ine i able o e lapping o he scien is wi h his o he expe imen in he ac o obse a ion (Da ies, Cosmic Bluep in 166-67). Al hough he unce ain y p incipie exclusi ely e e s o he mic oa omic le el and <loes no p ac ically a ec mac oa omic expe ience (Solomon, chap e 7; Po us h, end-no e # 21 ), he no ion i sel has unc ioned as a me apho ical co ela e o he de idean co ncep o he undecidabili y o meaning (Mephan 138 e seq.), an a gumen ha also in o ms Hayden Whi e's abo e men ioned no ion o «na a i i y.» Na a o ial and his o ical inde enninacy is also one o he ou s anding elemen s ha , once again, con onn he la es no el published by one o he mos well-known p ac i ione s o Ame ican his o iog aphic me a ic ion: E. L. Doc o ow. Howe e , The Wa e wo ks ( 1994) also p esen s wo o he cha ac e is ics ha a e pa icula ly appealing o he w i e o h ese lines: i is a no el se in he dis an Ame ican pas and secondly, one o he p o agonis s in i s s o y is he ci y o New Yo k. The la e is no hing new in Doc o ow's ic ion. His eade s may emembe he impo an ole played by he ci y in o he highly acclaimed no els by he same au ho , such as Rag ime(l 975) o Billy Ba hga e (1989), bu when his elemen combines wi h he i s one - he no el's se ing in he dis an pas - we come o mo e inno a i e g ounds in he i c ion w i en by he amous Ame ican au ho . By «dis an pas » 1 mean he e so ne Pic u es o a Bleak Ci y: His o icis Inde e minacy and Social Chaos in Doc o ow's 259 mon hs in he li e o New Yo k in 1871, when only a ew yea s ha eelapsedsince he end o he Ame ican Ci il Wa , and I hink 1 am no exagge a ing when I e e o he las hi d o he nine een h-cen u y as being «dis an » in ime because, as 1 ha e a gued elsewhe e (Collado, Ac as),Ame ican canonized w i e s o his o iog aphic me a ic ion a e equen ly and almos exclusi ely in e es ed in he analysis o wen ie h-cen u y his o ical o ces, and i is only in a e occasions ha hey decide o go u he back in ime o p o ide a se ing o hei s o ies. In The Wa e wo ks Doc o ow da es o go back mo e han one-hund ed-and- w en y yea s ago o « e isi » he ci y o New Yo k by means o he na a i e de ised by a ce ain Mcil aine, an old newspape man who, many yea s la e , decides o epo on he e en s ha led himsel and police cap ain Edmund Donne o cla i y he c iminal deeds being commi ed in h e C o on Aqueduc wa e wo ks o he ci y o New Yo k. Mcil aine, as also happens in so ne o he o he ic ions cons uc ed by Doc o ow, will be he sole na a o o he whole s o y, in his way ac ing as he only and pa adoxical «cen e ed consciousnes s» o his pos modem no el, pos modem i i s au ho eally belongs in ha g oup ha Icks ad denomina ed so ne yea s ago (1988) as «pos modem ealis s.» In ac , so ne eade s migh hink ha , due o he homodiege ic condi ion o i s na a o and o he ideology he seems o anspi e, The Wa e wo ks is simply a ealis ic s o y con ex ualized in he las decades o he nine een h-cen u y. In his iew, Mcll aine's epo would unconsciously all in he ca ego y o he «imagina y» ha cha ac e izes na a i i y in adi ional his o iog aphy. As Hayden Whi e asse s, Wha is «imagina y» abou any na a i e ep esen a ion is he illusion o a cen e ed consciousness capable o looking ou on he wo ld, app ehending i s s uc u e and p ocesses, and ep esen ing hem o i sel as ha ing ali o he o - mal cohe ency o na a i i y i sel . Bu his is o mis ake a «meaning» (which is always cons i u ed a he han ound) o « eali y» (which is always ound a he han cons i u ed). (Con en 36; my i alics) In o he wo ds, discu si e o aliza ion migh be ecognized as one o he main cha ac e is ics ha con o m Mcll aine's accoun , and The Wa e wo ks could ne e quali y as one o hose no els ha , as Hu cheon pu s i , «a e bo h in ensely se l - e lexi e and ye pa adoxically also la y claim o his o ical e en s and pe sonages» (A Poe ics 5). Is The Wa e1wo ks ep esen a i e o adi ional his o iog aphic belie s o o pos modem his o iog aphic me a ic ion? So ne yea s ago in he in luen ial book Me a i c ion: The Theo y and P ac ice o Sel -Conscious Fic ion, Pa icia Waugh al eady quali ied Doc o ow's ic ion as a new ype o ealism ha mani es ed he symp oms o o mal and on ological insecu i y bu she also main ained ha his no els allowed « hei decons uc ions o be inally eco n ex ualized o 'na u ali zed' and gi en a o al in e p e a ion» (18; my i alics); no w Mcll aine e en p o ides his eade s wi h a inal epilogue in which he sum na izes wha is o happen o he li es o he o he p o agonis s o he book once he main e en s a e o e . 260 F ancisco Collado Rod íguez In he no el he imp ession o o alizing closu e may a imes be mo e han ob ious, howe e Doc o ow is s ill he same au ho ha so ne yea s ago insis ed on he no ion ha he e is no his o y excep as i is composed. In a way ha may emind he eade o he heo ies de ended by Hayden Whi e, he no elis has commen ed ha «h is o y sha es wi h ic ion a mode o media ing he wo ld o he pu pose o in oducing meaning, and i is he cul u al au ho i y om which hey bo h de i e ha illumina es Lhose ac s so ha hey can be pe cei ed» («False Documen s» 24). And his human in oduc ion o meaning al eady p esupposes, in my eading, he a i ma ion o he abo e-men ioned concep o his o ical inde e minacy: u h, as A hu M. Sal zman says (29-51), is elusi e in he ace o His o y, Mcll aine's sel -conscious epo o e ing a good p oo o his. The na a o o The Wa en o ks equen ly desc ibes himsel as a his o ical esea che and e en i he eade may ha e he imp ession a imes ha Mcll aine is a pa ody o D . Wa son -cap ain Donne being he e She lock Holmes's double -, in bis de ec i e wo k he also es ablishes links wi h he igu e o a his o ian who is no , howe e , he pe ec p o o ype o a nine een h-cen u y his o iog aphe (Whi e, Con en 28-30 ) because, in his equen epo on he impo ance o his na a o ia! ac i i ies, he sha es a simila iewpoin wi h pos s uc u alis c i ics o e en wi h w i e s like Doc o ow himsel . Soon Mcll aine disco e s o his eade s he necessi y o epo he u h; howe e , a he same ime, he also in oduces s ange commen s ha seem o be i mo e in a pos modem con ex : I am ex ending mysel in a na a i e he e-i is my own mind's expe ience ha I epo , a ue deposi ion o he e en s, and he s a emen s, claims, p o es a ions, and p aye s o he souls whom l ep esen! as seen o hea d ... so ha my li e is wholly wo en in o he in en ions o he na a ion, wi h no a h ead emaining o wha e e o he uses I migh ha e ound o i . (64; my i alics) As a o me newspape man Mcll aine he na a o is e y much awa e o he possible ic ionali y o ex ual epo s: his is also a ques o accu acy whe e he social denounce ha was o cha ac e ize he Ame ican muck ake s a he beginning o his cen u y canno escape his dubious hough s on he no ions o how o epo his s o y. As I unde s and i , Mcll aine's ideology - he only one, le us emembe , h ough which he whole s o y is ocused- o e s a cu ious and pos modem mix u e o na a i e sel - consciousness oge he wi h a se o scien i ic and social alues ha a e i ed o he u n o he cen u y - ha is o say, abou he ime in which he p esen s his na a i e deposi ion. I is his mix u e o alues co esponding o di e en imes ha makes The Wa e1wo ks, in my eading, an example o pos node n his o iog aphic me a ic ion bu also an ou s anding ins ance o i ony as an e ec i e li e a y weapon: in he e ade 's mind Mcll aine 's epo may al so d aw a cul u al b idge be ween he poli ical co up ion p edo ninan in Ame ican li e a e he Ci il Wa and he simila poli ical condi ion s ill Pic u es o a Bl eak Ci y: His o ici s lnde e minacy and Social Chaos in Doc o ow's 261 exis ing in he coun y a e he Vie nam wa : he old igu e o he muck ake , e en i now na a o ially con used, eappea s o o ce he eade o emembe ha c ea i e li e a u e is also a alid means o analyze he his o ical o ces cu en ly ope a ing in ou pe iod. As one o he mos powe ul examples o his empo al b idge s ands he ci y o New Yo k i se l h a , in clea ag eemen wi h Mcll aine's his o ical con ex , is p esen ed imbued wi h a na u alis ic bleak a mosphe e whe e he no ion o en opic dissolu ion appea s linked o he ci y's conside a ion as a li ing o ganism. A he beginning o lhe 1870s New Yo k is i gh ly con olled by William Ma cy Tweed, a man who has his own judges in he s a e cou s, his own mayo in Ci y Hall and e en his own go emo in Albany (Doc o ow, The Wa e wo ks 10), a man who con ols he police o ce wi h he excep ion o a ew independen o ice s, cap ain Donne being one o his educed g oup o nine een h-cen u y «un ouchables.» Amids hese social condi ions, New Yo k s ands as a clea na u alis ic p edecesso o hose uinous ci ies ha in ec he e ses o Elio 's g ea e s poem. As Mcll aine soon asks in his na a i e, «Can you imagine wha i is like o li e in a ci y o hie es, aucous in i s dissembling, a ci y alling in o uin, a socie y in name only?» (10- 11 ). His epo is ce ainly e y conscious o he his o ical o , shall we say, na a i e o ces ope a ing in he ime o he e en s; in his ole as wi ness and epo e o hose e en s he does no doub o ecognize he ideology ha om scien i ic g ounds is also being imposed on he in e p e a ion o he oles o people and ci y, a e ha ing displaced mo e adi ional eligious alues: ... Fo ce ain eligious se nsibili i es such child en ul illed he ine able aims o God. Fo he mode n olk, M . Da win was ci ed, and he design was Na u e's. So he lowe gi l Ma y, and he newsies and he es o hese child begga s who li ed among us, we e losses soci e y could ole a e. Like Na u e, ou ci y was spend h i and p oduced enough weal h o i sel o ake hea y Josses wi hou no iceable dam age. I was ali a cos o doing business while he selec ion o he species wen elen lessly o wa d, and New Yo k, like so ne unp eceden ed li e o m, blindly sough i s pe ec ion. (67; my i alics) As his quo a ion shows, he cha a c e s in he na a o 's s o y - ha akes place ea ly in he l 870s-a e ob iously oo ed in Da winian imes; D . Sa o ius, he scien is manipula o o li e, is p esen ed by o he cha ac e s, such as D . S. Hamil on, as a ue bel ie e in Da w in 's heo ies (228-30): he e o lu ion and selec ion o h e human species c ys allizes in his a emp o ex end he li es o he socially powe ul by using up he bodies o indigen child en, a medica! p ac ice ha , howe e , also has i s i onic c imi- nal co ela e in ou con empo a y socie y. Ne e heless, Mcll aine's is no simply a po ai o he li ing o ganism o New Yo k in acco dance wi h Da winis h eo i es s ill in ogue along he seco nd hal o he nine een h-ce n u y. His pic u e is also in o med 262 F ancisco Collado Rod íguez by o he mode o heo ies ha , since he 1850s, we e g adually e ec ing wha in due ime became a adical shi om he mechanicis and Da winian in e p e a ions o Ji e e olu ion. The eade should no o ge ha Mcll ane p esen s his deposi ion many yea s a e he esolu ion o he c iminal deeds ha ook place in he wa e wo k s; he e o e his ideology, especially in hose aspec s ha concem he in e p e a ion o e olu ion, does no exac ly coincide wi h he one suppo ed by he cha ac e s in a s o y ha ended in 1871. «Almos a million people called New Yo k home,» he na a o emembe s om his empo al loca ion a he u n o he cen u y, «e e yone secu ing his need in a s a e o chee ul degene acy. Nowhe e else in he wo ld was he e such an accele a ion o ene gies.» (13; my i alics) The las ph ase in his quo a ion al eady p esupposes a new unde s anding in he always changing in e p e a ion o he book on na u e: in pa di splacing Da winism and op imis ic mechanicism, a new unde s anding o ene gy, he no ion o en opy, and a philosophy ha may emind he eade o Hen y Adams 's heo ies ha e imposed on he bleak iew ha Mcll aine he na a o sus ains ali along he pages o his ex ual con ession. Con a y o wha so ne new acoly es o co n empo a y chaos heo y may s ill belie e, so ne o he ideas de ended by scien is s and na u al philosophe s in his pos modem b anch o knowledge a e no pu ely inno a i e bu show coincidences no only wi h old Na i e Ame ican o Hindu eligious concep s bu also wi h he heo ies de end ed by hinke s who w o e hem down no so many decades ago. One o ho se hinke s, and a e y ele an one indeed, was Hen y Adams, whose Educa ion was o become a e y in luen ial wo k among pos modem Ame ican ci cles. In 1854 he Ge man physicis He mano on Helmhol z announced ha he Uni e se was e cc i ely doomed due o i s ansi ion owa ds a si ua ion o hennodynamic equilib ium in which ali sou ces o use ul ene gy would be exhaus ed: he modynamics and i s e i ying second law -o law o en opy-had been bo o as he newes bleak sc ien i ic na a i e ha was o g adually displace New onian op imism (Da ies, Ma e My h 118 - 19; c E ic C. Whi e 104). By he i s decade o he wen ie h-cen u y his o ian Hen y Adams al eady main ained ha he hypo hesis o Da winian e olu ion had been o e h own by he se cond law o he modynamics and in «A Le e o Ame ican Teache s o His o y ,» u ged his colleagues o wo k ou a o mula o comp ehend he cou se o his o y in e ms o his law (in Blai 864): his essay « The Dynamo and he Vi gin» is a well- known example o Adams's a emp o in eg a e social his o y wi hin a scien i ic con ex oo ed mainly in he concep s o o ce and ene gy bu Chap e XXXIII o his Educa ion, en i led «ADynamic Theo y o His o y» (1904), also o e s new insigh s ba an icípa e la e a gumen s de ended by heo is s o he science o chaos. Adams ai ead y commen s on he in e ac ion o many ypes o o ces in li e and on he incapaci y o he human being o pe cei e ali o hem, eaching a conclusion ha s ands e y close o con empo a y belie s: «In he ea lie s ages o p og ess, he o ces o be assimila ed we e simple and easy o abso b, bu , as he mind o man enla ged i s ange, i enla ged he ield o complexi y, and mus con inue o do so, e en in o chaos, un il he ese oi s Pic u es o a Bleak Ci y: His o icis lnde e mina cy an d Social Chaos in Doc o ow's 263 o sensuous o supe sensuous ene gies a e exhaus ed, o ceased o a ec him, o un il he succumbs o hei excess» (in Blai 874; my emphasis). In hese lines, complexi y and en opy a e al eady wo key no ions o in e p e he uni e se as bo h chao ic and s uc u ed, wi h he human being as ins umen o his in e p e a ion -by means o his o he own complex and p og essi e unde s anding-bu also as he u u e ic im o his complexi y ha leads o he ul ima e ule o en opy (c . P igogine & S enge s; and Hayles): he «pos modem» no ion ha a i ms ha human na a i iza ion is inhe en ly uni ed o he obse ed uni e se (Whi e, Con en ) also con o ns he ideology exp essed in Adams 's wo ds; i should no hen su p i se us o see a simila in e p e a ion o li e also e lec ed in Mcll aine's a gumen s. The s o y in The Wa e wo ks is also cen e ed on a me apho ical wa e « e se oi » ha s ands o a ese oi o li e o he powe ul and weal hy who wan o a oid he e ec s o en opy on hei own bodies: old men who a e in isible, walking absences whose non-p esence is decons uc i ely aced down by de ec i e Donne and his o ian Mcll aine; in he 1870s he ci y o New Yo k is no ye he pa odie «ci y o God» whe e, as he poo Cuban ishe man belie es, « h ey ha e lea ned he sec e o e e nal li e» (245). E en i a imes he is a decon ex ualized decons uc i is looking o aces, na a o Mcll aine is s ill an Adamsi an belie e in chaos bu also in na a i izing o de ; soon in hi s na a i e he asse s ha he ask o he newspape man is o «S lug he e haos [ o h e uni e se] in o sen ences a anged in columns on a page o newsp in » (14 ). Howe e , hi s con inuous emphasis on imposing a na a i e o de in o he chaos o li e (see o ins ance pp. 115 and 123) may well lead he eade o al so conclude he dis us o na a i i y ha Mcll aine sha es wi h pos mode n hinking: in e ec in his bleak -na u alis ic and Adamsian-p esen a ion o he e en s he na a o nei he a i ms he He gelian p og ess o knowledge no he Ma xis emancipa ion o humani y; Mcll aine does no seem o suppo ei he o hese wo g and-na a i es ha , acco ding o Lyo a d ( 1984 ), a e also ejec ed in he pos modem e hos. On he c on a y, as pe ains a his o iog aphic-me a ic ional cons uc , his na u alis ic p esen a ion o co up ed New Yo k is p og ess i ely undennined by his own wo ds. His is an i onic posi ion epi omized in c omm en s ha , like he ollowing one, end o e ase inal con idence in human in e p e a ion: In his momen I unde s ood, as hey mus ha e, ha Donn e's esea che s had p o ided an answe o a kind . .. ha whe e, be o e, all had been chaos and bewildennen and hu , now i was clea ha some hing unde s andable ... an ac ... had been commi ed ... a delibe a e ac o se ies o ac s ... by which we could ecompose he wo ld, com o ingly, in ca ego ies o good and e il. (141; my i alics) Mcll aine is clea ly conscious o he p agma ic necessi y o eso o a gi en na a i e ame -in he quo a ion abo e, a Ch is ian mo al one- so as o impose o de on he chao ic uni e se o o ces, hi s Adamsian belie s d awing a b idge owa ds 264 F ancisco Collado Rod ígu ez pos modem imes. Howe e , his is no an op imis ic unde s anding o li e, as eade s o pos modem chaos heo ies -such as P igogine 's- migh expec : o Mcll aine na a i i y s ill seems o impose o de on a socie y ha is co up ed o he co e, e en i he has chosen o ejec as «no longe enable» he adi ional opposi ion N a u e s. Ci y (224 ). In he book, hi s epo s a s wi h so ne commen s abou «li e al u h» and i ends up wi h an «i llusion» ha b ings back o mind Hayden Wbi e 's no ions on he imagina y quali y o human na a i i y: once he mys e y has been success ully sol ed, Mcll aine epo s o his illusion o he ci y o New Yo k as being « ozen in ime,» in his way-we migh hink-o e coming he e ible law o en opy .. . o pe haps, on he con a y, an icipa ing i s «hea dea h» because he na a o has, e en i b ie ly, eco e ed bis con idence in he biblical God o d eam ha «New Yo k would be o e e encased and ozen, agli e and God-s unned.» A ac ual epo -w ho se own e aci y ha s been equen ly unde mined by he wo ds o Mcll aine himsel -has inally gi en way o a d eaming illusion, once mo e ca!Jing he eade 's anen ion o a «cen e ed consciousness» who, imme sed in his own chao ic belie s, canno main ain a o alizing iew o li e any longe . WORKSCITED BLAIR, WALTER, e al., eds. Th e li e a u e o he Uni ed S a es, 3 d. Ed., ol. Two. 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