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24 Okla. City U. L. Rev. 431 (1999)
Casting Light on Originalism

handle is hein.journals/okcu24 and id is 441 raw text is: OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW VOLUME 24 FALL 1999 NUMBER 3 THOMAS PYNCHON AND THE LAW ARTICLES CASTING LIGHT ON ORIGINALISM* SHUBHA GHOSH** In this Introduction to the Symposium on Pynchon and Law, the Author relates the principal themes of Thomas Pynchon 's novels to the legal doctrine of originalism, the contention that legal meanings should be based on a historically accurate context at the moment of drafting. A consistent theme in Pynchon 's writings is the quest motive and the uses and abuses of history. The Author draws a parallel between the originalist bent of Pynchon's characters and the originalist inclination in legal interpretation and illustrates the desirability and traps of originalism. The Introduction concludes with a survey of the major themes connecting the various articles in the Symposium and its organization. Who is Thomas Pynchon and what does he have to do with law? The contributors to this Symposium answer this question quite well from the * The author would like to thank John M. Krafft and Art LeFrancois for taking the time to read earlier drafts of this piece. Nothing they told me sunk in, as they well know. ** Associate Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law.