ABSTRACT
Dick’s examination and integration of numerous sources-the novel contains over two hundred cultural, historical, philosophical, mythic, religious, literary, and scientifi c allusions-presents religious and secular narratives as a counter-measure against nothingness and futility that threatens the world and the individual. By incorporating large amounts of information and references from a range of sources and historical periods, Dick offers “textuality” as an implied answer to his question about life’s meaning and the possibility of divine presence. “Textuality” implies the cycle of mutual infl uence between the text and the subject-matter, the reader, and the author, it refl ects the belief that language is arbitrary and consensual, but also that it is in the center of the authentic, rather than being misplaced by it.3 Valis suggests that texts can and do have an intrinsic relationship to experiential reality and the process of self-defi nition and suggests textuality as the essential stance against both death and the lack of knowledge.
