A Study On Body In Don DeLillo’s Cosmopolis

Don De Lillo shows his consistent focus on the body issue in Cosmopolis.Yet few studies have dealt with the body as a specialized theme.The thesis attempts to demonstrate that the exhibition of the body in De Lillo’s work is not merely a rhetorical strategy for his writing,but one of the major themes that he attempts to elevate.In modern American society,where body project is on the rise,De Lillo calls for people to break free from its control and reclaim their authority and autonomy.This research takes Don De Lillo’s Cosmopolis as the subject of study,and examines the body writing in the work.Drawing on the body theories in sociology,anthropology,psychoanalysis and related field,this research discusses body risks and potential coping strategies from three aspects,namely,the experience of the body,the presentation of the body and the construction of the body.Chapter one discusses the experience of the body in New York City which is characterized by urban spectacle.The body is subjected to the impact of the media spectacle and the reshaping of post-human technology.With the undermining of body agency,people are exposed to the crisis of subjectivity dissolution.Chapter two examines the symbolized and individualized body in the postmodern condition.This elaborate polishing of the body is also a way to cope with the risk and anxiety in the face of the crisis of subjectivity.The body is not only manipulated as the symbol of hegemony masculinity,but also becomes a symbol of consumption.The characters’ ontological security is attached to the symbolization of the body.In addition,the characters are engaged in various activities such as medical management,exercise and sports,and treat them as daily routines.The individualization of the body also sustains the expression of self-identity.Chapter three focuses on the coping strategies for construction of the body through Packer’s journey.In this nostalgic journey,the anxiety of the body is temporarily resolved in the spiritual community formed by Anthony and Ibrahim,and Packer reaps the satisfaction of the soul rather than just the survival of the body.Nature also provides the possibility for the return of the soul.Through disability and death,De Lillo indicates that only by confronting the body risk and respecting death can the body balance be truly constructed.Through the discussion of the above three parts,we can penetrate the body surrounded by risks and threats in Cosmopolis,and the body rampancy resulted from body projects in the attempt to cope with the body risks.In the face of the extreme body obsession of people,De Lillo does not simply denounce the existence of the body but calls for the return of the soul,and the balance between soul and body with the strategy of respect for death.