A Postmodern Reading Of Contemporary America In White Noise

Don DeLillo is a contemporary American writer. He is widely considered by modern critics to be one of the most influential figures of postmodernism in literature. As an acute observer of contemporary Western life, he is well known as a satirist of the postmodern culture. His eighth novel, White Noise, receives high acclaims in the literary circles. In this novel, DeLillo presents us a panorama of the life of twentieth-century America, and examines critically many facets of the society he lives in. In light of the theories of two critics on postmodern culture—Jean baudrillard and Frederic Jameson, this thesis is going to study the contemporary America that DeLillo depicts in White Noise.The thesis contains five parts. In the first part—introduction, Don DeLillo's background, his major achievements and a brief outline of White Noise are given. Moreover, the significance of the study is included.The second part is literature review. In this part, a comprehensive summary of the study on White Noise in recent years is listed, which provides support and foundation for my research. As scholars in China rarely comment on his works, the literature review is mainly based on foreign criticism. In general, the critical reception of Don DeLillo's works can be divided into two phases, and the publication of White Noise can be seen as the watershed of these two phases. After the publication of this novel in 1985, critics and readers began to reassess Don DeLillo and his works. What's more, the novel has established his status as one of dominant writers in American postmodern literature. In this thesis, the review of the critical reception of White Noise is focused on the aspects of themes, characterization and narrative strategies.The third part is theoretical perspectives. In this part, cultural criticism and the gist of Jean Baudrillard and Frederic Jameson's cultural theories is introduced briefly.The fourth part is the main body of the thesis. In this part, the contemporary America represented in White Noise is analyzed in terms of the theories of Jean Baudrillard and Frederic Jameson. The analysis includes three minor parts, namely themes, characterization and narrative structure. Firstly, the themes of the novel, including the manipulation by mass media, especially TV, simulation replacing reality, and the weakening of historicity are analyzed. The manipulation by mass media is studied from three aspects: the role of mass media in image-building, mass media as the authoritative voice, and the collapse of the real; simulation replacing reality is also examined from three facets: the most photographed barn- a touristic simulacrum, the SIMUVAC (simulated evacuation), and the nun-simulacrum of faith. Secondly, the characterization of the novel is studied from two aspects: decentering of the autonomous self and type characters. Finally, the narrative structure of White Noise, including noncoherent plot and open ending, is analyzed.The fifth part of the thesis is the conclusion. Based on the analysis above, it is tentatively concluded that Don DeLillo has offered the readers a disordered hyperreal society in White Noise. Living in such a media-saturated consumer society, individuals are decentered and become superficial.