"3M", A Triangle Playing Noise: Exploring "Me, Mass And Meaning" In 1980s' America Through White Noise

It is a controversial issue among critics whether Don DeLillo's representative work White Noise can be called a postmodern novel.In this present thesis,Chapter One traces the lineage of critics addressing DeLillo and highlights Tom LeClair,who,diverting from the difficulty of"labeling",establishes the monographic studies of DeLillo with an original approach of "the Systems Novel".Following the idea of LeClair,the thesis develops a triangle system composed by three parameters:"Me","Mass",and "Meaning".Chapter Two investigates the "3M" in White Noise so as to explore the cultural and social significances enclosed by the system. For instance,the anxiety of self-identity in the conflict and compromise between "Me" as a social member and an individual;the magic and dread of the "Mass" characterized by science,media and consumerism everywhere;and the "Meaning" on the edge of belief in an era overload with information and representation that go before reality.Chapter Three is a suite of American noise including "American Noise of Waste", "American Noise of Phantom" and "American Noise of Meditation".The first part surveys the social problems exposed by White Noise in the historical and social backgrounds of 1980s' America.A close interrogation of postmodern theories of Jean Baudrillard, especially the theory of simulacrum,reveals the origin of "simulations" frequently depicted by White Noise in the second part.Continuing with Baudrillard's theory of "subjectness" and "objectness",the last part probes the ideology behind the "subject" and the "object" of the contemporary Americans dramatized in White Noise.To summarize,composed by these three elements mutually influential,restrictive and dependent to each other,the triangle system represents the work of the great society.If White Noise is a disk all about the "noises" of the 1980s' America,then "Me","Mass" and "Meaning" is the very instrument of triangle to play the tune.I sincerely hope this "triangle" will be contributive to refresh perspectives of readers in reading Don DeLillo and his writings.