The Crisis And Restoration Of Communicative Relations In Joseph O'neill's Netherland

Joseph O'Neill's Netherland is a fictional response to the fall of the Twin Towers.In previous studies,the traumatic reading of the 9/11 aftermath and the postcolonial interpretation of cross-cultural relations both present etherland as a novel that firmly engages with communication.Besides,communication is poignantly a fundamental issue raised by the 9/11 crisis.It points to the necessity of reconfiguring the broken link of expression and the possible mechanism of repair and recovery in the US.Yet,the validity of communication in Netherland has so far been inadequately addressed.This thesis intends to fill this gap by discussing the crisis and restoration of communicative relations in the novel.According to German philosopher Jurgen Habermas,modern society consists of the "lifeworld" coordinated by communicative rationality and the "system" dominated by instrumental rationality.The intrusion of instrumentality into the lifeworld rips the heart of social discourse and places the consensus-oriented communication at stake.Drawing on Habermas's theory of communicative action,this thesis attempts to demonstrate the communicative crisis in Netherland,and to discover possible solutions that O'Neill suggests to restore communicative relations.It will display how the familial,communal and ethnical communication in the novel respectively violates the three universal validity claims—cognitive truth,normative rightness and subjective truthfulness.It will argue that the three levels of communicative relations are impaired by the infiltration of technological mediums,the intrusion of the economic steering media of instrumental rationality,and the incursion of political steering media of instrumentality.It will also contend that the novel offers a hopeful speculation of reopening the paths for communication,as the return to the comfort of home,the reconstruction of social groups and the reconception of multi-cultural reality will help secure the foundation of communicative relations in the post-9/11 US.