Power And Life:Don De Lillo’s Writing Of Bio-politics In Libra

In the 21 st century,the literary creation is no longer just to depict and criticize the reality,but to examine the present and predict the development of society in the future based on history.In this way,the new trend of modern literature,the combination of literature synchrony and diachrony,has been developed.De Lillo’s Libra is a classic work under this new circumstance.In Libra,De Lillo reinterprets the assassination of President Kennedy in1963,and discusses the eternal topic of “power and life” in literature.De Lillo uses his imagination to re-examine the definition of people’s lives under the power in America from50 s to 60 s of the 20 th century,and imply the crisis caused by bio-politics under the American power at the end of the 20 th century.In the series of Homo Sacer,Giorgio Agamben gives an innovative and systematic study of bio-politics,and puts forward some important concepts such as state of exception,the sovereign power and bare life.He points out that the sovereign power’s decision on bare life and the division of it can be transplanted and expanded constantly with modernization.Taking the Libra as the research object,from the perspective of Agamben’s bio-politics thought,this dissertation intends to explore the relationship between power and life in this novel.Through analyzing the constructions of “state of exception” under different powers,as well as the formation and resistance of “bare life” in different forms,this dissertation tries to interpret the division of life issues by western political power,and then gives a critical reflection on De Lillo’s writing of bio-politics.This dissertation provides a detailed analysis of the novel from the following aspects:Chapter One gives an introduction to De Lillo and his works.This part includes the literature reviews on Libra,both abroad and at home.Besides,it traces the the academic development of bio-politics and explains its connotation centred on Agamben’s understanding,so as to reveal the feasibility and innovation of this analysis with his philosophical though.Chapter Two analyzes the construction of “state of exception” under different powers.De Lillo not only reflects the world situation of that time,but also analyzes the various conflicts in American society;he not only focuses on the sovereign power represented by the state apparatus,but also has insight into the value conflict caused by the heterogeneous culture.Thereby,De Lillo exposes the normalization of “legal violence” under the “state of exception”,and realizes that it has been the sign of modern crisis.Chapter Three discusses that the power’s decision on life produces bare life in different forms.In Libra,based on the narratives under different times and spaces,the bare life is represented in different forms: the abandoned bare life represented by Oswald,the exiled abandoned bare life represented by refugees and mercenaries,and the power agent represented by historiographer Branch.By analyzing the birth and resistance of bare life,De Lillo satirizes the hypocrisy of American political system.Chapter Four critically analyzes the oblique obedience to power and power consolidation in De Lillo’s writing.From three aspects,power expansion behind the assassination plan,the characterization of assassin under the influence of Cold War mentality,and images of other countries based on American exceptionalism,this chapter points out that De Lillo’s literary imagination based on historical events is actually affected by the dualism of Cold War mentality,and shows his preservation of the western power discourse and his tendency to comply with and consolidate it in a covert way.Chapter Five draws a conclusion with a review of the dissertation.This chapter argues that,by reviewing history,the author examines the predicament and crisis of existence of American people,which reflects his social responsibility as a serious writer;meanwhile,by rewriting history,he intervenes in politics and criticizes the political system as well as current ideology and value of so-called democratic American society.However,his writing does not completely get rid of the influence of the Cold War mentality.Thus the obedience to,as well as the preservation and consolidation of the western discourse power centred on America can be accessed in his novel.