Staging Delillo

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Staging Delillo Staging DeLillo Rebecca Rey B.A. (Hons), The University of Western Australia, 2006 10322929 This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The University of Western Australia School of Social and Cultural Studies Discipline of English and Cultural Studies 2012 Abstract This thesis examines the plays of Don DeLillo. Although DeLillo‘s novels have received much critical discussion, his theatre works, with a few exceptions, have been largely ignored in literary circles. This thesis focuses on DeLillo‘s plays to rectify, in part, the lack of scholarship on this topic. In what follows I will examine each of DeLillo‘s six playtexts in chronological order, devoting a chapter to each of his main plays. Common themes emerging across the oeuvre are the centrality of language, the human fear of death, the elusiveness of truth, and the deception of personal identity. In order to provide a comprehensive critical analysis of DeLillo‘s plays, I will draw on a wide range of sources, including DeLillo‘s novels, personal notes and correspondence, interviews with the writer, and theatre performance reviews, in order to reach a better critical understanding of DeLillo‘s plays. This unprecedented examination of DeLillo‘s plays contributes not only to a deeper understanding of his other fictional works, but is rewarding in itself, as the plays can stand alone as being worthy of critical attention. In Chapter 1, I present an analysis of DeLillo‘s ‗The Engineer of Moonlight‘ (1979)—his first published, but as yet unperformed, playtext. ‗The Engineer‘ bears striking similarities in theme with DeLillo‘s earlier novel Ratner’s Star (1976). In Ratner’s Star, the young protagonist, Billy Twillig, is involved in cracking a code from outer space using the methodology of pure mathematics and logic. In contrast, the protagonist of ‗The Engineer‘, Eric Lighter, turns these same methodologies inwards in an attempt to better understand himself and his madness, a madness that stems from his obsession with mathematics itself. For Eric, the nature of his self and madness ultimately proves to be elusive, and beyond the purview of his mathematical methodology. I examine the motifs of madness, mathematics, game- playing and their interconnections as they appear in ‗The Engineer‘. We then enter the realm of metatheatre in Chapter 2, with DeLillo‘s The Day Room (1986). This play involves a confusing and comedic circus of characters that leaves the audience guessing as to which characters are genuinely mad and which are merely acting. The theme of the deception of identity is explored through the complications introduced by shifting character roles reminiscent of the work of Pirandello, and through unreachable truths indicative of Beckettian concerns. I also ii explore several wider facets present in the playtext: metatheatricality, paranoia, and the link between acting and death. Chapter 3 provides a brief intermission, involving a short, playful, look at DeLillo‘s two one-minute plays, ‗The Rapture of the Athlete Assumed Into Heaven‘ (1992) and ‗The Mystery at the Middle of Ordinary Life‘ (2000). These two playlets are almost directly opposed in presentation and mood, yet they contain a common interest in the deep layers of lives led. ‗The Rapture‘ portrays a victorious tennis star at the height of his extraordinary win, and ‗The Mystery‘ is a quiet meditation on married life; both are moving examinations of core human relationships, desires, and motivations. Chapter 4 focuses on Valparaiso (2003), DeLillo‘s most technological and technocentric work for the stage. When Michael Majeski boards a plane to the wrong city, he finds himself in the centre of the media spotlight, and enjoys it. I briefly examine the characteristics and role of technology in Valparaiso and DeLillo‘s wider oeuvre, and the centrality of technology in the creation and maintenance of contemporary celebrity. Finally, I combine my thoughts on technology and the celebrity process to evaluate DeLillo‘s portrayal of Michael‘s identity. The relationship between language and death is the focus of Chapter 5‘s analysis of Love-Lies-Bleeding (2005). This playtext portrays a family‘s struggle with the decision of whether or not to euthanise its patriarch, Alex Macklin. I view this work through the lens of the philosophy of death, exploring the ethics of euthanasia. This is followed by an analysis of the language of death and the methods of coping with death. Finally, I conclude by drawing together the common themes relating to language, death, truth, and personal identity examined in the above theatre works. The importance of this research lies in its original analysis of Don DeLillo‘s plays, proving their literary worth, and hence providing an essential contribution to the already comprehensive scholarship on his novels. iii CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION: This thesis does not contain work that I have published, nor work under review for publication. iv Acknowledgments This project was supported by the School of Social and Cultural Studies at The University of Western Australia. I am particularly grateful for the Completion Scholarship that bestowed extra time and freedom of thought, and would like to thank UWA Convocation and Graduate Women WA for scholarships that allowed me to travel for research and conferences. In my major research trip to Austin in the United States, I had the pleasure of meeting the helpful staff at the Harry Ransom Center who kindly guided me through the enormous Don DeLillo Collection. The day-to-day life of this thesis was made sweeter by the companionship and camaraderie of my postgraduate colleagues and friends. My co-ordinating supervisor, Steve Chinna, has been a wonderful mentor throughout with his gentle kindness, attention to detail, and unwavering good nature. I am also indebted to Tony Hughes D‘Aeth and Ryan Cox for providing lucid feedback on final drafts. Lastly, I thank my parents and my family. This has all been made possible because of their past personal sacrifices and courage, and their continuing unconditional support. I dedicate this work wholeheartedly to them. v Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................... ii Declaration Page ................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgments ................................................................................................ v Table of Contents ................................................................................................ vi List of Illustrations ............................................................................................. vii Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 1: ‘The Engineer of Moonlight’ (1979) and the Logical Life ................ 13 1.1. Two Methodologies of Logic in ‗The Engineer‘: Mathematics and Play 1.2. Methodologies of Logic in DeLillo‘s Novels 1.3. The Elusive Nature of Truth 1.4. Conclusion Chapter 2: Playing with Metatheatre in The Day Room (1987) ........................... 46 2.1. Metatheatre and its Effects 2.2. The Connection Between Death and Acting 2.3. Conclusion Chapter 3: Intermezzo: One-Minute Plays ........................................................ 77 3.1. ‗The Rapture‘ of the Extraordinary 3.2. ‗The Mystery‘ of the Ordinary Chapter 4: Technology and the Celebrity Circus in Valparaiso (2004) ................ 86 4.1. The Relationship Between Technology and its Users 4.2. A Visible Celebrity with an Invisible Secret 4.3. Language: Speech and Silence 4.4. Conclusion Chapter 5: Love-Lies-Bleeding (2005): Speaking of Life and Death ................... 127 5.1. The Philosophy of Death and the Ethics of Euthanasia 5.2. Specialised Terminology and Naming 5.3. Conclusion: A Silent End Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 156 Bibliography .................................................................................................... 158 vi List of Illustrations Chapter 2: The Day Room Figure 1: Grass‘s metal stand, The Garage Theatre photograph ........................... 59 Figure 2: Characters‘ uniforms, Northark Drama photograph ............................. 60 Figure 3: Promotional photograph for Theatrix production ................................. 60 Figure 4: The Garage Theatre photograph .......................................................... 60 Chapter 4: Valparaiso Figure 1: Stage set-up paper representation. ........................................................ 92 Chapter 5: Love-Lies-Bleeding Figure 1: Promotional photographs, Breitbart website ................................. 130–131 Figure 2: Photograph of Alex in performance, Breitbart website ......................... 131 Figure 3: ‗Saturday Cartoon‘, Birmingham Blues, August 25, 2007 ...................... 139 Figure 4: Photograph of production, Steppenwolf Theatre Company ...................... 145 vii Introduction Although Don DeLillo is well known for his novels, such as the popular White Noise (1985) and Underworld (1997), he has rarely been acknowledged as a playwright. In an attempt to rectify, in part, the lack of scholarship on this topic, and bring some critical notice to these largely unstudied texts, this thesis focuses on DeLillo‘s plays. A study of DeLillo‘s plays will contribute not only to a deeper understanding of his other
Recommended publications
  • (Im)Mortality in Don Delillo's White Noise, Cosmopolis and Zero K
    LITERATURE Journal of 21st-century Writings Article How to Cite: Maffey, R., and Teo, Y., 2018. “Changing Channels of Techno- logy: Disaster and (Im)mortality in Don DeLillo’s White Noise, Cosmopolis and Zero K.” C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-century Writings, 6(2): 6, pp. 1–23, DOI: https://doi.org/10.16995/c21.74 Published: 16 April 2018 Peer Review: This article has been peer reviewed through the double-blind process of C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-century Writings, which is a journal of the Open Library of Humanities. Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distri- bution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Open Access: C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-century Writings is a peer-reviewed open access journal. Digital Preservation: The Open Library of Humanities and all its journals are digitally preserved in the CLOCKSS scholarly archive service. The Open Library of Humanities is an open access non-profit publisher of scholarly articles and monographs. Maffey, R., and Teo, Y., 2018. “Changing Channels of Technology: Disaster and (Im)mortality in Don DeLillo’s White Noise, Cosmopolis LITERATURE Journal of 21st-century Writings and Zero K.” C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-century Writings, 6(2): 6, pp. 1–23, DOI: https://doi.org/10.16995/c21.74 ARTICLE Changing Channels of Technology: Disaster and (Im)mortality in Don DeLillo’s White Noise, Cosmopolis and Zero K Ross Maffey and Yugin Teo Bournemouth University, GB Corresponding author: Yugin Teo ([email protected]) This article examines the changing representation of technology in three of DeLillo’s novels, White Noise, Cosmopolis and Zero K, and traces the con- ceptual and philosophical developments in his writing concerning the two key themes of disaster and mortality.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Little Terrors'
    Don DeLillo’s Promiscuous Fictions: The Adulterous Triangle of Sex, Space, and Language Diana Marie Jenkins A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The School of English University of NSW, December 2005 This thesis is dedicated to the loving memory of a wonderful grandfather, and a beautiful niece. I wish they were here to see me finish what both saw me start. Contents Acknowledgements 1 Introduction 2 Chapter One 26 The Space of the Hotel/Motel Room Chapter Two 81 Described Space and Sexual Transgression Chapter Three 124 The Reciprocal Space of the Journey and the Image Chapter Four 171 The Space of the Secret Conclusion 232 Reference List 238 Abstract This thesis takes up J. G. Ballard’s contention, that ‘the act of intercourse is now always a model for something else,’ to show that Don DeLillo uses a particular sexual, cultural economy of adultery, understood in its many loaded cultural and literary contexts, as a model for semantic reproduction. I contend that DeLillo’s fiction evinces a promiscuous model of language that structurally reflects the myth of the adulterous triangle. The thesis makes a significant intervention into DeLillo scholarship by challenging Paul Maltby’s suggestion that DeLillo’s linguistic model is Romantic and pure. My analysis of the narrative operations of adultery in his work reveals the alternative promiscuous model. I discuss ten DeLillo novels and one play – Americana, Players, The Names, White Noise, Libra, Mao II, Underworld, the play Valparaiso, The Body Artist, Cosmopolis, and the pseudonymous Amazons – that feature adultery narratives.
    [Show full text]
  • Transatlantica, 1 | 2002 Don Delillo : Une Bibliographie Sélective 2
    Transatlantica Revue d’études américaines. American Studies Journal 1 | 2002 Jeune République Don DeLillo : une bibliographie sélective Aaron Smith Édition électronique URL : http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/523 DOI : 10.4000/transatlantica.523 ISSN : 1765-2766 Éditeur AFEA Référence électronique Aaron Smith, « Don DeLillo : une bibliographie sélective », Transatlantica [En ligne], 1 | 2002, mis en ligne le 23 mars 2006, consulté le 29 avril 2021. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/ 523 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/transatlantica.523 Ce document a été généré automatiquement le 29 avril 2021. Transatlantica – Revue d'études américaines est mis à disposition selon les termes de la licence Creative Commons Attribution - Pas d'Utilisation Commerciale - Pas de Modification 4.0 International. Don DeLillo : une bibliographie sélective 1 Don DeLillo : une bibliographie sélective Aaron Smith Oeuvres de Don DeLilloRomans 1 Americana. 1971. London : Penguin, 1990. 2 End Zone. 1972. New York : Penguin, 1986. 3 Great Jones Street. 1973. New York : Penguin, 1994. 4 Ratner’s Star. 1976. London : Vintage, 1991. 5 Players. 1977. London : Vintage, 1991. 6 Running Dog. 1978. London : Picador, 1992. 7 The Names. 1982. New York : Vintage, 1989. 8 White Noise. 1984. London : Picador, 1985. 9 Libra. 1988. London : Penguin, 1989. 10 Mao II. 1991. London : Vintage, 1992. 11 Underworld. 1997. New York : Scribner, 1997. 12 The Body Artist. 2001. New York : Picador, 2001. 13 Cosmopolis. New York : Scribner, 2003 (à paraître) Théâtre 14 The Engineer of Moonlight. Cornell Review 1 (1979) : 21‑47. 15 The Day Room. 1986. New York : Penguin, 1989. 16 The Rapture of the Athlete Assumed into Heaven.
    [Show full text]
  • Transatlantica, 1 | 2020 Time-Images in Don Delillo’S Writing: a Reading of the Body Artist, Point Ome
    Transatlantica Revue d’études américaines. American Studies Journal 1 | 2020 Conjunctions of the Literary and the Philosophical in Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century American Writing Time-Images in Don DeLillo’s Writing: A Reading of The Body Artist, Point Omega and Zero K Andrea Pitozzi Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/15751 DOI: 10.4000/transatlantica.15751 ISSN: 1765-2766 Publisher AFEA Electronic reference Andrea Pitozzi, “Time-Images in Don DeLillo’s Writing: A Reading of The Body Artist, Point Omega and Zero K”, Transatlantica [Online], 1 | 2020, Online since 01 December 2020, connection on 29 April 2021. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/15751 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/ transatlantica.15751 This text was automatically generated on 29 April 2021. Transatlantica – Revue d'études américaines est mis à disposition selon les termes de la licence Creative Commons Attribution - Pas d'Utilisation Commerciale - Pas de Modification 4.0 International. Time-Images in Don DeLillo’s Writing: A Reading of The Body Artist, Point Ome... 1 Time-Images in Don DeLillo’s Writing: A Reading of The Body Artist, Point Omega and Zero K Andrea Pitozzi Time is too difficult. Don DeLillo, Zero K (68) In the Realm of Images 1 In his writings Don DeLillo has always employed images as a powerful instrument providing an immediate access to post-World-War-II American culture. From the remarks on the world of media and cinema contained in his first novel Americana (1971) to the detailed descriptions of the video of Kennedy’s assassination in Libra (1988), from discussions on photography and television in White Noise (1985) or Mao II (1991) to the constellation of photographs, movies and video frames haunting the pages of Underworld (1997), the writer has frequently selected iconic images from the twentieth century as a narrative basis.
    [Show full text]
  • Transatlantica, 1 | 2016 Fiction Rescues History: Don Delillo Conference in Paris 2
    Transatlantica Revue d’études américaines. American Studies Journal 1 | 2016 Modernist Revolutions: American Poetry and the Paradigm of the New Fiction Rescues History: Don DeLillo Conference in Paris Paris Diderot University and Paris Sorbonne University, February 18th – 20th, 2016 Luca Ferrando Battistà, Maud Bougerol, Aliette Ventejoux, Béatrice Pire and Sarah Boulet Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/8181 DOI: 10.4000/transatlantica.8181 ISSN: 1765-2766 Publisher AFEA Electronic reference Luca Ferrando Battistà, Maud Bougerol, Aliette Ventejoux, Béatrice Pire and Sarah Boulet, “Fiction Rescues History: Don DeLillo Conference in Paris”, Transatlantica [Online], 1 | 2016, Online since 04 February 2017, connection on 29 April 2021. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/8181 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/transatlantica.8181 This text was automatically generated on 29 April 2021. Transatlantica – Revue d'études américaines est mis à disposition selon les termes de la licence Creative Commons Attribution - Pas d'Utilisation Commerciale - Pas de Modification 4.0 International. Fiction Rescues History: Don DeLillo Conference in Paris 1 Fiction Rescues History: Don DeLillo Conference in Paris Paris Diderot University and Paris Sorbonne University, February 18th – 20th, 2016 Luca Ferrando Battistà, Maud Bougerol, Aliette Ventejoux, Béatrice Pire and Sarah Boulet 1 The Don DeLillo conference which took place in Paris from Thursday, February 18th to Saturday, February 20th, 2016 was a major event graced by the presence of the author himself and prestigious DeLillo scholars, and attended by a numerous audience. It was hosted by Paris Diderot University and Paris Sorbonne University, and organized by Antoine Cazé, Karim Daanoune, Jean-Yves Pellegrin and Anne-Laure Tissut.
    [Show full text]
  • Technology and Cyberspace: Don Delillo
    Technology and Cyberspace: Don DeLillo + Kinuyo Koikawa Part-time Lecturer, Kyushu University Abstract. This paper explores how people respond to technology, in particular to cyberspace. Through various works of Don DeLillo (1936-), the American novelist, this paper argues how our being is threatened in the technological age because information manipulation ability easily makes people harbor the illusion that the world revolves around them, so thus we excessively depend on technology – the illusion that even immortality can be obtained in cyberspace. Our way of thinking also has become a technological one. Extreme dependence on technology creates a kind of cyberspace paranoia. However, there is also hope. In cyberspace, everything is connected. Of course equations to make bombs on computer monitors end up in real bombs, but on the other hand a seraphic word on computer monitors could change the world for the better. If a great many people are connected in cyberspace with strong intentions to achieve peace, our world will become peaceful. Predicting the nature of such connections in cyberspace, DeLillo forecasts the arrival of social network services, such as Facebook. Keywords: Leading-Edge Technology, Cyberspace, Computers, Threats to Human Existence, Hope, Immortality, Interconnectivity, Social Network System, Facebook. 1. Introduction We have witnessed a remarkable advancement of technology in recent years. Technology continues to evolve, and many people are now enjoying connections via social network systems, exemplified most famously by Facebook. Don DeLillo has cast his piercing vision on such changes in our society and has provided insights into various aspects of our world, ranging from our very being to our language, culture, and technology, and shown us how “People in this world have needs and desires shaped by technology.”1 This paper aims to explore how technology and cyberspace are deeply related to human beings by examining fundamental implications in DeLillo’s works.
    [Show full text]
  • Tion of Don Delillo
    ORBIT-OnlineRepository ofBirkbeckInstitutionalTheses Enabling Open Access to Birkbeck’s Research Degree output Delirious USA: the representation of capital in the fic- tion of Don DeLillo https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/40479/ Version: Full Version Citation: Travers, Thomas William Lynn (2020) Delirious USA: the repre- sentation of capital in the fiction of Don DeLillo. [Thesis] (Unpublished) c 2020 The Author(s) All material available through ORBIT is protected by intellectual property law, including copy- right law. Any use made of the contents should comply with the relevant law. Deposit Guide Contact: email Birkbeck, University of London Delirious USA: The Representation of Capital in the Fiction of Don DeLillo Thomas William Lynn Travers Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2019 1 Declaration I, Thomas William Lynn Travers, declare that this thesis is my own work. Where I have drawn upon the work of other researchers, this has been fully acknowledged. 2 Abstract In this thesis I offer a new reading of Don DeLillo’s fiction through an engagement with contemporary Marxist literary theory and political economy. Beginning in the 1960s, the thesis traces the launch, expansion, and shattering of DeLillo’s narrative apparatus as it recomposes itself across the genres of the short story, the conspiratorial thriller, the historical novel, and the novel of time. Developing on theories of the novel as a capitalist epic, the thesis takes the insistent appearance of surplus populations in DeLillo’s work as an opportunity to reflect on, but also to revise and reconceptualise, Marxist accounts of the novel and its philosophy of history.
    [Show full text]
  • I. Capitalism and Schizophrenia in Cosmoposlis
    I. Capitalism and Schizophrenia in Cosmoposlis This project focuses on Don Delillo’s Cosmopolis as the discourse of exploration of protagonist’s split subjectivity that is the result of capitalistic infrastructure of the society. Cosmopolis is a novel about a 28 years old multi- billionaire asset manager who makes an odyssey across midtown Manhattan in order to get his hair cut. It explores the dialectics of late capitalism and brings out the evils and vices of capitalistic world in the life of human beings. In the novel Cosmopolis, the protagonist becomes the victim of Laissez-faire capitalism and he meets the catastrophic disaster due to his rationalistic as well as totalitarian philosophy. His material obsession is the cause of his down fall and tragic end. So the project aims to show the evil sides of capitalism of culture industry and proves that material gratification in the contemporary world in the age of capitalism leads towards catastrophic consequences. This research questions the rationalistic philosophy and suggests the need of humanitarian thinking for happy life. This project focuses on the disintegrated family and societal relationship of the character Eric Packer as the cause of late capitalism. This research explores that capitalism creates manufactured risk and there is profound uncertainty in the lives of human beings. In the text Cosmopolis, Don Delillo’s protagonist Eric Packer faces the tragic end because of his material gratification and rationalistic philosophy. In the age of globalization, human beings are Icarian figures like Packer because they desire more and more matters or capitals. Eric Packer lacks humanity, emotions, philanthropic qualities and romantic life due to his totalitarian philosophy.
    [Show full text]
  • Kierkegaard's Reflection in Don Delillo's Novel „Falling Man?
    European Journal of Science and Theology, February 2017, Vol.13, No.1, 15-23 _______________________________________________________________________ KIERKEGAARD’S REFLECTION IN DON DELILLO’S NOVEL ‘FALLING MAN’ Martina Pavlíková* Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Faculty of Arts, Central European Research Institute of Søren Kierkegaard, Hodžova 1, 949 74 Nitra, Slovak Republic (Received 7 October 2016) Abstract This paper analyses Don DeLillo‟s novel „Falling Man‟, which is concerned with the symbolic nature of terrorist violence portrayed and interpreted through the mass media that are able to create a specific simulacrum of reality. DeLillo‟s narrative examines the possibilities of reinventing one‟s individual identity and the tendency of individuals to construct their own identities through a group mentality as well. The paper also deals with the influence of the Danish thinker Soren Kierkegaard on the novel „Falling Man‟. Keywords: subjectivity, terrorism, despair, anxiety, hedonism 1. Introduction Don DeLillo (1936) is a very significant American writer, playwright and essayist. He currently belongs among the most phenomenal and important novelists of modern American literary era. Literary critic Harold Bloom “named him as one of the four major American novelists of his time, along with Thomas Pynchon, Philip Roth, and Cormac McCarthy” [1]. He is considered to be a representative of postmodern literature. Don DeLillo himself stresses that he has been profoundly influenced by “abstract expressionism, European movies and jazz” [2]. His unique literary work reflects the concept of man and modern society being impacted by the advances of Science and technology. His novels intertwine modern appliances, scientific technology, mass media, nuclear wars, sport, various forms of art, cultural performances, cultural objects, cold war, digital age, economy, conspiracy theories and global terrorism.
    [Show full text]
  • Negative Reviews of Falling Man
    Schweighauser and Schneck 1 Do not cite. Schweighauser, Philipp and Peter Schneck. "Introduction: The American and the European DeLillo." Terrorism, Media, and the Ethics of Fiction: Transatlantic Perspectives on Don DeLillo. Ed. Schneck and Schweighauser. New York: Continuum, 2010. 1-15. The published version of this essay is available here: http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/terrorism-media-and-the-ethics-of-fiction- 9781441139931/ Prof. Dr. Philipp Schweighauser Assistant Professor and Head of American and General Literatures Department of English University of Basel Nadelberg 6 4051 Basel Switzerland Phone Office: +41 61 267 27 84 Phone Secretary: +41 61 267 27 90 Fax: +41 61 267 27 80 Email: [email protected] Schweighauser and Schneck 2 Prof. Dr. Peter Schneck Director of the Institute for English and American Studies University of Osnabrück Neuer Graben 40 Room 123 D-49069 Osnabrück Germany Phone: +49 541 969 44 12 or +49 541 969 60 42 Fax: +49 541 969 42 56 Email: [email protected] Introduction: The American and the European DeLillo Philipp Schweighauser and Peter Schneck In Mao II (1991), Don DeLillo lets his protagonist, the novelist Bill Gray, speak words that have been read as eerily prophetic in the aftermath of 9/11: "Years ago [...] I used to think it was possible for a novelist to alter the inner life of the culture. Now bomb-makers and gunmen have taken that territory. They make raids on human consciousness" (41). While the collective imagination of the past was guided, DeLillo seems to suggest, by the creative order and ethos of narrative fictions told by novelists, our contemporary fantasies and anxieties are completely controlled by the endless narratives of war and terror constantly relayed by the mass media.
    [Show full text]
  • The Silence That Attends Her Pauses
    Scribner An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 www.SimonandSchuster.com This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright © 2020 by Don DeLillo All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Scribner Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. First Scribner hardcover edition October 2020 SCRIBNER and design are registered trademarks of The Gale Group, Inc., used under license by Simon & Schuster, Inc., the publisher of this work. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected]. The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com. Interior design by Erich Hobbing Jacket design and Photography: Office of Paul Sahre Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available. ISBN 978-1-9821-6455-3 ISBN 978-1-9821-6457-7 (ebook) To Barbara Bennett “I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” Albert Einstein PART ONE -1- Words, sentences, numbers, distance to destination.
    [Show full text]
  • Don Delillo's Art Stalkers
    Xavier University Exhibit Faculty Scholarship English 2015 Don DeLillo’s Art Stalkers Graley Herren Xavier University Follow this and additional works at: http://www.exhibit.xavier.edu/english_faculty Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Herren, Graley, "Don DeLillo’s Art Stalkers" (2015). Faculty Scholarship. Paper 560. http://www.exhibit.xavier.edu/english_faculty/560 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the English at Exhibit. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Exhibit. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 138 Don DeLillo's Art Stalkers DON DELILLO'S ART STALKERS f Graley Herren Throughout his career Don DeLillo has remained persistently engaged with art, artists, and the creative processes through which various artworks are made. His focus has increasingly shifted of late toward the other end of the artistic transaction, examining the recep- tion processes through which artworks are perceived, assimilated, de- constructed, and reconstructed to suit the needs of individual viewers. DeLillo is particularly interested in characters that are drawn to visit the same artworks or art venues over and again. Driven by shadowy forces that they scarcely understand or control, these compulsive characters return repeatedly to a museum, gallery, or cinema where they can gaze once again at the objects of their obsessive desire. Although their obsessions are diverse, sometimes perverse, and al- ways imagined as private, these intimate artistic encounters all take place in public spaces. Such conditions provide the basic components of a scenario to which DeLillo himself is repeatedly drawn: a male predator gazes on a female spectator gazing at an artwork, stalking his prey back and forth between the presumed sanctuary of the art venue and the vulnerable world outside.
    [Show full text]