后现代主义论文postmodernism—以《白噪音white noise》为例精选.doc

Some thinking about postmodernism On Don DeLillo’s White Noise 1、Introduction Postmodernism was first used in the 1950s and 1960s to refer to a movement in architecture that was a reaction against the austere linear forms of modern architectural styles and which wanted to maintain elements of modern utility while returning to the reassuring classical forms of the past. This style was soon broadened to include movements in literature, art, and a mixture of philosophy and sociology. Further, postmodernism develops in the way that rejects the sovereign autonomous individual with an emphasis upon anarchic collective, anonymous experience. In this paper, I want to give some thinking about postmodernism with the example of White Noise. DeLillo wrote this novel in 1982 when he returned to America. Upon his return, American mass culture had become so alien to him that he decided to re-explore the country as an exotic civilization． 2、Literary features techniques 2.1 Black humor Black humor, a writing technique as well as a new literary school that appeared in America in the 1960s，is generally acknowledged as a distinguished characteristic of postmodern fiction. When people read White Noise, they can’t help laughing. ① In the novel, the author creates many cartoon-like characters. For example, Jack’s wife is nicknamed Baba, a word which means baby in Indian and she is really child-like in the family. Her physical largeness is comically compared with her psychological weakness．She is always criticized by the kids and sometimes acts like a child． ② The strategy of juxtaposing the comic and the tragic is mostly used by black humorists in knitting the structure and background of the novel. In the Airborne Toxic Event，everybody is endangered and does not know what will happen to them，but for Babette，the accident is taken as all opportunity to “cut down her fatty foods”. By juxtaposing the comic and tragic，the author transforms worry and fear into a kind of f