Postmoderism in White Noise

Postmodernism was a literary movement that succeeded the modernism movement. Two world wars left people shaken, and many shifted from the belief that truth can be found in art to the belief that there is no real truth. Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise is a prime example of a postmodern work.

Postmodernism may stem from modernism but it differs from it in many ways. Instead of mourning the state of the world as modernism did, postmodernism revels in the chaos (Klages). Fragmentation and incoherence are no longer used by authors as mourning mechanisms but instead are used to celebrate the lack of meaning and purpose in the world (Klages). Authors playfully employ such literary devices instead of using them symbolically and despondently. Coupled with the discontinuous style, is inconclusiveness. The human experience is seen as vague in meaning so works of postmodernism often do not have endings (“An Introduction”). Art and literature no longer give these ambiguous lives significance. In fact, nothing does. Western values and consumerism are emphasized in a critical way. In the age of technology consumption and loss of purpose have been taken to a whole new level (Klages). Postmodernism aims to parody the state of our world.

In White Noise Don DeLillo offers up many pointed examples of our society being run by consumerism. Popular culture is sprinkled throughout the work. The constant presence of technology, the television in particular, may be the theme from which the novel draws its name. Jack Gladney, the story’s narrator, constantly mentions the television. The moment when Jack finds his wife’s drug Dylar, a significant moment in his married life, is marked by “the voice at the end of the bed” (DeLillo 178). Dylar is its own is a good example of postmodern themes in DeLillo’s novel as it is used to treat the fear of death, an “illness” from which both Jack and Babette suffer. Another important aspect of postmodernism is represented in White Noise by the character of Murray. His constant philosophical statements illustrate the inability to find a reak purpose in the world.

Consumerism is obvious throughout the novel in the mentions of “shiny bags of potato chips… flip-top rings and twist ties” and other such convenience items (7). DeLillo’s writing style and not just characters and plot line is very postmodern as well. On just the first page the reader is introduced to his fragmented style in the form of a fifteen-line list. DeLillo lists “personal computers… controlled substances… and toffee popcorn” amongst essentials for new college students, placing instant gratification in the limelight (1). The novel ends on a note of small-scaled chaos. With the rearrangement of the supermarket “there is a sense of wandering” (326). This lost feeling underlines the work as a whole.

White Noise stands as a solid example of postmodern literature. DeLillo’s themes and style contributed to the budding trend of postmodern writing.
Works Cited

“An Introduction to Modernism & Postmodernism”
Delillo, Don. White Noise. Penguin Books, 1984.
Klages, Mary. “Postmodernism.” Literary Theory: A Guide for the Perplexed. 2007.