A Critical Study of the Theme of Death in Don Delillo’s White Noise from an Intertextual Perspective
Keywords:
Death theme, Intertextuality, Don DeLillo, White Noise, Manic defense, Postmodern literatureAbstract
This article analyzes the theme of death in Don DeLillo's novel White Noise through an intertextual perspective. The paper explores how the fear of death drives the characters Gladney and Babette to engage in various activities aimed at denying or avoiding death. The author contends that these activities, such as Babette’s enthusiasm for reading to the blind and Gladney’s establishment of Hitler Studies, serve as manic defenses against the fear of death. This study examines how DeLillo's use of intertextuality, particularly references to Tolstoy’s Ivan Ilych, underscores the universal human struggle with mortality. The article demonstrates that DeLillo's portrayal of televised death as an illusory means of avoidance reflects postmodern cultural dynamics. The significance of this work lies in its contribution to understanding how literary texts engage with existential themes through intertextual and cultural references.
(The abstract and keywords were prepared retrospectively for indexing purposes using AI-assisted tools and editorial review, based on the original article. They did not appear in the original publication.)
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