Constructing the meanings of history, identity, and reality in Don DeLillo's Libra and Mao II

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to explore the ways in which the meanings of history, identity, and reality are constructed in Don DeLillo’s Libra and Mao II. While these novels do not deny the existence of “the real”, they demonstrate how any meaning assigned to it is not “out there” to be discovered, but rather created through the use of textuality and narrative. The novels show how so-called “Masters” and the mass visual media participate in constructing meaning by inventing and distributing these narratives, narratives that are written within specific ideological frameworks. This constructivist theme will be explored in light of postmodern theory, narrative theory, media theory, and theories on photography. The theories of Linda Hutcheon and Hayden White will be juxtaposed with those of Jean Baudrillard, suggesting that in Libra and Mao II, DeLillo portrays a world similar to Baudrillard’s “hyperreality” with a proliferation of simulations and simulacra, while at the same time, like Hutcheon and White, rejecting Baudrillard’s loss of “the real” and claiming instead that “the real” has always been mediated by our representations of it. Libra and Mao II demonstrate the mediating power of verbal as well as visual representations, and they provide a meta-commentary on the nature and purpose of writing, be it historical or literary writing, especially in an image-saturated world.