The Rebellious Text

As one of Don De Lillo’s famous works,Libra is considered a representative of postmodernist work.Most researchers pay attention to its postmodern context and historical metafiction but pay less attention to the rebellious spirit in the text.Although researchers point out that Libra is an open text while do not elaborate on this feature systematically.Therefore,the thesis tries to interpret the text from the perspective of carnivalization,proving that Libra is a rebellious and carnivalistic fiction from various angles.Then a further explanation of the rebellion would be given in each chapter.This thesis is divided into three chapters.The first chapter explores the rebellious Oswald,who is not a traditional flat figure but an image with Soviet and American identities.Meanwhile,Oswald’s swaying between the identities as a king and clown constantly reflects his dual identities in the assassination.By shaping Bakhtinian Oswald,De Lillo demonstrates the miserable fate of outsiders who cannot find their identities.The second chapter interprets the rebellious genre: Menippean satire,which displays carnivalistic laughter and illusions in Libra.This fiction displays the similar absurd reality between the United States and the Soviet Union by laughter;meanwhile,through illusions,it demonstrates American trauma during the Cold War.Thus,De Lillo writes a “serious” comedy with the carnivalistic genre,which shows the absurd scene of the cold war and the criticism of impairment from the cold war mentality.The third chapter explores the rebellious narrative and its causes.This rebellion is reflected in heteroglossia.There are two kinds of voices in fiction;the voice of conspiracy exposes social contradictions behind the Kennedy assassination,subverting coincidence referred by the official report.The voice of the coincidence deconstructs the conspiracy and emphasizes uncertainty.The two voices provide an open narrative for the text.In conclusion,this novel displays the rebellion against the flat character,the serious genre,and the monologic narrative;through the rebellious text,De Lillo has exposed the adverse influence of the media effect on the outsider,and expressed his criticism of the cold war mentality and approval for an open text.