On Technology And Human Subjectivity In Don Delillo’s White Noise

Don DeLillo is one of the most distinguished writers in contemporary America.His long fiction White Noise won the National Book Award.Sarcastically and horrifyingly,DeLillo dramatizes a contemporary American family’s attempt to deal with the mundane conflicts of daily life while grappling with the larger philosophical issues of love,death,and the possibility of happiness in an uncertain world.This thesis aims to explore the relation between technology and human subjectivity in the technological world from the perspective of Mumford’s philosophy of technology and comes to the conclusion that although human beings get lost both physically and mentally due to the fast development of technology and the dominant technological rationality in modern society the reconstruction of human subjectivity is also possible with the return of human compassion and the reconstruction of sense of time.The Introduction part gives a brief introduction to Don DeLillo and the novel White Noise,reviews relevant important research literature at home and abroad and Mumford’s philosophy of technology,explores Mumford’s critical theory of megamachine,organic view of technology and gives a general introduction to the framework.Chapter One "Age of Technology"illustrates the fact that technology pervades human existence,resulting to natural deterioration,consumerism,and the prevalence of technological rationality.Chapter Two "Loss of Subjectivity in Age of Technology"focuses on the analysis of the loss of individual sensation,subjective initiative and the loss of faith and the moral degradation in age of technology.Chapter Three"Reconstruction of Subjectivity in Age of Technology" explores DeLillo’s search for a way out of the crisis through the return of human compassion and the reconstruction of sense of time in White Noise.And DeLillo’s attempt to reconstruct sense of time coincides Mumford’s organic view of technology,which may also aid the resurgence of human subjectivity.The Conclusion ends with the fact that despite of the loss of human subjectivity DeLillo shows in Noise,he still believes that human beings can overcome technological rationality through faith and philosophical ideas.This thesis argues that while DeLillo’s fiction White Noise depicts the challenges of postmodern American society,where technology is pervasive,seriously affects human physical and psychological health,and restricts the development of human subjectivity,he also strives to seek a solution to the crisis through the words and deeds of the characters,reminding the readers of the possibility of the reconstruction of human subjectivity in the technological age.