The System and the Individual – The Dystopian Features of Don Delillo's Fiction Cover Image

Sustav i pojedinac – distopijska obilježja Don DeLillove fikcije
The System and the Individual – The Dystopian Features of Don Delillo's Fiction

Author(s): Marko Lukić
Subject(s): Studies in violence and power, Theory of Literature, American Literature
Published by: Filološki fakultet, Nikšić
Keywords: DeLillo; dystopia; system; Foucault; Chomsky; power; paranoia;

Summary/Abstract: Don DeLillo's literary production, regardless of him being one of the key figures the contemporary American literary production, constantly refuses to acknowledge the existence of the utopian American dream. Instead of looking at the possible positive values embodied in the very concept of the nation DeLillo decides to directly undermine and challenge the very values of society and the structures that ensure the functioning of the entire system. The intention of this analysis is to indicate a connection between certain “theories of power” (Foucault, Chomsky, etc.) and the very functioning of society, and/or the society presented in DeLillo’s narratives. As a possible example of the presence of this type of anxiety the article analyses DeLillo’s first novel Americana in which the author narrates the disappearance of the original – “mythical” values of primeval Americaand retells a new and paranoid dystopian America whose functioning is based on various systems of power.

  • Issue Year: 2011
  • Issue No: 3-4
  • Page Range: 289-300
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Croatian