Multiple Brain Texts and Trauma Writing in Don DeLillo’s Falling Man
Qingji He
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.13185/KK2022.003908Abstract
By taking the concept of brain text, this paper attempts to illustrate that Falling Man by Don DeLillo is an exemplar of how brain text(s) can be processed into literary text(s). Firstly, this paper extends Nie’s concept to include four types of brain texts, namely, those pertaining to characters, readers, society, and writers, then probes into DeLillo’s trauma writing by showing how DeLillo (re)represents different characters’ brain texts in the novel. The silence and loud voice of Drew’s photo “The Falling Man” function to simulate and build up readers’ brain text, and DeLillo’s criticism of “us-them” ideology as society’s brain text becomes apparent through the novel’s narrative structure. What underlies DeLillo’s brain text is his ethics of “standing apart,” DeLillo’s version of negativity, which runs throughout the novel.
Keywords
brain text, Don DeLillo, ethics of “standing apart”, Falling Man, trauma writingPlease login first to access subscription form of article
Kritika Kultura
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