The ridiculous sublime in Don DeLillo’s White Noise and Cosmopolis

The sublime figures significantly in Don DeLillo’s novels. Transformed into what has been termed postmodern sublime - disposing of transcendence in favor of immanence - it is considered to be more of a hollow, confusing and overwhelming phenomenon rather than an elevating and empowering one. More...

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Main Authors:	Behrooz, Niloufar, Pirnajmuddin, Hossein
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2016
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10144/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10144/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10144/1/8533-33388-1-PB.pdf

id	ukm-10144
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-101442017-02-23T04:05:44Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10144/ The ridiculous sublime in Don DeLillo’s White Noise and Cosmopolis Behrooz, Niloufar Pirnajmuddin, Hossein The sublime figures significantly in Don DeLillo’s novels. Transformed into what has been termed postmodern sublime - disposing of transcendence in favor of immanence - it is considered to be more of a hollow, confusing and overwhelming phenomenon rather than an elevating and empowering one. Moreover, the multiplicity of prior representations and the exhaustion of the possible have undermined the authenticity and power of the sublime, turning it into pseudo-sublime and mock-sublime. As such, it has moved ever closer to the realm of the ridiculous to the point where it is rather a question of co-existence and coimplication between them rather than an opposition. This can be phrased the ridiculous sublime. This paper focuses on DeLillo’s White Noise (1984) and Cosmopolis (2003) by drawing on major theorists of the sublime like Kant, Jameson, Zizek and, most notably, Lyotard, in an attempt to shed light on the modality of the merging of the sublime and the ridiculous. Our analysis shows that in DeLillo’s fiction, White Noise and Cosmopolis, the events and phenomena that transpire to convey a sense of sublimity are almost always interrupted and tarnished by an implication of the grotesque and the ridiculous. This transformation of the concept of the sublime reflects the decline of metanarratives and the exhaustion of possible experiences as the hallmarks of the postmodern era. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2016-02 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10144/1/8533-33388-1-PB.pdf Behrooz, Niloufar and Pirnajmuddin, Hossein (2016) The ridiculous sublime in Don DeLillo’s White Noise and Cosmopolis. GEMA: Online Journal of Language Studies, 16 (1). pp. 183-197. ISSN 1675-8021 http://ejournal.ukm.my/gema/issue/view/750
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	The sublime figures significantly in Don DeLillo’s novels. Transformed into what has been termed postmodern sublime - disposing of transcendence in favor of immanence - it is considered to be more of a hollow, confusing and overwhelming phenomenon rather than an elevating and empowering one. Moreover, the multiplicity of prior representations and the exhaustion of the possible have undermined the authenticity and power of the sublime, turning it into pseudo-sublime and mock-sublime. As such, it has moved ever closer to the realm of the ridiculous to the point where it is rather a question of co-existence and coimplication between them rather than an opposition. This can be phrased the ridiculous sublime. This paper focuses on DeLillo’s White Noise (1984) and Cosmopolis (2003) by drawing on major theorists of the sublime like Kant, Jameson, Zizek and, most notably, Lyotard, in an attempt to shed light on the modality of the merging of the sublime and the ridiculous. Our analysis shows that in DeLillo’s fiction, White Noise and Cosmopolis, the events and phenomena that transpire to convey a sense of sublimity are almost always interrupted and tarnished by an implication of the grotesque and the ridiculous. This transformation of the concept of the sublime reflects the decline of metanarratives and the exhaustion of possible experiences as the hallmarks of the postmodern era.
format	Article
author	Behrooz, Niloufar Pirnajmuddin, Hossein
spellingShingle	Behrooz, Niloufar Pirnajmuddin, Hossein The ridiculous sublime in Don DeLillo’s White Noise and Cosmopolis
author_facet	Behrooz, Niloufar Pirnajmuddin, Hossein
author_sort	Behrooz, Niloufar
title	The ridiculous sublime in Don DeLillo’s White Noise and Cosmopolis
title_short	The ridiculous sublime in Don DeLillo’s White Noise and Cosmopolis
title_full	The ridiculous sublime in Don DeLillo’s White Noise and Cosmopolis
title_fullStr	The ridiculous sublime in Don DeLillo’s White Noise and Cosmopolis
title_full_unstemmed	The ridiculous sublime in Don DeLillo’s White Noise and Cosmopolis
title_sort	ridiculous sublime in don delillo’s white noise and cosmopolis
publisher	Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
publishDate	2016
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10144/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10144/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10144/1/8533-33388-1-PB.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T19:56:40Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T19:56:40Z
_version_	1777406574774452224

The ridiculous sublime in Don DeLillo’s White Noise and Cosmopolis

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