Fetishism and Form: Advertising and Ironic Distance in Don DeLillo’s White Noise
This essay uses the historical framework of late twentieth-century advertising to understand issues of characterization in Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise. Given DeLillo’s prior career as a copywriter for Ogilvy & Mather, as well as a large body of scholarship that analyzes his novels in relatio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12950 |
| _version_ | 1797310330007715840 |
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| author | Adam Szetela |
| author_facet | Adam Szetela |
| author_sort | Adam Szetela |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This essay uses the historical framework of late twentieth-century advertising to understand issues of characterization in Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise. Given DeLillo’s prior career as a copywriter for Ogilvy & Mather, as well as a large body of scholarship that analyzes his novels in relationship to issues of political economy and American culture, this essay seeks to not only deepen an understanding of the historical issues that surround DeLillo’s work, but also the political implications of his writing. What is at stake in this project is the treatment of White Noise not only as a realistic “view of life in contemporary America” on par with Jean Baudrillard’s America (Wilcox 3246), but as a rebuke of the commodity fetishism central to the capitalist mode of production. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:42:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-88266ac70f064e22ac8218a2a61fe7c5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:42:24Z |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-88266ac70f064e22ac8218a2a61fe7c52024-02-14T13:21:34ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-933613210.4000/ejas.12950Fetishism and Form: Advertising and Ironic Distance in Don DeLillo’s White NoiseAdam SzetelaThis essay uses the historical framework of late twentieth-century advertising to understand issues of characterization in Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise. Given DeLillo’s prior career as a copywriter for Ogilvy & Mather, as well as a large body of scholarship that analyzes his novels in relationship to issues of political economy and American culture, this essay seeks to not only deepen an understanding of the historical issues that surround DeLillo’s work, but also the political implications of his writing. What is at stake in this project is the treatment of White Noise not only as a realistic “view of life in contemporary America” on par with Jean Baudrillard’s America (Wilcox 3246), but as a rebuke of the commodity fetishism central to the capitalist mode of production.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12950identityindividualityadvertisingcapitalismKeywords: Don DeLilloconsumption |
| spellingShingle | Adam Szetela Fetishism and Form: Advertising and Ironic Distance in Don DeLillo’s White Noise European Journal of American Studies identity individuality advertising capitalism Keywords: Don DeLillo consumption |
| title | Fetishism and Form: Advertising and Ironic Distance in Don DeLillo’s White Noise |
| title_full | Fetishism and Form: Advertising and Ironic Distance in Don DeLillo’s White Noise |
| title_fullStr | Fetishism and Form: Advertising and Ironic Distance in Don DeLillo’s White Noise |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fetishism and Form: Advertising and Ironic Distance in Don DeLillo’s White Noise |
| title_short | Fetishism and Form: Advertising and Ironic Distance in Don DeLillo’s White Noise |
| title_sort | fetishism and form advertising and ironic distance in don delillo s white noise |
| topic | identity individuality advertising capitalism Keywords: Don DeLillo consumption |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12950 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT adamszetela fetishismandformadvertisingandironicdistanceindondelilloswhitenoise |