| 英文摘要 |
With his seminal concept of“liquid modernity,”Zygmunt Bauman explores how pervasive uncertainties seep into democratic capitalism, permeating everyday life. This leads to a form of modernity characterized by liquidity, where individualization and privatization prevail. Liquid life denotes an insecure and challenging existence, with individuals fearing their inability to keep up with unpredictable and rapid changes. These liquid fears proliferate, spreading through the cracks in human interactions. As Bauman posits, order regulates, while fears arise from confrontations with disorder. The overwhelming pressures and fears of irregularity inevitably lead to violence. This paper, guided by the framework of liquid modernity, Guy Debord’s discourse of the“spectacle,”and Jean Baudrillard’s concepts of consumer society within the realms of simulation and simulacra, aims to examine how the spectacle of fears engenders death anxiety and apocalyptic panic in Don DeLillo’s novels White Noise and Falling Man. Through various events in the two novels, DeLillo portrays an era fraught with terror. Nevertheless, he also introduces the notion of a counter-narrative, suggesting a perspective on the potential for humans to transcend the illusions and disillusions of democratic capitalism. Debord’s theories of the“constructed situation”and“détournement”provide theoretical support to elaborate on how DeLillo’s counter-narrative reveals a dynamic force of self-awareness. In doing so, the potential for a singular consciousness—free from separation and alienation—can be simultaneously ignited. |