本論文旨在探討唐•德利洛的小說《白噪音》中的美國魔幻與恐懼。論文分三章，依序分析文本中的美國夢、美國夢如何被呈現為“美國魔幻”以及美國魔幻如何最終演變成“美國恐懼”，成為最終的美國惡夢。首章首先探討美國夢這個概念在美國歷史鐘的演變。我採用吉姆•科倫以及安德魯•德爾班科書中所提供的美國夢之歷史演變概述當作本論文中探討美國夢之知識背景。第二章首先探討小說《白噪音》中所呈現之美國夢。由於小說中強調消費文化與媒體之作用及其重要性，本章亦探討小說中之美國夢是如何透過尚•布希亞所謂的「擬像」（simulacra）及「模擬」（simulation）被呈現出來，進而演變成《白噪音》中所呈現的“美國魔幻”。透過“美國魔幻”之詮釋，本章將分析《白噪音》實為一本批判美國夢之小說。第三章將重拾小說中之一大重點議題—主角對死亡的恐懼，目的為要審查此一恐懼之背後真正的原因。雖然許多人僅僅視《白噪音》為一本以後現代呈述人類無法控制的死亡恐懼後現代的小說，我探討的重點為書中所呈現之對死亡的極度恐懼如何和“美國魔幻”產生關連，並進一步指出“美國魔幻”實為此一恐懼之主要原因及強化因素，並指出“美國魔幻”如何因此演變為德利洛之“美國恐懼”—一個美國夢及“美國魔幻”發展至極致，進而演變成一可能之末世寫照。

This thesis aims to explore how the idea of American Dream is presented in White Noise, how the Dream is represented as “American magic,” and how eventually it turns into “American dread,” the ultimate American nightmare. In Chapter One, I provide a brief historical survey on the concept of the American Dream, the idea that mainly shaped the American nation in history. I turn to Jim Cullen’s The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea That Shaped a Nation and Andrew Delbanco’s The Real American Dream: A Meditation on Hope to explore how the idea of the American Dream changes through the course of American history as well as construct a historical background of the American Dream. Chapter Two explores how the American Dream in White Noise is exposed and transformed into what DeLillo terms in the novel as the “American magic” via the novel’s extreme emphasis on the issue of mass media, the operation of simulated magic. First, I briefly analyze the American Dream succeeded in White Noise based on my survey of the American Dream in the previous chapter. Reading DeLillo’s “American magic” as the simulated dream in White Noise in light of Baudrillard’s theory of simulacra and simulation, I argue that White Noise is in fact a novel based on the critique of the American Dream due to the falsehood of the protagonists’ American Dream televised through media and consumer culture. In Chapter Three, by recalling the novel’s emphasis on the protagonists’ fear of death, I aim to examine the true reason for such fatal fear. While many may read White Noise simply as a postmodern representation of man’s uncontrollable natural fear of death, I examine the connection of this major theme of fear towards death to DeLillo’s American magic and point out the possibility of American magic acting both as a cause and reinforcement of this fear as well as relating it to the larger issue of DeLillo’s “American dread” —a portrayal of the American Dream and magic brought to its extremity and stirred towards a possible apocalyptic end.

Table of Contents


Introduction………………………………………………1



Chapter One
American Dream: A Historical Survey…………………………………23




Chapter Two
“American Magic”: The Simulated Dream in White Noise……………44




Chapter Three
“American Dread”: Dream Turned Nightmare in White Noise…………65




Conclusion……………………………………………81




Works Cited…………………………………......87

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