Volume 16, Issue 4 (2025)
LRR 2025, 16(4): 83-107 |
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marziehnodeh M. Modern Consumer Technology at the Disposal of Totalitarian Politics: A Critical Analysis of Don DeLillo’s White Noise through the Theories of Adorno and Marcuse. LRR 2025; 16 (4) :83-107
URL: http://lrr.modares.ac.ir/article-14-61517-en.html
URL: http://lrr.modares.ac.ir/article-14-61517-en.html
Assistant Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, Golestan University, Gorgan, , Iran.s.nodeh@gu.ac.ir
Abstract: (2537 Views)
Modern societies employ the powerful instrument of technology as a sort of colonialization of the mind and, thus, implement control in a new manner in society. Replacing the dream of utopia in modern societies with a nightmare of anti-utopia, consumer technology creates a new space leading to the creation of a thoroughly totalitarian regime. Hence, such theorists as Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse believe that what scientific advances bring is not order but a kind of imitation and homogeneity of individuals within society as a result of which not only one’s awareness but also all man’s cultural inheritance and his manner of articulation become homogenized. In such societies, the propaganda of commodities upholds consumerism as an alternative to protest or revolt. Thus, mass consumption and mass culture set up the condition for totalitarianism through different systems of control, technology being one of which. Individuals in such societies will be seduced by the force of technology which brings about mass consumption and constructs passive submissive masses who lack a voice of their own. DeLillo in White Noise warns against how modern masses’ passive consumption of commodities will lead to inertia and how a consumer culture will diminish people’s social relationships and their sense of autonomy. Therefore, the present study aims at analyzing the way DeLillo’s novel urges readers to reconsider the way that consumer technology and mass cultural forces might affect individuals’ lives. The main finding of the research is that, through White Noise, DeLillo displays how totalitarian systems utilize modern consumer technologies and culture industries, including mass media, as agents of manipulation and indoctrination in order to discipline their subjects.
1. Introduction
The modern society which formerly aimed towards “the destruction of the myth and mythical figures” now aims to the destruction of the individual through using technology in bringing about a consumer culture (Adorno 2006, 25). In Marcuse’s view, technology determines the order of society; through technology, the processes of culture, politics and industry are mixed bringing about a system that destroys human beings by interfering in different aspects of their lives. The influence of technology, according to Marcuse, develops to such areas as politics; consumerism in an industrial society will lead to obedience of the proletariat and will consequently lead to a denial of the class differences. Marcuse (1991) asserts that the human being has changed to a one-dimensional man with one aspect of technology in his life and the other aspects of his life have vanished. “Morality, language, culture, art and emotions are all influenced by the rule of technology” which has led to the creation of one-dimensional attitude of human beings and one-dimensional societies in which technology is the ruling force. Much in the same way, Don DeLillo’s White Noise depicts the way totalitarian and democratic capitalist forces utilize technology and industries brought about by the cultural advances of such societies to control and discipline their subjects. The major concern of DeLillo’s fiction is with the nature of modern science/technology and its uncanny influence on humans’ life. In the novel, one can see that the semiotic influence of technology causes the characters’ entrapment in the center of consumer culture advertised by Television, mass media, and other modern technologies. The novel portrays a world in which technology and consumerism generate a stranglehold across multiple aspects of life.
Thus, the present research provides a neo-Marxist reading of DeLillo’s White Noise to illuminate the way new technologies and modern masses’ passive consumption of products of technology will lead to thoughtless conformity of the individuals and loss of their senses of identity, autonomy, and self-expression which are prerequisites to revolution against dictatorial and totalitarian governments.
Research Question(s)
The research questions can be formulated as follows:
1. How does DeLillo’s novel portray the way technology and mass cultural forces might affect individuals’ lives?
2. How do totalitarian regimes utilize modern technologies and culture industries, including mass media, as agents of manipulation and indoctrination to control their subjects?
2. Literature Review
Ever since DeLillo’s White Noise was published, it attracted attention from various literary critics, who examined and analyzed the work from different critical perspectives. However, very few studies have approached this novel through a neo-Marxist lens and the ideas of Adorno and Marcuse. Thus, the present research aims to explore the use of consumer technology by totalitarian governments and its impact on character and behavior in White Noise, through employing the theories of these two neo-Marxist critics.
However, here is a brief review of the studies that have analyzed Don DeLillo’s novel from various viewpoints. Frow (1990) analyzes DeLillo’s novel through Baudrillard’s theories. According to Frow, in contemporary society depicted in White Noise, simulacra has taken the place of real experiences due to the influence of mass media, including television, on human lives. A similar approach to White Noise can be found in John Duvall’s (1994) article entitled "The (Super)Marketplace of Images: Television as Unmediated Mediation in DeLillo’s White Noise." Lentricchia’s (1991) study also shows how modern technologies lead to the inability to distinguish reality from imagination, ultimately resulting in cultural imperialism. Osteen (1998) examines White Noise from a Marxist perspective, concluding that the novel investigates the "destructive effects of capitalism" on human life. Grigor (2016) analyzes the totalitarian capitalist society depicted in both American novels, exploring the impact of capitalist policies on characters’ identities, including those in DeLillo's White Noise. Szetela's (2018) study explores "the impact of advertising on characters’ perceptions and lifestyles," as well as the creation of fetishism in the contemporary world, particularly in DeLillo's novel.
Considering the research background, it is evident that DeLillo's novel has been examined from various perspectives, addressing many questions. But the question of how totalitarian governments strive to create and develop modern consumer technologies—not for the benefit of their citizens but to subjugate them—has not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, this research will address how, in capitalist systems and totalitarian governments, modern consumer technologies become intertwined with politics to intensify consumerist behaviors, dominate consumer mentality, and undermine the individuality of consumers, stripping them of a rebellious and revolutionary mindset.
3. Methodology
This research applies a neo-Marxist analysis of DeLillo’s White Noise through using Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer's theories and critical terminologies, to analyze how DeLillo’s novel urges readers to reconsider the way technology and its cultural consequence, consumer culture, might affect individuals’ lives.
4. Results
The results of this study show that totalitarian regimes, just like the one portrayed in DeLillo’s White Noise, use modern consumer technologies and culture industries, including mass media, as agents of manipulation to control their subjects. DeLillo’s White Noise illustrates symbolically how modern consumer technologies trap characters at the center of television consumerism. It depicts a world where contemporary technologies are employed to consumerize society, placing human beings in a stifling pressure and suffocating constraints in various aspects of their lives and robbing them of their capacity for revolutionary movement and protest.
1. Introduction
The modern society which formerly aimed towards “the destruction of the myth and mythical figures” now aims to the destruction of the individual through using technology in bringing about a consumer culture (Adorno 2006, 25). In Marcuse’s view, technology determines the order of society; through technology, the processes of culture, politics and industry are mixed bringing about a system that destroys human beings by interfering in different aspects of their lives. The influence of technology, according to Marcuse, develops to such areas as politics; consumerism in an industrial society will lead to obedience of the proletariat and will consequently lead to a denial of the class differences. Marcuse (1991) asserts that the human being has changed to a one-dimensional man with one aspect of technology in his life and the other aspects of his life have vanished. “Morality, language, culture, art and emotions are all influenced by the rule of technology” which has led to the creation of one-dimensional attitude of human beings and one-dimensional societies in which technology is the ruling force. Much in the same way, Don DeLillo’s White Noise depicts the way totalitarian and democratic capitalist forces utilize technology and industries brought about by the cultural advances of such societies to control and discipline their subjects. The major concern of DeLillo’s fiction is with the nature of modern science/technology and its uncanny influence on humans’ life. In the novel, one can see that the semiotic influence of technology causes the characters’ entrapment in the center of consumer culture advertised by Television, mass media, and other modern technologies. The novel portrays a world in which technology and consumerism generate a stranglehold across multiple aspects of life.
Thus, the present research provides a neo-Marxist reading of DeLillo’s White Noise to illuminate the way new technologies and modern masses’ passive consumption of products of technology will lead to thoughtless conformity of the individuals and loss of their senses of identity, autonomy, and self-expression which are prerequisites to revolution against dictatorial and totalitarian governments.
Research Question(s)
The research questions can be formulated as follows:
1. How does DeLillo’s novel portray the way technology and mass cultural forces might affect individuals’ lives?
2. How do totalitarian regimes utilize modern technologies and culture industries, including mass media, as agents of manipulation and indoctrination to control their subjects?
2. Literature Review
Ever since DeLillo’s White Noise was published, it attracted attention from various literary critics, who examined and analyzed the work from different critical perspectives. However, very few studies have approached this novel through a neo-Marxist lens and the ideas of Adorno and Marcuse. Thus, the present research aims to explore the use of consumer technology by totalitarian governments and its impact on character and behavior in White Noise, through employing the theories of these two neo-Marxist critics.
However, here is a brief review of the studies that have analyzed Don DeLillo’s novel from various viewpoints. Frow (1990) analyzes DeLillo’s novel through Baudrillard’s theories. According to Frow, in contemporary society depicted in White Noise, simulacra has taken the place of real experiences due to the influence of mass media, including television, on human lives. A similar approach to White Noise can be found in John Duvall’s (1994) article entitled "The (Super)Marketplace of Images: Television as Unmediated Mediation in DeLillo’s White Noise." Lentricchia’s (1991) study also shows how modern technologies lead to the inability to distinguish reality from imagination, ultimately resulting in cultural imperialism. Osteen (1998) examines White Noise from a Marxist perspective, concluding that the novel investigates the "destructive effects of capitalism" on human life. Grigor (2016) analyzes the totalitarian capitalist society depicted in both American novels, exploring the impact of capitalist policies on characters’ identities, including those in DeLillo's White Noise. Szetela's (2018) study explores "the impact of advertising on characters’ perceptions and lifestyles," as well as the creation of fetishism in the contemporary world, particularly in DeLillo's novel.
Considering the research background, it is evident that DeLillo's novel has been examined from various perspectives, addressing many questions. But the question of how totalitarian governments strive to create and develop modern consumer technologies—not for the benefit of their citizens but to subjugate them—has not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, this research will address how, in capitalist systems and totalitarian governments, modern consumer technologies become intertwined with politics to intensify consumerist behaviors, dominate consumer mentality, and undermine the individuality of consumers, stripping them of a rebellious and revolutionary mindset.
3. Methodology
This research applies a neo-Marxist analysis of DeLillo’s White Noise through using Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer's theories and critical terminologies, to analyze how DeLillo’s novel urges readers to reconsider the way technology and its cultural consequence, consumer culture, might affect individuals’ lives.
4. Results
The results of this study show that totalitarian regimes, just like the one portrayed in DeLillo’s White Noise, use modern consumer technologies and culture industries, including mass media, as agents of manipulation to control their subjects. DeLillo’s White Noise illustrates symbolically how modern consumer technologies trap characters at the center of television consumerism. It depicts a world where contemporary technologies are employed to consumerize society, placing human beings in a stifling pressure and suffocating constraints in various aspects of their lives and robbing them of their capacity for revolutionary movement and protest.
Keywords: White Noise, Don DeLillo, Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, Totalitarian Politics, Modern Consumer Technologies and Mass Media.
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