Obliteration of alterity and death as the limit of it in Don DeLillo's White Noise

돈 드릴로의 "백색 소음"에 나타난 타자성의 소멸과 그 한계로서의 죽음

In a post-modern society where things exist and events happen in the form of Baudrillardian simulation, alterity of the other is erased and transcendence is denied. Don DeLillo's White Noise depicts what may happen in a society where alterity and transcendence are experienced in the neutral and safe forms. It will be argued in this paper that such phenomena reflect the desire of the self to conquer the others and neutralize the existence of them for the self's enduring safety and accomplishment. However, the attempt must fail due to inevitable death. The invincibility of death reminds one of the limit of his ability and the existence of uncontrollable part of the other. This paper will focus on DeLillo's critique of such a society, the affect of the existence of death as an invincible force, and his message about the way to live under these conditions.