Abstract
DeLillo’s fiction is postmodern mostly in that it addresses the major aspects of what has been called the postmodern condition. Mao II, published in 1991, voices concerns about the menace of terrorism. It also deals with the issue of the position of the novelists/the novel in an age dominated by the media. Paul Virilio has also paid particular attention to such aspects in his theories. The novel published about three decades ago and the theories first presented around that time have proved to be prophetic today. Reading the American author in the light of the theories of the French thinker better illustrates the status of both as figures warning against the daunting realities of our age. This article attempts a reading of Mao II in the light of Virilio’s theories about war of images or info war, tele-presence, polar inertia, and the substitution of actual reality by the virtual.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Thurschwell (2007), Wilcox (2006) and Leppard (2007) are among the scholars who emphasize the status of DeLillo in contemporary American literature, especially in connection with the issue of terrorism. Adumbrating the 9/11 events is often given as the classic example of the prophetic character of much of DeLillo's fiction.
Critics have discussed DeLillo's work in connection with the theorizations of contemporary theorists like Baudrillard and Žižek. For instance, Wilcox (2006) mentions the points of convergence between DeLillo's representations of the contemporary scene in Mao II (1991) and Baudrillard's The spirit of terrorism (2003). In his view, the two figures share a lot on what he calls "postmodern terrorism" as they both see the postmodern culture as an arena for the mediatic consumption of signs and consider terrorism as a "canny" response to the "regime" of proliferation of images, sign exchange and the "spectacle" of the West, generally. (For a critique of this view see Pirnajmuddin and Borhan (2011a, b). More on Baudrillard later.).
Virilio's position in this regard is more akin to a figure like Michel de Certeau.
References
Armitage, J. (2000a). From modernism to hypermodernism and beyond: An interview with Paul Virilio. In J. Armitage (Ed.), Paul Virilio: From modernism to hypermodernism and beyond (pp. 25–55). London: Sage Publications.
Armitage, J. (Ed.). (2000b). Paul Virilio: From modernism to hypermodernism and beyond. London: Sage Publications.
Bagherzadeh Samani, B., & Pirnajmuddin, H. (2018). Paul Virilio’s dromology and the postmodern city in Don DeLillo’s Cosmopolis. Cogents Arts and Humanities,5(1), 1–12.
Cowart, D. (2011). Delphic DeLillo: Mao II and millennial dread. In S. Olster (Ed.), Don DeLillo: Mao II, underworld, falling man (pp. 19–64). New York: Continuum.
DeLillo, D. (1991). Mao II. New York: Penguin Books.
Der Derian, J. (2000). The conceptual cosmology of Paul Virilio. In J. Armitage (Ed.), Paul Virilio: From modernism to hypermodernism and beyond (pp. 215–227). London: Sage Publications.
Engles, T. (2008). DeLillo and the political thriller. In J. N. Duvall (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Don DeLillo (pp. 66–76). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Goldman, D. (2004). What was that unforgettable line? Remembrances from the rubble heap. South Atlantic Quarterly,103(1), 45–55.
Kellner, D. (2000). Virilio, war and technology: Some critical reflections. In J. Armitage (Ed.), Paul Virilio: From modernism to hypermodernism and beyond (pp. 103–125). London: Sage Publications.
Knight, P. (2008). DeLillo, postmodernism, postmodernity. In J. N. Duvall (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Don DeLillo (pp. 27–40). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Leach, N. (2000). Virilio and architecture. In J. Armitage (Ed.), Paul Virilio: From modernism to hypermodernism and beyond (pp. 71–84). London: Sage Publications.
LeClair, T. (1981). Missing authors. Horizon, Oct, 48–52.
Leppard, N. R. (2007). Finding the pen in a pile of grenades: Postmodern American literature, a spectacular definition of terrorism, and the response to 9/11. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of South Carolina.
Mannes-Abbott, G. (1991). A postmodern theme park: A review of Mao II by Don DeLillo. New Statesman and Society,4(168), 36.
McQuire, S. (2000). Blinded by the (speed of) light. In J. Armitage (Ed.), Paul Virilio: From modernism to hypermodernism and beyond (pp. 143–159). London: Sage Publications.
Moraru, C. (2003). Consuming narratives: Don DeLillo and the ‘lethal’ reading. In H. Bloom (Ed.), Bloom’s modern critical views: Don DeLillo (pp. 89–105). Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publisher.
Noland, W. (2004). The image world of Mao II. The South Atlantic Quarterly,103(1), 5–19.
Olster, S. (2008). White Noise. In J. N. Duvall (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Don DeLillo (pp. 79–93). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Osteen, M. (2008). DeLillo’s dedalian artists. In J. N. Duvall (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Don DeLillo (pp. 137–150). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pirnajmuddin, H., & Bagherzadeh Samani, B. (2019). Don DeLillo’s White Noise: a Virilian perspective. Text Matters,9(9), 356–373.
Pirnajmuddin, H., & Borhan, A. (2011a). Postmodern orientalized terrorism: Don DeLillo’s The Names. Journal of Teaching Language Skills,3(2), 57–84.
Pirnajmuddin, H., & Borhan, A. (2011b). “Writing Back” to Don DeLillo’s Falling Man. The Journal of International Social Research,18(4), 119–129.
Rowe, J. C. (2004). Mao II and the war on terrorism. South Atlantic Quarterly,103(1), 21–43.
Simmel, G. (1950). The sociology of George Simmel (K. H. Wolf, Trans.). Illinois: The Free Press.
Thurschwell, A. (2007). Writing and terror. Law and Literature,19(2), 277–302.
Virilio, P. (1990). Popular defense and ecological struggles (M. Polizzotti, Trans.). New York: Semiotext(e).
Virilio, P. (1994). The vision machine (J. Rose, Trans.). London: British Film Institute.
Virilio, P. (1997). Open sky (J. Rose, Trans.). London: Verso.
Virilio, P. (1998). A traveling shot over eighty years. In J. Der Derian (Ed.), The Virilio reader (pp. 95–116). Massachsetts: Blackwell.
Virilio, P. (2004a). Desert screen. In S. Redhead (Ed.), The Paul Virilio reader (pp. 156–164). New York: Columbia University Press.
Virilio, P. (2004b). Environment control. In S. Redhead (Ed.), The Paul Virilio reader (pp. 136–153). New York: Columbia University Press.
Virilio, P. (2004c). From sexual perversion to sexual diversion. In S. Redhead (Ed.), The Paul Virilio reader (pp. 176–190). New York: Columbia University Press.
Virilio, P. (2004d). The information bomb. In S. Redhead (Ed.), The Paul Virilio reader (pp. 156–164). New York: Columbia University Press.
Virilio, P. (2004e). The last vehicle. In S. Redhead (Ed.), The Paul Virilio reader (pp. 110–120). New York: Columbia University Press.
Virilio, P. (2004f). The museum of accidents. In S. Redhead (Ed.), The Paul Virilio reader (pp. 256–262). New York: Columbia University Press.
Virilio, P, & Lotringer, S. (1997). Pure war (M. Polizzatti & B. O’Keeffe, Trans.). New York: Semiotext(e).
Wilcox, L. (2006). Terrorism and art: Don DeLillo’s Mao II and Jean Baudrillard’s The Spirit of Terrorism. Mosaic,39(2), 89–105.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bagherzadeh Samani, B., Pirnajmuddin, H. & Akhavan, B. Don DeLillo’s Mao II: a Virilian reading. Neohelicon 47, 315–330 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11059-020-00518-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11059-020-00518-1