Postmodernism in Maus and White Noise

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Discuss the ways in which White Noise and The Complete Maus explore identity. In Identity, Culture and the Postmodern World, Sarup and Raja wrote ‘There exist many theories that inform us that identity is determined . . . institutions play a crucial determining role: there is the family, the school, the place of work and, increasingly, the media. . . . We do not have a homogeneous identity but that instead we have several contradictory selves.’ (p. xv) I will argue that these multiple identities are demonstrated in both White Noise ( ) by DeLillo as DeLillo’s characters have to change and adapt their identities in the face of danger during the Holocaust, and The Complete Maus ( ) by Spiegelman when Jack has to change his name to be taken seriously in his academic career and also because media and technology are shown to have an effect on characters thoughts and insecurities. This essay will also consider how ‘signifiers of culture’ are used to establish characters identity through stereotypes and representation, and I will demonstrate how the texts are a means for both Spiegelman and DeLillo to develop and construct their own insecurities of identity. Both authors use ‘signifiers of culture’ to explore identity. For example in White Noise, as the head of his department, Jack wears a gown, so when Eric Massingale see’s him off campus he says “I’ve never seen you off campus, Jack. You look different without your glasses and gown . . . Is that a Turkish army sweater? . . . You’re a different person altogether.” (p. 83). Eric seems to have previously associated Jack with his gown, and now finds it hard to recognise him in his ‘Turkish army sweater’. He continues by saying ‘You look so harmless Jack. A big, harmless, aging, indistinct sort of guy’ (p. 83), as if Jack’s clothes have made him take on a new identity. Jacobson suggests that Jack uses
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