Author(s)

Huang Xiaolan ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, Guangxi, China

Corresponding Author

Huang Xiaolan

ABSTRACT

Don DeLillo's Cosmopolis depicts the anxiety that generally pervades postmodern society with the last day of financial tycoon Eric's life as he roams across the New York metropolitan area to get a haircut. This paper analyses the different anxieties in the novel from three different levels: the lift and the limousine, as the threshold field connecting private and public space, show Eric's possession anxiety; insomnia and asymmetrical hairstyle are the external manifestations of Eric's life anxiety; and the mass demonstration and Benno Levin's confession are the author's voices for the minor characters, expressing his existential anxiety. Cosmopolis reflects Don DeLillo's profound reflection on the social problem of spiritual emptiness and anxiety in postmodern society.

KEYWORDS

Don DeLillo; Cosmopolis; Liminality; Anxious Writing; Postmodern Society

CITE THIS PAPER

Huang Xiaolan, Anxiety Writing in Don DeLillo's Cosmopolis in a Threshold Perspective. Lecture Notes on Language and Literature (2025) Vol. 8: 127-135. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/langl.2025.080219.

REFERENCES

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