JOURNAL ARTICLE

Detecting Meaninglessness and Meaning in Don DeLillo's Players.

  • Published In: Canadian Review of American Studies, 2023, v. 53, n. 1. P. 38 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Tyers, Rhys William 3 of 3

Abstract

This article analyzes Don DeLillo's novel *Players* as a critique of media influence and the shaping of individual identity through detective and thriller genres. Drawing on Jean Baudrillard’s concept of hyperreality and Fredric Jameson’s postmodern theory, it argues that the novel portrays the protagonists, Lyle and Pammy Wynant, as trapped by media saturation and genre conventions, leading to a loss of authentic selfhood and pervasive boredom. By subverting thriller genre expectations and emphasizing ambiguity and detachment, *Players* exposes the limitations of rebellion and adventure within a media-controlled society, ultimately urging readers to become detectives of their own lives in search of personal meaning amid postmodern disorientation. The novel serves as a social critique warning against complacency and the erasure of individual identity in late capitalist culture.

Additional Information

  • Source:Canadian Review of American Studies. 2023/04, Vol. 53, Issue 1, p38
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Literature and Writing
  • Publication Date:2023
  • ISSN:0007-7720
  • DOI:10.3138/cras-2022-006
  • Accession Number:163283621
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