Human Connectedness in Don Delillo Falling Man and in Jonathan Safran Foer Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Abstract

Unlike the general line that postmodern literature is anti-humanistic and inimical to human solidarity, this dissertation through its critical scrutiny of two 9/11 novels—Don DeLillo’s Falling Man and Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close—argues that postmodern novelistic responses to the terror attacks of 9/11 show a paradigm shift towards human compassion and human connectedness. The shift frames the idea of solidarity not just within specific cultural, gendered or ethnic backgrounds, but addresses the ability for that solidarity to engage in a global unification of human understanding—a cosmopolitanism-type notion of solidarity. This away-postmodern discourse demonstrates that a white, male, American narrative can transcend being culturally specific and become universally human specific by purposefully exploring what it means to be human today. The away-postmodern discourses emphasizes on the ability to feel connectivity and to feel love by demonstrating the need for exploring the human, for engaging in a sense of solidarity and for emphasizing the need for feelings of compassion. Mainly this dissertation focus on Marxist, Feminist as well as Polish solidarity.