Icarus Falling, A Marxist Study of Don DeLillo's Cosmopolis

Abstract

This is a study of Don DeLillo's Cosmopolis using Marxist economical theory, from a position that we live in a postmodern capitalist society and that literature as a part of the superstructure can mirror society. The essay argues that the text is ideological, that it portrays a flawed society in order to unveil the realities of modern capitalism and thus tries to act as a starting point for an emergent counter discourse. Further it discusses the main character as both a psychologically credible individual of fictional creation, but also as a representative of the capitalist system. The theme of cybercapital in the novel is discussed together with Marx's theory of alienation. The essay answers the following questions: How is modern capitalism dramatised in the novel? How is the main character depicted as an individual and as a personification of a system? How does the novel's theme of technology and cybercapital fit in the economic context? Cosmopolis represents a powerful piece of social criticism; set in a fictional world but mirroring reality, it is a symbolically and metaphorically rendered version of our own time.