Liberal Humanism and Technology in Don DeLillo’s The Silence (2020)

Abstract

Considering Don DeLillo's The Silence (2020) in the context of the contemporary crisis in humanistic values, in this article we shed some light on it in terms of its relation with the discourse of liberal humanism, particularly vis-à-vis technology. Arguably, the novel’s ambivalent stance on technology originates in an ambivalence at the core of liberal humanism: the belief in progress and the anxiety that it may transform humanity beyond recognition. The concern with humanism and its bearing on technology could further be seen in DeLillo's questions about identity, individuality and affectivity. We maintain that rather than considering DeLillo’s novel as a “posthumanist” one stressing the sinister aspects of technology, as many studies suggest, it could be approached as a liberal humanist work displaying an ambiguously liberal portrayal of the impact of technology on humanity. Considering the novel in the light of the broader discussions of the ambivalences of liberal humanism, we offer a fresh perspective on the figuration of technology in it, arguing that technology is presented as partly partaking of the category of the uncanny, as both immensely empowering and menacing, as simultaneously “familiar” and sinisterly alien. As such, DeLillo’s most recent novel to date presents technology as both “human” and “posthuman”; for, it has both enhanced human possibilities and has problematized the very idea of being human. © 2025, Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. All rights reserved.