摘要
本論文旨在檢視唐．狄理洛三本小說《端區》(1972)、《白噪音》(1986)、和《世界之都》(2003)中現代性的概念。根據三本小說各自的時空脈絡中現代性的不同展現，我主張小說中對於現代性的態度有顯著轉變。在《端區》中呈現的是被理性宰制的社會，對現代性的展望感到悲觀，在《白噪音》一書中則浮現了另一種較為樂觀的現代性可能，此一途徑在《世界之都》裡的全球化世界發揮的更加淋漓盡致。我採用烏爾里希．貝克 (Ulrich Beck)、安東尼．紀登斯 (Anthony Giddens)，和史考特．拉許 (Scott Lash) 對於第一現代性和反思現代性所作的區分，來探討這些小說中的現代性。藉由此一研究，我希望能從更廣的面向來看狄理洛對現代性所採取的態度，也可透過作者的小說觀察現代性在戰後美國的樣貌轉變。
第一章將《端區》放在冷戰背景中探討，分別由美式足球、戰爭、及對科技進步的追求等三方面檢視第一現代性的意識形態，以及此一現代性對書中人物造成的壓迫。我認為第一現代性的過度發展導致了小說中對於核武毀滅的晦暗想像。第二章嘗試超越《白噪音》的後現代讀法，將此小說置於反思現代化中各種疆界日漸模糊且日常生活中風險四伏的情境。雖然生活充滿了各種不確定因素，但小說中亦浮現其他樂觀的可能性。這些可能性非常類似拉許所提倡的美學反思現代性。第三章主張《世界之都》裡經濟全球化和美學世界主義分別受到了第一現代性和反思現代性的影響。反思現代性不但改變了主角人格，也使他得以體驗較理想的全球化形式，即美學的世界主義。

Abstract
This thesis examines the concept of modernity in three of Don DeLillo’s novels: End Zone (1972), White Noise (1986), and Cosmopolis (2003). By identifying the different manifestations of modernity in their corresponding contexts in each of the novels, I argue that there is a gradual change in the attitude toward modernity, from the pessimistic outlook on a human society forcefully controlled by rationality in End Zone to the more hopeful intimation of the emergence of another possibility in White Noise, an alternative that becomes fully demonstrated in the globalized world depicted in Cosmopolis. I rely on the distinctions between the first modernity and reflexive modernity articulated by Ulrich Beck, Anthony Giddens, and most of all, Scott Lash, for my understanding of modernity in these novels. With this research, I hope to provide a broader perspective on how DeLillo sees the notion of modernity as a whole, as well as how DeLillo’s novels reveal how modernity is perceived in post-war America.
The first chapter situates End Zone against the backdrop of the Cold War, examining how the ideologies of the first modernity can be observed in three areas: American football, military warfare, and technological pursuit, and how they exert reductionist effects on the characters. I also argue that it is the extreme development of the first modernity that leads to the bleak prospect of nuclear holocaust that underlies the novel. The second chapter attempts a reading of White Noise as more than a postmodern novel by situating it in the context of reflexive modernization, where old unbreakable borders are increasingly blurred and that risks are commonplace in daily life. Among the uncertainties, however, are some hopeful alternatives, which I suggest are very close to Scott Lash’s aesthetic reflexive modernity. The third chapter sees both economic globalization and aesthetic cosmopolitanism in Cosmopolis as influenced by the first modernity and reflexive modernity. I also argue that reflexive modernity not only leads to the protagonist’s change, but also enables him to experience aesthetic cosmopolitanism, a much-favored form of globalization.

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