The Cacophony of Disaster

Abstract

In this essay Inbar Kaminsky examines the physical dislocations that followed the emotional trauma of 9/11. Robbed of his ability to process the monumental collapse of meaning represented by the attack, DeLillo’s protagonist is projected into what Kaminsky terms a ‘metaphorical body of sound’ – a dissonant and omnipresent soundscape of memories whose refractions prevent him from accommodating his trauma both physically and mentally. Here the body becomes consumed by the sensorium, dispersed and fractured by the disconnect created by the possibility of survivorship in the midst of mass death. Kaminksy explores how the American nation, as much as its citizens, has become disembodied and is still searching for ways to reconnect to the physical weight of history.