‘Why not follow our words bodily into the future tense?’: Life, death and posthuman bodies in Don DeLillo’s Zero K

Adéle Nel

doi:10.4102/lit.v42i1.1748

Abstract

The overarching problem foregrounded by the novel is how human mortality should be treated in the face of the inexorability of death, as well as the human desire for immortality. From the investigation of the role that the human body and self and life and death play in Zero K, it is evident that there is, in fact, evidence of a posthumanist framework: from technological practices (the body and cryonic freezing) and ethics (Zero K and Ross’s decision), to aesthetics (ways of seeing and the role of art). The aim of this article is to read Don DeLillo’s Zero K within the framework of the posthuman, specifically focusing on the following central aspects of the novel: the role of the human body and the concept of the posthuman; the relationship between the self, the body and language; death and the challenges of posthumanism; and the relationship between ways of seeing, art and death. The starting point is to explore how the literature, particularly fiction, creates a richer and more complex notion of the contexts and issues arising from the idea of the posthuman and/or new human.

Highlights

In Don DeLillo’s latest novel, Zero K (2016), the question that is posed, is ‘... what happens to a single human body when the forces of death and life join?’ – implying a radical rethinking of the dominant, familiar humanist account of who ‘we’ are as human beings and who we may be as immortal beings
The starting point of this study is to explore how literature, fiction, creates a richer and more complex notion of the contexts and issues arising from the idea of the posthuman and/or new human, following Nayar’s (2014) statement that literary texts:
The preceding sections show that the overarching problem foregrounded by Zero K is how human mortality should be treated in the face of the inexorability of death, as well as the human desire for immortality

Summary

Introduction

In Don DeLillo’s latest novel, Zero K (2016) , the question that is posed, is ‘... what happens to a single human body when the forces of death and life join?’ – implying a radical rethinking of the dominant, familiar humanist account of who ‘we’ are as human beings and who we may be as immortal beings. What happens to a single human body when the forces of death and life join?’ – implying a radical rethinking of the dominant, familiar humanist account of who ‘we’ are as human beings and who we may be as immortal beings. The aim of this article is to read DeLillo’s (2016) Zero K within the framework of posthumanism, focusing on the following central aspects of the novel: the concept of the posthuman and the role of the human body; the relationship between the self, the body and language; death and the challenges of posthumanism; and the relationship between ways of seeing, art and death. Both conceptualisations of posthumanism imply a radical rethinking of the dominant, familiar humanist account of who ‘we’ – as human beings – are. According to DeLillo’s (2016) latest http://www.literator.org.za

Objectives

Conclusion