The Representation of the City in Don DeLillo Underworld

Abstract

This dissertation investigates Don DeLillo’s representation of the city in Underworld, analyzing how urban landscapes shape and reflect the social, cultural, and psychological dimensions of late twentieth-century American life. Using a qualitative and analytical approach grounded in postmodern urban theory and literary criticism, the study examines DeLillo’s portrayal of New York City and other urban spaces as complex, multidimensional environments that mirror the fragmentation, alienation, and interconnection of modern existence.The research involved a close reading of the novel’s key urban scenes, characters, and historical, focusing on how DeLillo uses the city as both a physical setting and a symbolic construct. The findings reveal that Underworld presents the city as a living organism—marked by tension between progress and decay, memory and erasure, individuality and collectivity. It also demonstrates that DeLillo uses urban imagery to critique consumerism, technological domination, and the loss of authentic human connection in a media-saturated society.Overall, the study concludes that DeLillo’s Underworld redefines the American city as a postmodern space where identity, history, and culture intersect—transforming urban life into a mirror of America’s moral and existential condition.