Fear and Simulated Reality: Postmodern Features in White Noise

White Noise, a novel by American writer Don DeLillo, stands out as a key work that reflects postmodern traits in literature. Published in 1985, the novel explores the daily life of an American family in a world shaped by technology, media, and a deep fear of death. The story follows Jack Gladney, a professor of Hitler Studies, who lives with his family in a small town. Their lives are thrown into confusion by events like the “airborne toxic event,” which impacts them in strange and absurd ways. Through irony, intertextuality, and emotional detachment, the novel shows how postmodernism breaks down ideas of identity, truth, and reality. This study aims to examine how postmodern features appear in White Noise, including loss of meaning, consumer culture dominance, identity confusion, and existential fear. It also explores how media and technology affect people in a modern society that lacks certainty. The study answers a central question: How does White Noise use postmodern elements to critique American life? The importance of this research lies in offering a new reading of the novel as a deep cultural critique that addresses modern fears especially environmental threats, fear of death, and disconnection from real life. The study draws on diverse academic sources and uses postmodern concepts like Baudrillard’s “simulacrum” and Lyotard’s idea of “narrative play.”