Hyperrealism in DeLillo's Libra: History, Media, and Identity

Introduction: Hyperrealism and DeLillo's Libra

Michael Rizza offered the following criticism of Don DeLillo's Libra:

"In Libra, Don DeLillo offers solace for the issue of achieving historical certainty; however, despite rendering fictive order to historical confusions, the attempt to describe events — like the assassination of John F. Kennedy — has been complicated by him through transferring individual agency to external forces. Rejecting the caricatures of these forces through astrology, paranoia, and conspiracy, he lets characters make decisions (Rizza 2008). Nevertheless, independent actions apparently initiated by characters become the products of a system, while design springs from and in spite of individual intentions. Though chaos and system theories help shed light on the conjunction of determinism and randomness, the individual is incorporated into the global. Moreover, the unstable identity of Oswald is performative; he performs for a changing audience, which dictates every new act."

While the above critique carries considerable weight, it is one that invites agreement. DeLillo takes a hyperrealist perspective that explains history using a fictive order — one that nevertheless becomes very complex and veers from a straightforward logical path. DeLillo's account in Libra imitates post-print media. This paper presents evidence of how hyperrealism is brought about by DeLillo in Libra and examines the complications arising as a result.

What, precisely, does hyperrealism mean? Hyperrealism denotes a category in art — for example, a painting that looks like a high-resolution photograph. It is considered one of the highest forms of photo-realism because of the techniques employed in producing the work (Horst 2006). It is typically associated with an independent art style and movement that emerged in Europe and the United States in the early years of this century. The discussion below explores exactly how DeLillo applies hyperrealism in Libra.

Libra: Plot Summary and Context

A fictionalized narrative of John F. Kennedy's assassination, Libra gives readers the literary equivalent of a docudrama. DeLillo's version of the famous conspiracy theory appears to be developed on the basis of the Iran-Contra scandal: the murder of the President is carried out by a group of fanatics who believe that governance is far too important a matter to be left to politicians. A ring of traitorous intelligence agents, Cuban expatriates, and mobsters stage an attempted assassination; its failure is intended to incite Kennedy into overthrowing Castro (Solomon). The plan backfires when an estranged pawn in smarter, deadlier hands — Lee Harvey Oswald — proves a more accurate, and ultimately more lethal, shot than was anticipated.

Gritty, grim, and dismal, the novel lacks the off-the-wall comedy typically found in DeLillo's other works. The unfolding of the Oliver North trial and the Iran-Contra inquiries might have made this plot appear entirely plausible; alternatively, the subject of President Kennedy's death may still be too emotionally charged to allow readers to fully appreciate a narrative of its intentional construction.