ABSTRACT
The conclusion to this study re-examines narrativity and the city by considering an essay by DeLillo that responds to the 9/11 attacks, “In the Ruins of the Future.” DeLillo’s essay explores how to respond to the catastrophe: a “meaning” of the events cannot be caught in “the” story of 9/11, for the idea of both a single meaning and a single narrative reduces reality and cannot do it justice. For DeLillo, the answer lies in an explosion of stories – where every element of the city, the street, and the ruins of the buildings produces a small narrative of its own. This plurality of narratives is embodied by the city, for DeLillo. This chapter argues that DeLillo’s conjunction of narrativity, and the city bridges precisely the discursive nature of literary narrative and the discursivity of urban space. This understanding of narrative then serves as a basis for methodological reflection on how literary studies and urban studies can productively be brought together.
