Jack Gladney understands history by both living and creating it. He seems to understand it through his role as a teacher and in some ways, as a father. For him, history is constantly being created.
“I am chairman of the department of Hitler studies at the College–on–the–Hill. I invented Hitler studies in North America in March of 1968” (4).
I found this passage fascinating yet baffling. How does one possibly “invent” the study of Hitler!? Hitler has been a historical figure of fascination since his rise to power and chancellorship in 1933. Yet here, this is exactly what Jack Gladney does: he makes “new” history (read: being the FIRST to make this study of Hitler “official”) by drawing from “old history”, namely, Hitler.
“The chancellor warned against what he called my tendency to make a feeble presentation of self…He wanted me to ‘grow out’ into Hitler” (17).
Yes, I realize these passages are really close together, but I found them both extremely fascinating and note–worthy. First off, this was amusing to me, as the head of the school where Gladney teaches was called the ‘chancellor’, the same title Hitler was given when he ruled Germany. But that aside, I found it alarming, this idea that one needs to embody one of the most evil dictators, to make it more understandable for students. This is an instance where history is understood by making it real and ‘here today’, not ‘back then’. Again, Gladney creates history and understands it by trying to live and embody it.
“Denise came in and sprawled across the foot of the bed, her head resting on her folded arms, facing away from me. How many codes, counter codes, social histories were contained in this simple posture? “ (61).
This is not necessarily what one might call history in the traditional sense, but this concept of history as an accumulation of ideas seems to be an important one for DeLillo. Denise, his stepdaughter, embodies not just her own individuality, but the history of the so called ‘social codes’ that came before her and that influence her every day.
In short, history is a living and changing process, and always being redefined in this novel. I would go so far as to argue that it is not Rankean, although it may try to be. Nothing is “wie es eigentlich gewesn”, because for Jack Gladney, history is subjective.
Reading the novel It did not strike me as particularly significant that Jack "invented" Hitler studies, but now that you mention it I think the points you make about that are very interesting. I think it illustrates how history is created in that a person can just invent a subject of history based upon an individual and that (at least in the novel) it can be completely valid.
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