Reading History across Space: The Room of Theories as a Web of Multiple Times in Don DeLillo’s Libra

Abstract

This paper sheds light on the changing perspective of historiographic time in postmodernism and its tendency towards spatialization, as displayed in Don DeLillo's Libra (1988). The paper suggests that Branch’s room of theories leads to the spatialization of historiographic time in the narrative, considering that this room is the space where history leaves its imprints and where the past intersects with the present. Noting that spatialistion of time means the simultaneous juxtaposition of different times, this room manifests a simultaneous juxtaposition of moments, thus transporting the reader to different plots and times that coexist spatially. It helps the reader to receive the textualized version of history, as it embraces documents, archives, videos, and reports that are associated with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Branch displays to the reader that history is relative and that nobody can reach a historical truth. Thus, considering that such a reading is less trodden, this paper discusses how Branch's room of theories is an outlet to other different times: the conspirators’ time and Oswald’s biographical time, which makes the historigographic time in this novel seem more spatial. Keywords: Spatialization, historiographic time, Libra, Don DeLillo, present, and the room of theories.