Narratives of Hurricane Katrina in Context : Literature, Film and Television

This book analyzes six key narratives of Hurricane Katrina across literature, film and television from the literary fiction of Jesmyn Ward to the cinema of Spike Lee. It argues that these texts engage with the human tragedy and political fallout of the Katrina crisis while simultaneously responding to issues that have characterized the wider, George W. Bush era of American history; notably the aftermath of 9/11 and ensuing War on Terror. In doing so it recognizes important challenges to trauma studies as an interpretive framework, opening up a discussion of the overlaps between traumatic rupture and systemic or, “slow violence.” 'This immensely thought-provoking study engages with the representation of Katrina across a variety of narrative forms -- from the literary fiction of Jesmyn Ward to the cinema of Werner Herzog. In doing so, it reveals a series of compelling links between a diverse selection of texts and a powerful, under-scrutinized connection between Katrina, 9/11 and that preceding disaster's divisive legacies. This is urgent yet nuanced scholarship and Keeble navigates a path through complex debates about trauma, memory and nationhood in an unfailingly articulate and insightful fashion.' -- Samuel Thomas, Associate Professor in the Department of English Studies, Durham University, UK 'Bringing race, place and politics into painful focus, Arin Keeble's Narratives of Hurricane Katrina in Context offers an excellent and authoritative study of Katrina's cultural legacy.' -- James Annesley, Senior Lecturer in American Literature, Newcastle University, UK 'In Narratives of Hurricane Katrina in Context, Arin Keeble provides a vital examination of the "slow violence" linking cultural responses to 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. Approaching both events with a characteristic clearness and sensitivity, he expands a new and necessary field of studies that works harder to contextualise US responses to these "national" tragedies through the interrogative frameworks of neoliberalism, cultural trauma, and multidirectional memory.' -- Rachel Sykes, Lecturer in Contemporary American Literature, University of Birmingham, UK 'This immensely thought-provoking study engages with the representation of Katrina across a variety of narrative forms -- from the literary fiction of Jesmyn Ward to the cinema of Werner Herzog. In doing so, it reveals a series of compelling links between a diverse selection of texts and a powerful, under-scrutinized connection between Katrina, 9/11 and that preceding disaster's divisive legacies. This is urgent yet nuanced scholarship and Keeble navigates a path through complex debates about trauma, memory and nationhood in an unfailingly articulate and insightful fashion.' -- Samuel Thomas, Associate Professor in the Department of English Studies, Durham University, UK 'Bringing race, place and politics into painful focus, Arin Keeble's Narratives of Hurricane Katrina in Context offers an excellent and authoritative study of Katrina's cultural legacy.' -- James Annesley, Senior Lecturer in American Literature, Newcastle University, UK 'In Narratives of Hurricane Katrina in Context, Arin Keeble provides a vital examination of the zslow violencey linking cultural responses to 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. Approaching both events with a characteristic clearness and sensitivity, he expands a new and necessary field of studies that works harder to contextualise US responses to these znationaly tragedies through the interrogative frameworks of neoliberalism, cultural trauma, and multidirectional memory.' -- Rachel Sykes, Lecturer in Contemporary American Literature, University of Birmingham, UK Front Matter ....Pages i-vii Introduction: Narrating Katrina in Context (Arin Keeble)....Pages 1-29 Intertextuality, Domesticity and the Spaces of Disaster in Salvage the Bones and Zeitoun (Arin Keeble)....Pages 31-63 “Won’t Bow: Don’t Know How”: New Orleans and American Exceptionalism in Treme (Arin Keeble)....Pages 65-90 Disposability, Criminality and Lawlessness in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Beasts of the Southern Wild and When the Levees Broke—A Requiem in Four Acts (Arin Keeble)....Pages 91-117 Conclusion: Traumatic Rupture and Slow Violence (Arin Keeble)....Pages 119-125 Back Matter ....Pages 127-136