Transatlantic Literature and Culture After 9/11 : The Wrong Side of Paradise

Transatlantic Literature and Culture After 9/11 asks whether post-9/11 America has chosen the 'wrong side of paradise' by waging war on terror rather than working for global peace. Analyzing transatlantic literature and culture, the book refocuses our view of Ground Zero through the lenses of imperial power and cosmopolitan exchange Looking back on more than a decade of the US-run and UK-supported "war on terror", this volume examines how transatlantic literature and culture have challenged notions of American exceptionalism since September 11, 2001. The essays look not only at but also beyond the compulsion to relive this moment of terror, whether in recurring episodes of silencing trauma or repeating loops of media images. Conceiving of 9/11 as both a uniquely American trauma and a shared event in global history, the collection reexamines Ground Zero through the lenses of imperial power and cosmopolitan exchange. The book's subtitle challenges readers to engage this perspective by rethinking the paradox of paradise, a condition of both never-ending bliss and everlasting death. As the self-appointed economic and military gatekeeper of an imagined global paradise, America plays a dangerous moral and political game. This volume asks whether the United States has perhaps chosen the wrong side of paradise by waging war on terror rather than working for global peace Cover 1 Contents 8 List of Illustrations 10 Notes on Contributors 11 Acknowledgments 13 Introduction: The Wrong Side of Paradise: American Exceptionalism and the Special Relationship After 9/11 14 Part I: Empire 27 1 Paradoxical Polemics: John le Carré’s Responses to 9/11 28 2 The (Inter)national Bond: James Bond and the Special Relationship 45 3 221B–9/11: Sherlock Holmes and Conspiracy Theory 61 Part II: Cosmopolis 79 4 Behind the Face of Terror: Hamid, Malkani, and Multiculturalism after 9/11 80 5 “Scandalous Memoir”: Uncovering Silences and Reclaiming the Disappeared in Mahvish Rukhsana Kahn’s My Guantánamo Diary 99 6 Joseph O’Neill and the Post-9/11 Novel 119 7 An Interview with Joseph O’Neill 138 Part III: City 148 8 9/11 Theater: The Story of New York or the Nation? 149 9 Flying Man and Falling Man: Remembering and Forgetting 9/11 167 10 “I’m Only Just Starting to Look”: Media, Art, and Literature After 9/11 185 11 Archifictions: Constructing September 11 206 12 The New Grotesque in Jess Walter’s The Zero: A Commentary and Interview 229 Bibliography 246 Index 265 "Looking back on a decade of the US-run and UK-supported 'war on terror', this volume examines how transatlantic literature and culture have challenged notions of American exceptionalism since 11 September 2001. The essays look not only at but also beyond the compulsion to relive this moment of terror, whether in recurring episodes of silencing trauma or repeating loops of media images. Conceiving of 9/11 as both a uniquely American trauma and a shared event in global history, the collection re-examines Ground Zero through the lenses of imperial power and cosmopolitan exchange. The book's subtitle challenges readers to engage this perspective by rethinking the paradox of paradise, a condition of both never-ending bliss and everlasting death. As the self-appointed economic and military gatekeeper of an imagined global paradise, America plays a dangerous moral and political game. This volume asks whether the United States has perhaps chosen the wrong side of paradise by waging war on terror rather than working for global peace"-- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction....Pages 1-13 Front Matter....Pages 15-15 Paradoxical Polemics....Pages 17-33 The (Inter)national Bond....Pages 34-49 221B-9/11....Pages 50-67 Front Matter....Pages 69-69 Behind the Face of Terror....Pages 71-89 “Scandalous Memoir”....Pages 90-109 Joseph O’Neill and the Post-9/11 Novel....Pages 110-128 An Interview with Joseph O’Neill....Pages 129-138 Front Matter....Pages 139-139 9/11 Theater....Pages 141-158 Flying Man and Falling Man....Pages 159-176 “I’m Only Just Starting to Look”....Pages 177-197 Archifictions....Pages 198-220 The New Grotesque in Jess Walter’s The Zero....Pages 221-237 Back Matter....Pages 238-265