9/11: Culture, Catastrophe and the Critique of Singularity

Even though much has been said and written about 9/11, the work developed on this subject has mostly explored it as an unparalleled event, a turning point in history. This book wishes to look instead at how disruptive events promote a network of associations and how people resort to comparison as a means to make sense of the unknown, i.e. to comprehend what seems incomprehensible. In order to effectively discuss the complexity of 9/11, this book articulates different fields of knowledge and perspectives such as visual culture, media studies, performance studies, critical theory, memory studies and literary studies to shed some light on 9/11 and analyze how the event has impacted on American social and cultural fabric and how the American society has come to terms with such a devastating event. A more in-depth study of Don DeLillo's Falling Man and Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close draws attention to the cultural construction of catastrophe and the plethora of cultural products 9/11 has inspired. It demonstrates how the event has been integrated into American culture and exemplifies what makes up the 9/11 imaginary.

About the author

Diana Gonçalves, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon, Portugal.

Product details

• Authors: Diana Goncalves, Diana Gonçalves
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.01.2016
• EAN: 9783110473131
• ISBN: 978-3-11-047313-1
• No. of pages: 244
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 236 mm x 20 mm
• Weight: 530 g
• Illustrations: 11 b/w ill.
• Series: Culture & Conflict; Culture & Conflict; ISSN
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Cultural history; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous