Terrorism and American Literature

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Drama, Anthologies
Cover of the book Terrorism and American Literature by Horst Baumann, GRIN Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Horst Baumann ISBN: 9783640136063
Publisher: GRIN Publishing Publication: August 12, 2008
Imprint: GRIN Publishing Language: English
Author: Horst Baumann
ISBN: 9783640136063
Publisher: GRIN Publishing
Publication: August 12, 2008
Imprint: GRIN Publishing
Language: English

Thesis (M.A.) from the year 2003 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,0, University of Cologne, 45 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: In his essay ''God save us from the bourgeois adventure': The Figure of the Terrorist in Contemporary American Conspiracy Fiction' (1996), written in the aftermath of the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, Steffen Hantke remarks how quickly politicians, the media, and the public at that time agreed that the bombing had to be understood as part of a larger confrontation between Western democracies and 'Islamic Fundamentalism' (for the following comp. 1996: 219-222). He goes on to argue that the then newly discovered enemy 'Islamic terrorism' had filled the vacancy in the collective political imagination that was left by the demise of Communism in the late 1980ies, and that this new conflict continued the kind of cultural paranoia that had sustained the historical narrative of the Cold War era. Hantke describes cultural paranoia as the effect of a cultural machinery that amalgamates complex political contexts and historical developments into homogeneous and larger-than-life cultural abstractions against which the collective political imagination can construct itself as a unified entity. In other words, cultural paranoia creates a sprawling narrative of the nation/the American way of life/Western civilization under threat that legitimizes state power, ensures compliance with dominant social norms and unifies the nation by stigmatizing dissent as treason.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Thesis (M.A.) from the year 2003 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,0, University of Cologne, 45 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: In his essay ''God save us from the bourgeois adventure': The Figure of the Terrorist in Contemporary American Conspiracy Fiction' (1996), written in the aftermath of the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, Steffen Hantke remarks how quickly politicians, the media, and the public at that time agreed that the bombing had to be understood as part of a larger confrontation between Western democracies and 'Islamic Fundamentalism' (for the following comp. 1996: 219-222). He goes on to argue that the then newly discovered enemy 'Islamic terrorism' had filled the vacancy in the collective political imagination that was left by the demise of Communism in the late 1980ies, and that this new conflict continued the kind of cultural paranoia that had sustained the historical narrative of the Cold War era. Hantke describes cultural paranoia as the effect of a cultural machinery that amalgamates complex political contexts and historical developments into homogeneous and larger-than-life cultural abstractions against which the collective political imagination can construct itself as a unified entity. In other words, cultural paranoia creates a sprawling narrative of the nation/the American way of life/Western civilization under threat that legitimizes state power, ensures compliance with dominant social norms and unifies the nation by stigmatizing dissent as treason.

More books from GRIN Publishing

Cover of the book Meanings of the White Whale (Herman Melville: Moby Dick) by Horst Baumann
Cover of the book The New Permissive Use of Force - A Window for Change in German Foreign Policy? by Horst Baumann
Cover of the book EU Development Aid and Good Governance by Horst Baumann
Cover of the book Neoliberal Policies as a path towards economic recovery in Sub Saharan African Countries ? by Horst Baumann
Cover of the book The Moon is Down and A Bell for Adano: Two specific examples of American propaganda literature in the Second World War by Horst Baumann
Cover of the book Which Goal should be followed by a Corporate Executive? by Horst Baumann
Cover of the book Music and Advertising in Television I by Horst Baumann
Cover of the book The Three Gorges Dam (Der Drei Schluchten-Damm) by Horst Baumann
Cover of the book The United States of America - an Empire? by Horst Baumann
Cover of the book Virginia Woolf´s 'The Waves' by Horst Baumann
Cover of the book The European security and defense architecture and the Russian Federation by Horst Baumann
Cover of the book Gender and Education by Horst Baumann
Cover of the book Corporate Instruments to Fend Off Unwanted Shareholders by Horst Baumann
Cover of the book Cooper's KING KONG (1933): Black Masculinity between White Womanhood and White Male Capitalist Structures by Horst Baumann
Cover of the book Processes in the Internet Economy by Horst Baumann
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy