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

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DG Plus DeG Package 2016 Part 1
• VerfasserIn: Gonçalves, Diana,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter, , [2016]; ©2016
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Series: Culture & Conflict , 9
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (IX, 244 p.)

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.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Acknowledgments -- Preface -- Contents -- Introduction: September 11 and the Critique of Singularity -- 1. The Rhetoric of Catastrophe: Towards Representing 9/11 -- 2. Out of the Blue: The Exceptionality of 9/11 -- 3. Covering Catastrophe: 9/11 as a Media Event -- 4. Collapsing the Boundaries of Literature: 9/11 Fiction -- Epilogue: Rereading September 11 as a Non-Singular Event -- Bibliography -- Filmography -- Index of Names