Reframing 9/11: Film, Popular Culture and the "War on Terror" »

"Looking well beyond the most obvious and familiar tales of contemporary terrorism and counter-terrorism to survey a twenty-first century America burdened and buoyed by a decade-long War on Terror, Reframing 9/11 offers an ambitious collection of theoretically savvy commentaries focusing on a wide array of popular texts, from zombie movies and video games to the Left Behind bestsellers and Bruce Springsteen's The Rising. Together, these essays explore the multivocal, disturbing, and tangled legacy of 9/11 as it reverberates culturally, politically, and socially through a globally stretched and strained America." Gregory A. Waller, Department of Communication and Culture, Indiana University" "September 11th, 2001, remains a focal point of American consciousness, a site demanding ongoing excavation, a site at which to mark before and after "everything" changed. In ways both real and intangible the entire sequence of events of that day continues to resonate in an endlessly proliferating aftermath of meanings. Presenting a collection of analyses by an international body of scholars that examines America's recent history, this book focuses on popular culture as a profound discursive site of anxiety and discussion about 9/11 and demystifies the day's events in order to contextualize them into a historically grounded series of narratives that recognizes the complex relations of a globalized world." Essays in Reframing 9/11 share a collective drive to encourage new and original approaches for understanding the issues both within and beyond the official political rhetoric of the events of the "The Global War on Terror" and issues of national security.

Acknowledgments

Foreword Reza Aslan Aslan, Reza

Introduction Karen Rande Rande, Karen 1

SECTION I (RE) CREATING LANGUAGE

Chapter 1 Fear, Terrorism, and Popular Culture David L. Altheide Altheide, David L. 11

Chapter 2 The Aesthetics of Destruction: Contemporary US Cinema and TV Culture Mathias Nilges Nilges, Mathias 23

Chapter 3 9/11, British Muslims, and Popular Literary Fiction Sara Upstone Upstone, Sara 35

Chapter 4 Left Behind in America: The Army of One at the End of History Jonathan Vincent Vincent, Jonathan 45

Chapter 5 9/11, Manhood, Mourning, and the American Romance John Mead Mead, John 57

Chapter 6 An Early Broadside: The Far Right Raids Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Jeff Birkenstein Birkenstein, Jeff 69

Chapter 7 The Sound of the "War on Terror" Corey K. Creekmur Creekmur, Corey K. 83

SECTION II VISIONS OF WAR AND TERROR

Chapter 8 Avatars of Destruction: Cheerleading and Deconstructing the "War on Terror" in Video Games David Annandale Annandale, David 97

Chapter 9 The Land of the Dead and the Home of the Brave: Romero's Vision of a Post-9/11 America Terence McSweeney McSweeney, Terence 107

Chapter 10 Superman is the Faultline: Fissures in the Monomythic Man of Steel Alex Evans Evans, Alex 117

Chapter 11 The Tools and Toys of (the) War (on Terror): Consumer Desire, Military Fetish, and Regime Change in Batman Begins Justine Toh Toh, Justine 127

Chapter 12 "It Was Like a Movie": The Impossibility of Representation in Oliver Stone's World Trade Center Karen Randell Randell, Karen 141

Chapter 13 The Contemporary Politics of the Western Form: Bush, Saving Jessica Lynch, and Deadwood Stacy Takacs Takacs, Stacy 153

SECTION III PROPHETIC NARRATIVES

Chapter 14 Governing Fear in the Iron Cage of Rationalism: Terry Gilliam's Brazil through the 9/11 Looking Glass David H. Price Price, David H. 167

Chapter 15 Cultural Anxiety, Moral Clarity, and Willful Amnesia: Filming Philip K. Dick After 9/11 Lance Rubin Rubin, Lance 183

Chapter 16 Prolepsis and the "War on Terror": Zombie Pathology and the Culture of Fear in 28 Days Later... Anna Froula Froula, Anna 195

Afterword John G. Cawelti Cawelti, John G. 209

Contributors 215

Bibliography 219

Index 239