Wilson, J. M. (2009) Besieged identities: terrorism, the individual and the nation-state. Panel Presentation presented to: Re-imagining Identity: New Directions in Postcolonial Studies: Inaugural Conference of the Postcolonial Studies Association (PSA), Waterford, Ireland, 06-08 May 2009. (Unpublished)
| Item Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (Panel Presentation) |
|---|---|
| Abstract: | This paper aims to examine the reconfigurations of identity as represented in recent fictions which deal with the threat of violence from terrorists and their networks. In three novels--Richard Flanagan’s The Unknown Terrorist (2006), Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007), and Orhan Pamuk’s Snow (2004) -- reactions of citizens and governments to terrorist attacks issue in retaliations such as a demand for greater security measures or in internal conflict. In the political sphere boundaries between geographical regions within the nation and between different nation states are challenged and often reasserted. Drawing on Stuart Hall’s premise that social and ethnic identities are constructions rather than givens, the paper will attempt to show, with reference to the novels, how such identities are tested and modified when subjected to the dangers that terrorism and violence present. It asks whether in the current political climate in which dissident groups create new fears and tensions (e.g. after the 26/11 bombings in Mumbai), individual identities are also under siege. Does the encroachment of fundamentalist beliefs lead to deracination of social and national identities, because the individual potential to take up a cultural identity within a given context or locale is reduced? Or are individual identities reinforced by steps which emphasise cohesive social and familial bonds, and the introduction of tighter security measures. Do such changes within the citizen contribute to the production and circulation of a changing ‘national’ identity? |
| Subjects: |
P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN3311 Prose. Prose fiction H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology > HV6001 Criminology > HV6251 Crimes and offences > HV6432 Terrorism |
| Creators: | Wilson, Janet M |
| Corporate Creators: | Waterford Institute of Technology with the PSA |
| Faculties, Divisions and Institutes: |
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Faculty of Education & Humanities > English and Creative Writing University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Research Centre > Centre for Critical and Creative Writing Faculties > Faculty of Education & Humanities > English and Creative Writing Research Centres > Centre for Critical and Creative Writing |
| Date: | 8 May 2009 |
| Date Type: | Presentation |
| Event Title: | Re-imagining Identity: New Directions in Postcolonial Studies: Inaugural Conference of the Postcolonial Studies Association (PSA) |
| Event Dates: | 06-08 May 2009 |
| Event Location: | Waterford, Ireland |
| Event Type: | Conference |
| Language: | English |
| Status: | Unpublished |
| References: | Ali, Tariq. The Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity. London and New York: Verso, 2002. Bhabha, Homi. K. ’The Other Question: Stereotype, discrimination and the discourse of colonialism.’ The Location of Culture. London and New York, Routledge, 1994. 66-84. Blessington, Francis. ‘Politics and the Terrorist Novel.’ The Sewanee Review 116.1 (Winter, 2008): 116-24. Bromley, Roger. Narratives for a New Belonging: Diasporic Cultural Fictions. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Universiy Press, 2000. Flanagan, Richard. The Unknown Terrorist. Sydney: Picador, 2006. Hamid, Mohsin, The Reluctant Fundamentalist. London; Penguin, 2007. ---. (a) Interview with Deborah Solomon. ‘The Stranger.’ New York Times, 15 April 2007. Accessed: 21 April 2008. http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/frame.do?tokenKey=rsh-20.139431.2281382859 Harrison, John. M. ‘Girl, gun, nightclub’. Review of The Unknown Terrorist. TLS 29 April 2007. Kaveny, Roz. ‘Losing America’, Review of The Reluctant Fundamentalist. TLS 12 October 2007. Lazarus, Neil. ‘The Politics of Postcolonial Modernism.’ Postcolonial Studies and Beyond, ed. Ania Loomba, Suvir Kaul, Matti Bunzl, Atoinette Burton, Jed Esty. Durham and London : Duke University Press, 2005. 423-438 |
| URI: | http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/2221 |
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