The paranoid metanarrative and the postcolonial response in post-9/11 fiction : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English Literature, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Abstract

No abstract. The following is an excerpt from the preface "The Pit and the Ladder":

In the critical component of this project: “Fiction Under the Clout of the Dominant 9/11 Metanarrative”, I will examine the extent of the influence of the dominant 9/11 metanarrative on post-9/11 fiction. This section is conducted in terms of literary analysis and gauges whether the selected novels succeed at producing counternarratives that incite literary and public incredulity in the dominant 9/11 metanarrative or, conversely, if they aid in perpetuating that same metanarrative. Through the creative component entitled The Righteous Man, I will recreate the post-9/11 world, but from a perspective that is loosely based on my personal experience after 9/11 in both the US and Saudi Arabia. I would contend that this perspective deterritorialises and forces the reader to look through the vantage point of someone who is neither a direct victim nor a culprit of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Through the construction of a protagonist who suffers unjustly from racial profiling - under the guise of the implementation of stricter security measures - I hope to showcase how the perpetuation of the 9/11 metanarrative creates a vicious cycle of paranoid and xenophobic tendencies. These, in turn, feed into the metanarrative’s pool of doctrines and exacerbate the endless cycle of victims-turned-offenders.