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
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Date
2014
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Massey University
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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.
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Keywords
Metanarrative, Post 9/11 fiction, Post 9/11 paranoia, Post 9/11 xenophobia