Literary recognition : representation of Islam and Muslims in post-9/11 novels

Abstract

The emerging field of post-9/11 literary studies is now well into its second decade. During this short span, a small group of novels has dominated the field in an early process of canonisation. Don DeLillo's Falling Man is pivotal to the nascent genre but other novels such as Joseph O'Neill's Netherland and Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close also quickly became exemplars of the United States' literary response to tragedy, and have remained important in the scholarly endeavours that followed. Even more evident is the dominance of trauma studies as the paradigm for analysis of the genre, partly because of the obvious connection with the content of the literature and the historical events that instigated its development. The effects of these early trends have had particular implications for the analysis of the representation of Islam and Muslims in the post-9/11 literary context. This thesis takes a different starting point. It suggests that an alternative methodology is needed to understand the scope and complexity of the relationship between American writers and representations of Islam. It suggests that post-9/11 novels can be reframed from a genre bounded by traumatic event and religious motivation, to one that is part of a historically and politically driven struggle for recognition. After surveying the current position of the post-9/11 literary landscape, and acknowledging the consequences of the trauma theory model, the thesis considers how contemporary German social philosopher Axel Honneth and his comprehensive work in recognition theory offers an opportunity to explore the literary field more broadly. This involves considering a group of novels that diverge from the early canon by contending with Islam beyond trauma and the terrorist archetype. This group includes, among others, Amy Waldman's 2011 novel The Submission, with its Muslim American protagonist, and the translated work of Iraqi author Inaam Kachachi, The American Granddaughter. I assert that recognition theory provides explanatory and analytical benefits when considering a range of literary responses that are the product of a post-9/11 context, even when not necessarily a direct representation of its experience. I determine that the reification and commodification of otherness, themes and motifs of misrecognition, and the threshold of the recognition of personhood are all elements of recognition theory that are echoed in the post-9/11 novels. I also demonstrate that Honneth's view of the centrality of intersubjectivity as a precedent to recognition is equally central in the evaluation of contemporary novels as cultural and political artefacts. Ultimately, recognition theory provides a means to develop a taxonomy of the struggle for social and political progress. A glimmer of progress is explored in the final chapter of the thesis as it moves to a range of novels that engage with Islam in innovative and intriguing ways. The chapter identifies commonalities between the recent works of Teju Cole, Dave Eggers and Ben Lerner that all transcend the limitations of the homeland and place their diverse American protagonists in a global dialogue with the Muslim world. Issues of postcolonialism, post-exceptionality and the recognition of global vulnerability emerge. The thesis concludes that these novels suggest potential developments of the genre and its critical analysis through theories of recognition.

Date of Award	2017
Original language	English