Diss. Univ. Zürich, 2003. - Ref.: Harald Burger. / Auch auf CD-ROM.

This dissertation examines the cleared spaces after disaster and the way the rhetoric of utopian projects is taken up by corporate and privatizing ventures to mask projects that seek to shut down participation in the public sphere. Chapter one argues that there are mechanisms within societies that can push against these forces by promoting a cosmopolitan sensibility that protects the commons and respects the alterity of the Other. Such mechanisms have theoretical roots in the thinking of Robert Nozick and Fredric Jameson but have been rethought more recently by Bruce Robbins, Jean-Luc Nancy, and Seyla Benhabib. I read literature alongside documentaries and memorials to discover the way cultural texts model these methods of pushing back against neoliberal projects in the wake of 9/11 and Katrina by bringing ethics, as Emmanuel Levinas does, into "real world" situations. Projects that co-opt the commons after disaster convey a imitative cosmopolitanism that can be counteracted through giving agency to those who do not have it, constructing communities of access for the future, supporting a form of public mourning that promotes critique, and protecting post-disaster spaces from becoming only tourist destinations. Chapter two looks to the way the 9/11 fiction of Moshin Hamid, Claire Messud, Alissa Torres, Paul Auster, and Jonathan Safran Foer models a cosmopolitanism that repairs the self's relationship to the Other by allowing the Other an agency previously unavailable before 9/11. Chapter three examines how When the Levees Broke, Trouble the Water, Kamp Katrina, Katrina Ballads, A.D.: New Orleans after the Deluge, and Zeitoun foreground the vulnerability of Gulf Coast residents by linking their vulnerability to the nation's now damaged ecological relationship to the coast. Chapter four explores the cultural memory at a range of 9/11 and Katrina memorials in New York, Washington D. C., and along the Gulf Coast in order to find memorials that reinvigorate the commons by melding public mourning with critique. The epilogue examines the larger implications of my dissertation for the field of American studies in examining the culture of disaster that has arisen in the past decade.

The purpose of this thesis stemmed from the notion that the events of 9/11 would have a profound effect on how representations of Muslims on screen would need to be altered to match the political climate, and to project the trauma that the American public had experienced. However, in the course of the study it has emerged that changes to the old-style stereotypical representations might have been influenced by factors other than politics. By comparing and dissecting the content of films that displayed Islamic characteristics from a pre-9/11 standpoint, I have been able to assess the degree to which visual and narrative changes have been implemented. I open with an introduction that establishes the framework and theories related to the emergence, maintenance and reformulation of stereotypes. I review the process of representing various ‘outsider’ groups in American cinema before attempting to trace against this the gradual shift in Islamic characteristics found in the movies of the pre- and post-9/11 periods. The analysis includes definitions of the settings, locale, landscape and space as displayed on the theatrical screen. I discover that Muslim spaces which simply provided a setting for the action in the past are now acknowledged in terms of their interaction with their inhabitants. In much the same way that landscapes have been adapted from past cinematic depictions of the pre-9/11 period, male and female characters are found to be constructed through a new perspective, allowing them to look more ‘human’ compared to their monolithic antecedents. The study also examines the rise of formidable American female characters and their victimization of the Muslim male ‘Other’. The current investigation is not limited to the depiction of adults only. The Muslim child/adolescent has become a recent device through which American filmmakers are exercising their creativity. Themes of childhood loyalty, disloyalty and redemption are explored in the case of Muslim youngsters, while the Muslim American youth is presented as the ‘hybrid Other’ desperately in search of his or her complex identity. Although there still exist examples of utilizing the overseas Muslim minor as a product of religious fanaticism, 9/11 initiated a new form of looking at a child. Artistic devices that have found their way into the commercial crop of U.S. movies include inner and external focalization, thus encouraging audiences’ empathy for the child who had until recently been treated as an image on the screen rather than a character in the narrative. The findings indicate that during the decade under consideration American cinema has not drawn as sharp a cultural line between the ‘Orient’ and the ‘Occident’ as it used to. Comparative work of this kind, with its focus on past and present cinematic depictions of the Muslim world, is beneficial, for it shows that there is eagerness in the U.S. to explore and reflect more on the characteristics of the Muslim ‘Other’ – an eagerness which will prove in the long run to be in the interests of both the East and the West.

This thesis is an investigation of the representation of gender in the many American fiction television programmes dealing with the theme of apocalypse that debuted in the post-9/11 period, specifically between September 2002 and August 2012. It is the first study of this cycle of programmes, as well as the first overview of gender in twenty-first-century American telefantasy. The thesis takes a broadly cultural studies approach, mainly employing close textual analysis as its methodology. The aim of the thesis is, firstly, to point out some of the recurring narrative patterns and motifs relating to gender in the 25 programmes which fall within its remit and, secondly, to consider to what extent it is possible to draw links between the representation of gender in these programmes and contemporary events, especially 9/11 and the ‘war on terror.’ In particular, it aims to discern whether the series in question show the same reversion to traditional notions of masculinity and femininity that critics such as Susan Faludi (2007) have identified in American factual media of the same period. Following the introduction and literature review, Chapter One examines two archetypes of masculinity that were widely invoked by the American media in the aftermath of 9/11, the cowboy and the superhero, as they are respectively portrayed in The Walking Dead (2010- ) and Heroes (2006-2010). Chapter Two explores the representation of father-son relationships in a number of apocalyptic programmes and suggests that they tend to follow a narrative pattern which I refer to as the ‘Prince Hal narrative.’ Chapter Three examines the typical perpetrators of the apocalypses in these shows, patriarchal conspiracies, and the gendered dynamics between the conspirators, their victims and the heroes that attempt to stop them. It focuses on Jericho (2006-2008) and Dollhouse (2009-2010). Chapter Four looks at the conspiracies’ primary victims: young women who have been turned, against their will, into human ‘weapons.’ Finally, the conclusion notes the continuing popularity of apocalypse as a theme on American television, reiterates the previous chapters’ conclusions and draws some more general ones before indicating possible areas for further study.

Union Square is a novel set in and around the City of New York .

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This project explores 9/11 as a performative act that is re-represented in post 9/11 fiction. Although many scholars have engaged spectacle theory to understand the event, this project asserts that performance theory gives a more dynamic and ethical reading of post 9/11 literatures like Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Don DeLillo's Falling Man. The aforementioned post 9/11 texts showcase narrative performances and also give formal performances for an audience of readers. Theatricality in these texts promotes dialogue and healing through interactive communication.

This study briefly examined the terrorist attacks that occurred between the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 and the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that occurred on September 11, 2001. Specifically, this study examines the reactions of the public and press to the attacks on the military barracks in Riyadh, the bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Zambia and Kenya, and the attack on the U.S.S Cole in Yemen. This study examines the effect public opinion had on the President and Congress and their reactions to the public pressure. The primary purpose of this thesis is to briefly examine the reactions of Presidents and Congress to the attacks on Americans at home and abroad, and that effect on their efforts to prevent further attacks on the United States. Did the President use his office to activate and motivate public officials and the public to the dangers of terrorist attacks? Was the public effective in persuading Congress to enact legislation to increase funding for terrorist prevention? And, how effective was the press in its role to educate and define the issues surrounding terrorist attacks on Americans.

This study is based on the events of September 11, 2001. I will be writing a one man show containing fictional characters that I will write based on research of that day. The show will consist of numerous characters cut from different ages, religions, genders, and points of view. I will be portraying these characters using the tools I have acquired in studio and on stage. The challenge will be to make each character different and bring their experience and unique point of view to the performance. This study will begin at conception of the idea and follow the journey all the way to the final performance. It will show the struggles I encounter as a writer, performer, and producer.