Abstract:

The post-traumatic aftermath of 9/11 is playing out in many arenas as cultural texts. Several recent novels have thematized directly the effect of these events on individuals, in or outside America. In my paper I propose to analyze these novels as trauma narratives, as well as aesthetic products. I shall focus mainly on Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, but I also aim to draw in Don DeLillo’s Falling Man, and to a lesser extent Jess Walter’s The Zero, Jay McInerny’s The Good Life, Ken Kalfus’ A Disorder Peculiar to the Country, and Claire Messud’s The Emperor’s Children.

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