Dissent from the Homeland
Essays after September 11
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- $26.99
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- $26.99
Descripción editorial
Dissent from the Homeland is a book about patriotism, justice, revenge, American history and symbology, art and terror, and pacifism. In this deliberately and urgently provocative collection, noted writers, philosophers, literary critics, and theologians speak out against the war on terrorism and the government of George W. Bush as a response to the events of September 11, 2001. Critiquing government policy, citizen apathy, and societal justifications following the attacks, these writers present a wide range of opinions on such issues as contemporary American foreign policy and displays of patriotism in the wake of the disaster.Whether illuminating the narratives that have been used to legitimate the war on terror, reflecting on the power of American consumer culture to transform the attack sites into patriotic tourist attractions, or insisting that to be a Christian is to be a pacifist, these essays refuse easy answers. They consider why the Middle East harbors a deep-seated hatred for the United States. They argue that the U.S. drive to win the cold war made the nation more like its enemies, leading the government to support ruthless anti-Communist tyrants such as Mobutu, Suharto, and Pinochet. They urge Americans away from the pitfall of national self-righteousness toward an active peaceableness—an alert, informed, practiced state of being—deeply contrary to both passivity and war. Above all, the essays assembled in Dissent from the Homeland are a powerful entreaty for thought, analysis, and understanding. Originally published as a special issue of the journal South Atlantic Quarterly, Dissent from the Homeland has been expanded to include new essays as well as a new introduction and postscript.
Contributors. Srinivas Aravamudan, Michael J. Baxter, Jean Baudrillard, Robert N. Bellah, Daniel Berrigan, Wendell Berry, Vincent J. Cornell, David James Duncan, Stanley Hauerwas, Fredric Jameson, Frank Lentricchia, Catherine Lutz, Jody McAuliffe, John Milbank, Peter Ochs, Donald E. Pease, Anne R. Slifkin, Rowan Williams, Susan Willis, Slavoj Zizek
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Three of these pieces (from Jean Baudrillard, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Slavoj Zizek) actually originate outside the homeland, but readers who find even the word"homeland" slightly Orwellian will find kindred spirits in this collection of essays by theologians, literary scholars and academics from other fields. In an angry introduction, Lentricchia, a professor of literature at Duke, lambastes America's"refusal to take any responsibility for September 11"; Hauerwas, a theologian at Duke, more temperately reminds readers that"Christianity is a tradition of peace." Some of the contributors are well known: Wendell Berry calls for self-criticism and self-correction by the West; Fredric Jameson accuses the media of hype in the wake of the attacks on New York and Washington. Peter Ochs relates the attacks to the Chorban, the destruction of the ancient Jewish temples. Readers impatient with what they may see as jingoism and vengefulness in the wake of September 11 will find their thoughts and feelings echoed in these thoughtful, hard-hitting essays. B&w photos.
