Since September 11, 2011, reality has not only outstripped fiction, it’s destroying it. It’s impossible to write about this subject, and yet impossible to write about anything else. Nothing else touches us. (Beigbeder 8)
On an early and sunny Tuesday morning in September 2001 the unimaginable happened, 2973 people were killed in an attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. Within 15 minutes two airplanes hit the Twin Towers and heralded a new age; “the age of terror”. The trauma begins at 8:46 AM local time with the crashing of the first plane into The North Tower. The tower will collapse 102 minutes later. These 102 minutes show images of crashing planes, burning and collapsing towers and people jumping from windows. These images spread around the world and were repeated endlessly, “framing them in the discourses of heroism, patriotism, innocence and trauma” (Däwes 2). The images of 9/11 burned themselves into the memories of contemporary witnesses. On this Tuesday the World Trade Center literally becomes the center of the world. What is happening inside the burning towers remains invisible. Everyone who is located above the crashed planes is left with the choice to burn or to jump. About 200 people throw themselves out of the windows. [...]
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Out of the Blue - Trauma
2.1. “There is no Next” – Melancholia in DeLillo’s Falling Man
2.2. “Wearing Heavy Boots” – Mourning in Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
3. “You Know How it Ends; Everybody Dies” - Beigbeder’s Windows on the World
3.1. Describing the Indescribable
3.2. “Some Seconds are Longer Than Others” - Timeline of a Catastrophe
3.3. The Higher You Build, The Lower You Fall
4. Falling Men – Images of a National Trauma
4.1. Identity in Don DeLillo’s Falling Man
4.2. “The Photosensitive Surface” – Witnessing the Falling Man
5. The Other
5.1. “Us vs. Them” Display of “the Other” in DeLillo’s Falling Man
5.2. Connecting to the Other in a Post-9/11 World
5.3. Playing Poker
6. Conclusion
Research Objective and Scope
This thesis examines the representation and processing of trauma in three post-9/11 novels—Frédéric Beigbeder’s Windows on the World, Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and Don DeLillo’s Falling Man—focusing specifically on the "Falling Man" as a central human symbol of the catastrophe.
- The role of "Falling Men" as a human aspect of the 9/11 national trauma.
- Application of trauma theory, specifically distinguishing between melancholia (acting out) and mourning (working through).
- The function of literature in imagining the "unimaginable" and representing what remains unseen by media.
- The rhetorical construction of "us versus them" and the concept of "the Other" in the aftermath of the attacks.
Excerpt from the Book
The Photosensitive Surface – Witnessing the Falling Man
There was the awful openness of it, something we’d not seen, the single falling figure that trails the collective dread, body come down among us all. (DeLillo 33)
After September 11, 2001 the newspapers quickly “ran pictures not of the victims but of the survivors and, more emphatically, of the rescuers” (Versluys 22). In his novel DeLillo does the exact opposite. He focusses on and names his novel after the Falling Man and thereby “provides a counterdiscourse to the prevailing nationalistic interpretations” (23). By circling his story around a man who represents irredeemable death DeLillo “touches the third rail of 9/11 taboos” (Rich cited by Versluys 23).
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the impact of the 9/11 attacks as a historical and national trauma that interrupted time and rendered the events "incomprehensible," establishing the thesis focus on the "Falling Men" in literature.
2. Out of the Blue - Trauma: Explores the psychological definitions of trauma, distinguishing between melancholia and mourning, and introduces the specific novelistic approaches of Foer and DeLillo.
3. “You Know How it Ends; Everybody Dies” - Beigbeder’s Windows on the World: Analyzes Beigbeder's unconventional structural choice of a 120-minute timeline and his decision to narrate the tragedy from inside the burning towers.
4. Falling Men – Images of a National Trauma: Examines the cultural impact of Richard Drew’s photograph and how this image serves as a fixation point for trauma, identity, and the "horrific beauty" of the event.
5. The Other: Investigates the binary rhetoric of "us vs. them" in post-9/11 society and how characters attempt to bridge the distance to "the Other" through personal connection and ritual.
6. Conclusion: Synthesizes the findings, confirming that while 9/11 cannot be fully "solved" or "closed," literature provides a vital space to process the trauma by giving a human face to the catastrophe.
Keywords
9/11, Trauma, Literature, Falling Man, Melancholia, Mourning, Identity, The Other, Photography, Beigbeder, DeLillo, Foer, Post-9/11 novel, Collective trauma, Witnessing
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this thesis?
The thesis focuses on how post-9/11 literature processes the trauma of the attacks by centering on the human aspect of the tragedy, specifically the "Falling Men."
What are the central thematic fields?
The study revolves around trauma theory, the role of imagery, the representation of "the Other," and the struggle for identity and security in a post-9/11 world.
What is the core research objective?
The objective is to prove that by looking at the "Falling Men," literature can move beyond media conventions and offer a path for coping with the national trauma of 9/11.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The work employs literary analysis informed by psychoanalytical trauma theory, specifically utilizing Freud’s distinction between melancholia and mourning, and engages with contemporary cultural and media studies.
What is covered in the main body?
The main body performs a close analysis of three specific novels, contrasting their narrative styles, their treatment of time, and how their protagonists attempt (or fail) to overcome traumatic states.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include 9/11, trauma, melancholia, mourning, the "Falling Man" image, and the rhetorical division of "us vs. them."
How does the author characterize the role of the "Falling Man" in Beigbeder’s work?
In Windows on the World, the "Falling Man" serves to force the reader into a direct, uncomfortable witness position, breaking the "ideological censorship" that kept the reality of the victims inside the towers hidden.
What distinguishes the "Falling Man" in the context of DeLillo’s novel?
DeLillo transforms the "Falling Man" into a titular, titular figure—a performance artist—who forces the characters and the reader to repetitively confront the trauma, effectively preventing closure.
How does the flip book in Foer’s novel act as a coping mechanism?
The flip book allows the protagonist, Oskar, to reverse the timeline of the fall, symbolically "floating" the man back up, which represents a productive, if imagined, resolution to his traumatic loss.
- Quote paper
- Master of Arts Nathalie Gerlach (Author), 2014, Falling Men in the Post-9/11 Novel, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/292973
