Dissent from the Homeland: Essays after September 11

by Frank Lentricchia, Stanley Hauerwas

Overview

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780822332213
Publisher:	Duke University Press Books
Publication date:	08/08/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Stanley Hauerwas is the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics and Professor of Law at Duke University. He is the author of many books, including The Hauerwas Reader, also published by Duke University Press.

Frank Lentricchia is the Katherine Everett Gilbert Professor of Literature and Theater Studies at Duke University. Among his numerous books are the novel Lucchesi and The Whale and Close Reading: The Reader (coedited with Andrew DuBois), both also published by Duke University Press.

Table of Contents

Introductory Note / Frank Lentricchia 3

Introductory Note / Stanley Hauerwas 7

After / Daniel Berrigan 9

Seventy-Five Years / Robert N. Bellah 11

End of War / Rowan Williams 25

Thoughts in the Presence of Fear / Wendell Berry 37

The Wars Less Known / Catherine Lutz 43

The Dialectics of Disaster / Fredric Jameson 55

Sovereignty, Empire, Capital, and Terror / John Milbank 63

A Muslim to Muslims: Reflections after September 11 / Vincent J. Cornell 83

Groundzeroland / Frank Lentricchia and Jody McAuliffe 95

Dispelling the "We" Fallacy from the Body of Christ: The Task of Catholics in a Time of War / Michael J. Baxter 107

Old Glory / Susan Willis 121

Welcome to the Desert of the Real! / Slavoj Žižek 131

September 11 and the Children of Abraham / Peter Ochs 137

L'Esprit du Terrorisme / Jean Baudrillard 149

Our Good Fortune / David James Duncan 163

John Walker Lindh / Anne R. Slifkin 173

September 11, 2001: A Pacifist Response / Stanley Hauerwas 181

Ground Zero; or, The Implosion of Church and State / Srinivas Aravamudan 195

Afterword: From Virgin Land to Ground Zero / Donald E. Pease 205

Contributors 215

Index 219

Editorial Reviews

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 "refus[al] 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. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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