The whole world shook : shifts in ethnic, national and heroic identities in children's fiction about 9/11

摘要: Like many other cataclysmic events September 11, a day now popularly believed to have 'changed the world', has become topic taken up by children's writers. This thesis, titled The Whole World Shook: Ethnic, National and Heroic Identities in Children's Fiction About 9/11, examines how cultural identities are constructed within fictional texts for young people written about attacks on Twin Towers. It identifies three significant identity categories encoded 9/11 books children: ethnic identities, national heroic identities. thesis argues that formed selected flux, privileging performances of contingent post-9/11 politics. This study is located field literature criticism, which supports understanding books, like all texts, play role production highly both its pedagogical intent (to instruct induct children into practices beliefs) obscurity (in making complex simple enough children, from sometimes intentionally shying away difficult things). literary criticism informed if they were be at all, would complex, varied most likely as ambiguous contradictory responses New York themselves. The theoretical framework this draws range critical theories including theory, studies, studies performativity postmodernism. informs approach providing ways for: (i) political ideological work performed literature; (ii) interrogating nature identities; (iii) developing nuanced methodology carrying out close textual analysis. The analysis representative sample picture adult fiction, selection DC Comics. Each chapter focuses different though related category. Chapter Four performance race politics fiction; Five analyses construction collective, another set texts; Six does analytic third demonstrating strategic particular kinds I argue these draw familiar versions well contribute new ones. These constructions can seen offering some certainties increasingly uncertain times. finds, co-mingling xenophobia tolerance; binaried competition between good evil global harmony insularity; lauding commonplace hero super-human. Being recent corpus provide information 'selves' appear privileged West since 2001. The concludes shifting evident being produced offer implicit explicit accounts what constitute citizenship, loyalty nation community, desirable attributes Western context. makes an original contribution focussed sustained formations times unease unrest.