This paper argues that, contrary to politics and news coverage, both Amy Waldman's novel "The Submission" and Michael Moore's movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" give the audience the chance to not rationally understand, but to emotionally recognize the "other" as grievable within the representational gap that is created through the narrated relation of the “I” to the “face”. This emotionally recognized narrative of the other can become part of the narrative memory into which traumatic recall should be turned, and therefore also is more
successful in the overcoming of trauma's gap than the public medial narrative.
After the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001, two major narratives emerged: The trauma of the US citizens and the defense against the evil other. Both are connected on a psychological and political level. The “us vs. them” dichotomy, the traumatized good Americans against the evil Muslims, existed before the attacks and was reinforced afterwards.
The trauma of the individual American was partly instrumentalized and militarized for political purposes, leading to a perception of the Muslim other not only as evil, but also as ungrievable. Judith Butler discusses the notion of the “ungrievable other” in her publication Precarious Life. She sees the attacks as a chance to change the political and individual dichotomy of “us” and “the other”, and therefore of grievable and ungrievable lives. Butler argues that the “recognition of the other” (Butler 34-44) could prevent further terrorist attacks and wars by pursuing the notion of a two-sided vulnerability. By using Levinas' theory of the “face” she shows how failed representation of and failed identification with the other can lead to experiencing it as grievable by creating a difference or a gap in the relation of it to the self, synonymously the human-being that is recognized as such, the first-personnarrative, the “I” or the “us”.
Amy Waldman's novel "The Submission" and Michael Moore's movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" treat the
other in particular narrative, compositional and structural ways that create this gap. Both works are
perceived as in between fiction and non-fiction and were controversially discussed, thus creating an
uncertainty in readers and viewers about their expectations, and putting them into a state of agency
and action by demanding an opinion.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Medial Pattern of the Ungrievable Other: An Unsuccessful Working Through
3. The Submission and Fahrenheit 9/11: Turning “The Other” into a Grievable Human Being
3. 1. Amy Waldman's The Submission
3.2. Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11
4. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Themes
The primary objective of this study is to examine how the novel The Submission by Amy Waldman and the documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore challenge the dehumanizing political narratives following the 9/11 attacks. The research explores whether these works can foster an emotional recognition of the "other" as a grievable life, thereby bridging the gap between traumatic recall and narrative memory more effectively than mainstream media coverage.
- Judith Butler's theory of the "ungrievable other" and the concept of "the face."
- The critique of media-driven "us vs. them" dichotomies and symbolic identification.
- Narrative strategies that create gaps in representation to demand viewer agency.
- Parallel framing techniques used to humanize marginalized subjects.
- The transition from traumatic recall to coherent, shared narrative memory.
Excerpt from the Book
3. 1. Amy Waldman's The Submission
The Submission from 2011 is Amy Waldman's first novel, and she considers it as fiction (Brown), but there are voices against this definite decision. Many reporters don't omit mentioning Waldman's former journalistic profession and its influences on the novel (Brown, Kakutani, Keeble, Shamsie). Referring to Kamila Shamsie, who suggests that Waldman “decided to tear up the contract” between fiction and non-fiction writers about how to handle 9/11, Arin Keeble even speaks about a “meta-fictionality” (185) of the novel.
The novel was also entangled in a real life controversy: when the Park51 Islamic community center should be built close to Ground Zero in 2011, the public discourse about it resembled the already finished novel in so many ways that Waldman had to rewrite passages to make the plot sound less like the real news reports (Brown).
Asked about the purpose of her novel, Waldman answered that she was interested in “the conflict almost between principle and emotion” (Brown), that she believes that there are “no easy answers” (Sander), and that she wanted to raise questions of trust and about the understanding of Islam (Brown). In Keeble's opinion Waldman's novel is “a portrayal of conflictedness that has the dialectical opposition between trauma and politics at its heart” (166), Kakutani sees it as inextricably linking “the personal and the political, the private and the public”.
Even though the subject of grievability is discussed in the novel, for example in the character of Ansar (101), it doesn't seem to be its main purpose. Nevertheless Waldman's narrative strategy succeeds in turning the ungrievable other into a grievable one.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter establishes the theoretical framework, utilizing Judith Butler's concepts to analyze how 9/11 narratives polarized American society and effectively dehumanized the "Muslim other."
2. The Medial Pattern of the Ungrievable Other: An Unsuccessful Working Through: This section investigates how repetitive media imagery hindered the processing of trauma, reinforcing a collective identity that excluded the recognition of "the other" as grievable.
3. The Submission and Fahrenheit 9/11: Turning “The Other” into a Grievable Human Being: This chapter provides a detailed analysis of how the two selected works use parallel and mirroring narrative strategies to dismantle established prejudices.
3. 1. Amy Waldman's The Submission: The analysis focuses on the parallel introduction of two widows, demonstrating how the author uses a failure of representation to provoke the reader into recognizing the "other" as a vulnerable human.
3.2. Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11: This section examines how Moore’s documentary uses filmic assemblages and ironic juxtaposition to shift victimhood and foster empathy across national boundaries.
4. Conclusion: The concluding chapter synthesizes the findings, arguing that these artistic works provide a superior pattern for narrative memory by encouraging active, critical participation from the audience.
Keywords
9/11, Trauma, Grievable Lives, Judith Butler, Amy Waldman, Michael Moore, Narrative Memory, The Submission, Fahrenheit 9/11, Recognition, Otherness, Medial Pattern, Representation, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Ethics.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this research paper?
The paper explores how narrative and cinematic works can transform the perception of the "other" following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, moving from an "ungrievable" status to one of shared humanity.
What are the central themes discussed in the work?
The central themes include traumatic memory, the role of media in shaping national identity, the ethics of mourning, and the political instrumentalization of trauma.
What is the primary research question?
The study asks how The Submission and Fahrenheit 9/11 use narrative gaps and mirroring strategies to enable an emotional recognition of the "other" as a grievable human being.
Which scientific methods does the author employ?
The author uses literary and filmic close reading combined with critical media theory, specifically drawing upon the philosophical frameworks of Judith Butler and Emmanuel Levinas.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The main body treats the construction of trauma in the news, the analysis of Amy Waldman's novel regarding its dual-widow narrative, and the deconstruction of Michael Moore's documentary through its parallel sequences of victimhood.
Which keywords best characterize this research?
Key terms include 9/11, trauma, grievable lives, recognition, narrative memory, and medial patterns of identification.
How does the author define "the ungrievable other"?
Based on Butler, it refers to those whose losses are not recognized by the dominant public narrative, effectively rendering them invisible or inhuman in the collective consciousness.
Why is the "parallel narrative" important in these works?
The parallel narrative forces the audience to see similarities between characters or groups that are usually kept apart, creating an emotional bridge that defies binary political categorizations.
What specific role does the "face" play in this study?
Drawing on Levinas, the "face" serves as an address that demands an ethical response from the "I," breaking down the barriers that prevent the recognition of the other's vulnerability.
How do these works trigger the agency of the viewer/reader?
By refusing to provide a clear, one-sided narrative, these works create a "gap" in meaning that requires the audience to fill in the moral implications, thereby turning passive consumers into active, critical participants.
- Quote paper
- Ingeborg Morawetz (Author), 2016, Trauma's Gap. How the Recipient's Triggered Agency in Amy Waldman's novel "The Submission" and Michael Moore's Movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" Creates a New Pattern of Narrative Memory by Turning Ungrievable into Grievable Lives, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/352735
