Spaces of Terror and Death: September 11th, Public Memory, and the High School Imaginary

Authors

  • Abraham P. DeLeon University of Texas at San Antonio

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14288/ce.v2i10.182355

Keywords:

9/11, Postcolonialism, Capitalism, The Body, Space, Public Memory, Critical Theory, Utopianism

Abstract

September 11th 2001 is forever cloaked in affective resonances: feelings, emotions, and desires that remain in bodies after that fateful day. However, the memories and events of 9-11 are centered in the creation and reproduction of spaces of terror and death that traverse global boundaries, linked by historical precedents rooted in European colonization. Although 9-11 was a tragic day for the lives lost, this event has signaled a new era in the hegemony of global capitalism, the United States, and the surveillance technologies that have arisen. September 11th now exists in the memory as justification for a host of problematic relationships occurring globally. In this article, the author moves across multiple traditions to rethink 9-11 in the context of space, postcolonialism, the body, and the forging of public memories. He ends by sparking his utopian imaginary, resisting dominant conceptions of that fateful day and rethinking September 11th through alternative narrative understandings.


Author Biography

Abraham P. DeLeon, University of Texas at San Antonio

I am an assistant professor in Foundations at the University of Texas at San Antonio in the Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies. My research interests center around anarchist theory, critical theory and pedagogy, and cultural studies.

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Published

2011-09-11

Issue

Section

Articles