MANUFACTURING FEAR IN POST-9/11 AMERICAN NOVEL

Abstract

To illustrate the systematic means by which the Muslim other is turned into a source of anguish and horror, we coin the term manufacturing fear. Manufacturing fear is the systematized process of creating and constructing fear of the other. It occurs through regularized procedures and techniques in an almost persistent mood. Through these methods, the other is shaped into an awful entity with more-beast-like qualities as his/her definitive features. In this paper, we aim to investigate how fear functions in three American novels, namely, John Updike’s Terrorist (2006), Don DeLillo’s Falling Man (2007), and Andre Dubus III’s The Garden of Last Days (2009). We also examine these horrifying images concerning the narratives’ exemplification of Muslims. Pertaining anecdotes where fright is manifested about the Muslim other are contextualized within the existent discourse of fear. Situating these novels within the post-9/11 atmosphere of distrust and trauma uncovers the underlying approaches employed by novelists to exemplify the Muslim other. In the three narratives, dreadful imageries have been presented by employing diverse techniques and approaches. Fear of the Muslim other has been manufactured through blood scenes, historical conflicts, and terrorist plots.