NeMLA, April 7–10, 2011, New Brunswick, NJ

"In the Wake of 9/11: American Texts in the Twenty-First Century"

The ten-year anniversary of 9/11 raises new questions about the possibilities and limitations of memorialization, bringing new complexity to acts of re-evaluation and re-assessment. In the past ten years, representations of 9/11 have recovered meaning at the site of loss and have also problematized such attempts, offering a range of ideas about the relationship between textual representations and the material facts of history. In Falling Man, Don DeLillo describes the post-9/11 landscape, writing, "Everything now is measured by after." In 2011, how do we measure these works?

At its center, this panel will consider how twenty-first century American texts in literature, drama, television, and film have represented 9/11. Papers might extend the gaze to assess the field of critical work on representations of 9/11. At this time of re-evaluation and re-assessment, there are many questions to consider. What emerges in American texts in the wake of 9/11? What does it mean to be in the "post-9/11 age"? What are the ghosts of 9/11? As we move further into the twenty-first century, how does 9/11 figure in the landscape of American texts and in critical discourse?

Please send 500 word abstracts to Dr. Lisa Perdigao at lperdiga@fit.edu by September 30, 2010.

All accepted panelists must be NEMLA members. For more information about the convention see http://www.nemla.org.