Under the RadarJess Walter’s "The Zero" and the State of Irony and Satire after 9/11
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Universitat de Barcelona
info
ISSN: 0210-6124
Año de publicación: 2017
Volumen: 39
Número: 1
Páginas: 133-152
Tipo: Artículo
Otras publicaciones en: Atlantis: Revista de la Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-Norteamericanos
Resumen
Este artículo explora una de las novelas menos estudiadas del corpus de ficción post-11-S, la novela de Jess Walter The Zero (2006), y propone algunas hipótesis que puedan explicar esta falta de atención. El artículo sugiere que los debates que surgieron en los Estados Unidos tras el 11-S—respecto al estatus de la ficción frente a la tragedia, las tesis sobre el declive de la ironía y la sátira, las grandes expectativas depositadas en los autores canónicos para que dieran sentido al hecho, y las ficcionalizaciones normativas de la figura del terrorista como Otro—contribuyeron a determinar ciertas lecturas de The Zero dentro de los parámetros establecidos por la primera ola de ficción post-11-S, pasando por alto su potencial subversivo. La recepción temprana de la novela ha tendido a desatender el análisis formal y conceptual de The Zero al favorecer una aproximación desde los estudios del trauma que resulta en un análisis insustancial de las acciones terroristas que son objeto de la novela. El artículo ofrece una lectura desde la noción del carnaval satírico desarrollada por Mikhail Bakhtin y muestra como la sátira es especialmente idónea para construir un relato dialógico, polifónico e inquisidor que no solo cuestione sino que dialogue con la nación estadounidense tras el 11-S.
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