Night fell on a different world: Experiencing, constructing and remembering 9/11

Lee Jarvis, Jack Holland

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This article explores the endurance of the pervasive framing of “9/11” as a moment of temporal rupture within the United States. It argues that this has persisted despite the existence of plausible competitor narratives for two reasons: first, because it resonated with public experiences of the events predating this construction’s discursive sedimentation and; second, because of its vigorous defence by successive US administrations. In making these arguments this article seeks to extend relevant contemporary research in three ways: first, by reflecting on new empirical material drawn from the Library of Congress Witness and Response Collection, thus offering additional insight into public understandings of 11 September 2011 in the immediacy of the events; second, by drawing on insights from social memory studies to explore the persistence of specific constructions of 9/11 and; third, by outlining the importance of categories of experience and endurance for constructivist international relations more broadly.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)187-204
Number of pages8
JournalCritical Studies on Terrorism
Volume7
Issue number2
Early online date3 Mar 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014

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