Portents of the Real

The deeper meanings of popular cultural phenomena in post-9/11 America

In this perceptive work, Willis examines a series of phenomena perculiar to post 9/11 America, including the Washington DC snipers, the Stars and Stripes fever, and the anthrax hoaxes, arguing that even minor or seemingly aberrant cultural manifestations bear interpretation and reveal meaning, to the climate of fear.The shock and horror that gripped America on September 11, 2001, has given way to a culture of pathological worry. Ignited by the terrorist attacks, anxiety has been fueled by the nation's official response, which sanctioned a narrative good vs. evil, the suppression of intellectual debate and the political expediency of keeping the citizenry in a constant state of fear. Snipers in the capital, the government in bunkers, flag euphoria and anthrax hysteria, torture in Abu Ghraib and a stuntman who survived Niagra Falls - these are the nation's portents, signs of the times in post-9/11 America. Portents of the Real examines culture to apprehend the foreboding political subtexts of a nation perpetually at war on terror.
Against an ever deepening climate of political repression and a journalistic landscape dominated by sensationalized controversy and historical forgetfulness, Susan Willis offers an astute analysis of the realities behind America's cultural myths. The effect is both wry and unnerving.