Globalization and Discourse on Terror: Hari Kunzru's Transmission as post 9/11 Fiction.

The study analyzes Hari Kunzru's (b. 1969) novel Transmission (2004) as a post 9/11 text. Although there are no direct references to the events of 9/11, the novel is analogous to the counter-discourses against post 9/11 popular discourses on terror. The theoretical framework of the study is based on...

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Published in:Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities (1994-7046) Vol. 27; no. 2; pp. 123 - 143
Main Authors: Perveen, Ayesha, Anwar, Nadia
Format: Article
Published: Allama Iqbal Open University Autumn2019
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Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: Globalization and Discourse on Terror: Hari Kunzru's Transmission as post 9/11 Fiction.
      aug:
        au:
          Perveen, Ayesha
          Anwar, Nadia
        affil:
          PhD Scholar, Department of English, University of Management & Technology, Lahore, Pakistan. Assistant Professor, The Virtual University of Pakistan, Lahore
          Assistant Professor, Department of English, University of Management & Technology, Lahore, Pakistan
      su:
        Developing countries
        Counterterrorism
        Globalization
        Wealth
        Computer programmers
        Anti-globalization movement
      sug:
        subj:
          Developing countries
          Counterterrorism
          Globalization
          Wealth
          Computer programmers
          Anti-globalization movement
      keyword:
        9/11
        Baudrillard
        globalization
        Kunzru
        Terror
        Transmission
      ab: The study analyzes Hari Kunzru's (b. 1969) novel Transmission (2004) as a post 9/11 text. Although there are no direct references to the events of 9/11, the novel is analogous to the counter-discourses against post 9/11 popular discourses on terror. The theoretical framework of the study is based on Baudrillard's critique of 9/11 as presented in his 2001 essay "The Spirit of Terrorism" which contends that 9/11 attacks were symbolic of a reaction against globalization and its negative impact on the third world. The terrorists retaliated against global neo-imperialism and ironically used the same means of globalization in the form of modern technology to wage a war against the selfproclaimed superpower, the USA. Since both Arjun Mehta and Leela Zahir, the protagonists of the novel, are labelled as terrorists, the post 9/11 discourse on terror as presented by the West and its counter-discourse as presented by the Western 'other' will be examined at length through a close reading of the text. Arjun Mehta, a budding computer programmer, struggles to eradicate his poverty for a secure future but is marked as a terrorist that makes him end up as a fugitive. Similarly, Leela Zahir, a promising actress with the prospects of touching the pinnacles of fame, is devastated because of being associated with computer generated virus. The novel is counter-discursive to the creation of the tag 'terrorist' through exposing the role of unequal distribution of wealth, opportunities and security in a globalized world in the making of terrorists (real or simulated), hence corresponding to 9/11 discourses. The paper concludes that the novel is a critique of globalization as a source of terror in the new millennium through the use of media and technology.
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