Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
40
I.ContemporaryAmericanSocietyandPolitics
totherealmofthepolitical,economic,militaryorsocial.Itsimplications,asthoseof
9/11,haveprofoundlyafectedthebasicsoftheestablishedexistentialparadigmand
demandedaresponsefromintellectuals.Tepostmodernmentality,withitsrevision-
istandironicorientation,seemedtoensureimmunitytoanysortofsocial,political
orculturalshock.However,theUSinvolvementinthewarinIraqprovedthatsuch
immunity,infact,didnotexist.
TeNewWorldOrder,asŽižekcallstheaimofrecentUSinternationalpolicy,
broughtintotheforegroundethicaldilemmasconcerningresponsibilityandright,
memoryandforgetfulness,complexcoexistenceofthepublicandprivate,andthe
roleofmediaasanexperience-shapingforce.“Iraq”turnedintoametaphysicalplace
identifiedwithacertainlocationonearth.Itbecameelevatedintoametaphorfor
democraticallyjustifiedviolenceandthehumansuferingitentailed.
Žižek,sbookwasamongtherstintellectualresponsestotheIraqiwaranattempt
toanalyzeitsinternalcausesandchartpossibleconsequences.Inthesameyear,when
thewarinIraqstillenjoyedeverydayintensemediacoverage,NicholsonBakerpub-
lishedhisverypoliticalnovel-playCheckpoint.Itisactionalizedinterpretationofthe
Iraqiwar,whichspeculatesontheextremeemotionalreactionsitmayprovoke.
Fromthetheoreticalpointofview,Baker,snoveldoesnotbelongtothecategoryof
warliterature.Itneitherchroniclesmilitaryconflictsorheroicdeeds,norcreatesmyths,
norctionalizesthepainfulwarexperienceofitsparticipants.Instead,itrepresentsthe
Iraqiwarasamoralchallengeandemotionaltragedyforallsidesinvolved,whichhas
alsorevealedmanyconcealedsoresofthecontemporaryAmericansociety.Tereisno
evidencethatBakerwasfamiliarwithŽižek,sbook.However,hisnovelsocloselyechoes
thepoliticalandethicalconcernsarticulatedbytheSlovenianscholarthatitallowsone
totalkaboutcommonimplicitintellectualanxietiesthewarinIraqhasprovoked.
Teentirenovelisadialoguebetweentwooldfriends,JayandBen,inahotelroomin
Washington,D.C.Duringthecourseoftheafernoon,theytalkabouttheirlivesandJay,s
ideatoassassinateGeorgeW
.Bush,DickCheney,DonaldRumsfeldandmaybeseveral
othersinordertochangethecourseofhistory.Inthisway,heintendstoputanendto
thebloodywarinIraqandrelievehumanityfrompeoplewhoareperforminganabor-
tiononawholecountryand“usheringanewkindofterriblenessintotheworld.”3Te
novel,snarrativetaskistoexplorewhatpartofpublicmemoriescanbe“personalized,”
inwhatwayitcanbedone,whatethicalconsequencesitmayhaveandhowemotional
andtemporaldistancefromaneventrelatestoarepresentationofitsexperience.
ForD.LaCapra,whatwerefertoasexperienceistypicallythememoryofexperi-
ence.Moreover,“sincememoryisaprominentpartof(indeedattimesametonymfor)
experience,theproblemoftherelationbetweenhistoryandmemoryisasmaller
scaleversionoftheproblemoftherelationbetweenhistoryandexperience.”4Baker,s
novelofersnewinsightsintothisrelation,evenmoreinterestingandcomplex,since
ithasnotbeentime-tested.
3NicholsonBaker.2004.Checkpoint.NewYork:AlfredA.Knopf,21.
4DominickLaCapra.2004.HistoryinTransit:Experience,Identity,CriticalTeory.IthacaandLondon:
CornellUniversityPress,67.