Atta. Fiction. By JarettKobek. Seimiotext(e), intervention series, 9. Los Angeles, CA: Semiotext(e), 2011. Distributed by The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Pp. 200. Paper, $12.95.
2013; Wiley; Volume: 39; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1111/rsr.12032_2
ISSN1748-0922
Autores Tópico(s)Media, Communication, and Education
ResumoStanding in New York, “the greatest sinkhole of urban depravity,” Mohamed Atta describes his own horror at the skyline—“buildings surrounding the Towers like acolytes encircle a false messiah”—in this fictionalized account of the road to 9/11 from the perspective of the pilot of the plane which hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Kobek offers a psychological portrait of an individual obsessed with the decadence and decay of “American-Zionist” materialistic culture. The most riveting sections include Atta's critique of Disney's cartoon film The Jungle Book—“a spectacular marriage of 2 cultural imperialists, inspiration via Queen Victoria's eunuch, Rudyard Kipling, and images by the American zealot, Walt Disney”—analyses of slasher films, and a visit to Disney World. Atta's “inner voice” speaks to him through buildings, and his rage centers on modern architecture, where skyscrapers threaten to blot out the sky and obscure the earth and stone of unspoiled humanity. Building on biographical facts such as Atta's academic training in engineering and architecture at Cairo University, and urban development and planning at the Technical University Hamburg-Harburg, Kobek's portrait of this infamous character at once humanizes Atta (who declares, at one point, that he will “not build concrete and steel abominations that haunt the sky. I will not block the sun with my arrogance”), deciphering the terrorist's possible motivations, while refusing to explain away or reduce the violence of the 9/11 events. At once disturbing and thought-provoking, this book would be of use in classes touching on topics such as terrorism, representations of Islamic identity and theology, global fundamentalisms, and general courses on religion and literature.
Referência(s)