The mote in God’s eye: 9/11,then and now

Abstract

This article considers the narrativization of September 11th 2001 in relation to personal experience and history, political rhetoric and public commemoration. Starting from the visual and textual documentation of the day’s events and the competing interpretations of its meaning and significance, the author examines the role of the image in defining the place of New York in cultural memory, something of the history of the Twin Towers, and the media representations of their implosion. In this, the author argues that ‘dust’ became the dominant visual trope, casting a cloud - both actual and symbolic - over our capacity to comprehend this complex and traumatic moment in history. The article concludes with a discussion of the issue of 9/11’s memorialization.