11/9in Selected American Plays

Abstract

The focal point of this study is the date 9/11 which history immortalised as it witnessed the sudden attacks on one of the world’s superpowers, the United States of America. The repercussions of this date boomed in the world’s four corners leaving behind feelings of insecurity and fearsof the unknown in all aspects of life to the extent that the literary contexts along with political, economic, and social ones were impacted. This study probes into postmodernism and postcolonialism, as two interrelated literary approaches having many intersecting points, to unravel the psychological, political, and social significance of the 9/11 events as depicted in selected American plays: The Mercy Seat (2002) by Neil La Bute (1961-), Dirty Story (2003) by John Patrick Shanley (1950-), and The Domestic Crusaders(2005) by Wajahat Ali (1980- ), respectively. In other words, studies in postmodernism and postcolonialism are utilised to prove that the meaning of the date 9/11 is explicitly simple and straightforward but implicitly sophisticated and multisided as portrayed in the post 9/11 American drama.