The Sleeper Agent in Post-9/11 Media

Description

This book examines the figure of the sleeper agent as part of post-9/11 political, journalistic and fictional discourse. There is a tendency to discuss the terroristic threat after 9/11 as either a faraway enemy to be hunted down by military force or, on the other hand, as a ubiquitous, intangible threat that required constant alertness at home. The missing link between these two is the sleeper agent – the foreign enemy hiding among US citizens. By analyzing popular television shows, several US comic books, and a broad variety of Hollywood films that depict sleeper agents direct or allegorically, this book explores how a shift in perspective―from terrorist to sleeper agent―brings new insights into our understanding of post-9/11 representations of terrorism. The book’s interdisciplinary focus between media studies, cultural studies, and American studies, suggests that it will find an audience in a variety of fields, including historical research, narratology, popular culture, as well as media and terrorism studies. Acknowledgments Contents List of Figures Chapter 1: Introduction Works Cited Chapter 2: Fiction, 9/11, and the Sleeper Agent 9/11 and Fiction Film and Television in Post-9/11 Discourse Hypothetical Scenarios Covert Sphere, Cultural Imaginary, and Terrorism Studies The Covert Sphere The Cultural Imaginary of Terrorism Conceptualizations of Terrorism Terrorism Studies After 9/11 The Sleeper as Culturally Contingent Concept What Is a Sleeper Agent? A Brainwashed Assassin A Hidden Enemy Within A Postmodern Enemy The Sleeper as Enemy in the ‘War on Terror’ An Undefined Enemys The Enemy in the War on Terror Narrative The Islamistic Sleeper Agent as Enemy The Sleeper as Threat in TIME After 9/11 Works Cited Chapter 3: The Sleeper in Hollywood Cinema After 9/11 Hollywood Cinema Post-9/11 Politics in Hollywood Hollywood Films After 9/11 Real-Life Monsters or Fictional Alien Terrorists? Realism in Post-9/11 Cinema United 9311 (Fantastic) Allegories of Terror Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice30 Secret Villains and Hunted Heroes The Hidden Enemy Salt41 Agents on the Run Jason Bourne and American Ultra47 Products of Foreign Indoctrination or Domestic Propaganda? Brainwashed Enemies The Manchurian Candidate49 Manipulation Through Media Civic Duty53 Prospect: Outsiders and Underdogs—International Cinema Works Cited Chapter 4: The Sleeper in US TV Series After 9/11 US Television Post-9/11 Television Reacting to 9/11 Fear and Post-9/11 Television Clear and Present Danger: Crime and (Counter)terrorism Politics of Fear Fearing the Other, the Non-member, and the Alien in Sleeper Cell11 Representation of Islam and Muslim Characters in Sleeper Cell Authenticity and Everyday Targets in Sleeper Cell Cold War Residue: Indoctrination, Infiltration, and Ideology Post-9/11 and the Cold War Infiltration and Deception in Homeland20 Infiltration and Deception in The Americans25 Indoctrination and Ideology in Homeland Indoctrination and Ideology in The Americans Politics of the ‘War on Terror’ in Homeland Politics of the ‘War on Terror’ in The Americans Uncertain Identities: A Networked Enemy Anxiety in the Network Society Moral Ambiguity and False Identities in Battlestar Galactica36 Forms of Terrorism in Battlestar Galactica Between Network and Individual in Battlestar Galactica Prospect: Sleeper Agents on the Fringes—Episodic Television Shows Works Cited Chapter 5: The Sleeper in Comic Books After 9/11 Comic Books Post-9/11 The Comic Book Industry Responds Marvel and DC: Superhero Comics Respond Sleeper Agents in Post-9/11 Comic Books and Superhero Narratives Hybrid Characters: The Sleeper as ‘In-Between’ Sleeper Agents as Characters Uncertain Threats in Secret Invasion Imagery of 9/11 in Secret Invasion Hybrid Characters in Secret Invasion Indoctrinated Minds: The Sleeper as Dependent The Sleeper and Subjectivity Superspy (Dick) Grayson Mistrust and Self-Doubt in Batman & Robin Eternal Parental Guidance or Mind Control? Trauma and Fear as Subjective Experiences in Batman & Robin Eternal Textual Entanglement: The Sleeper as Cross-Linked Fragmented Information About the Sleeper Mind MGMT as Extended Text Fiction and Reality: The Diegetic Level in Mind MGMT Sleeper Agents in Mind MGMT Prospect: New Beginning?—A Transmedial Perspective Works Cited Chapter 6: Conclusion Works Cited Index