[en] A handful of dates have imprinted themselves more deeply in the American psyche: the attack on Pearl Harbor, the first step of Neil Armstrong on the moon or the assassination of John F. Kennedy, to name a few. The author H. L. Hix, in his contribution to the anthology September 11, 2001: American Writers Respond, felt the need to define those particular events: " Certain unforgettable events become "where were you when" events because they locate us, alerting us to or reminding us of who we are. [...] We remember where we were physically when these events occurred, because they tell us where we are spiritually. " (Hix, 2002) For him, 9/11 was the cause for a mass introspection. Thus, I propose to outline a subject of study that few have covered before: what are these " where were you when " events and how do they inform us on the particular nature of 9/11? Indeed, it is striking to note how we repeatedly find, in the whole range of the different representations of the terrorist attacks, this deliberate positioning of an individual facing an event of macroscopic scale. For example, in numerous stories or essays, on the margin of the event they relate, the authors provide the readers with the circumstances in which they have learned of the attacks: in addition to representing 9/11, they relate, consciously or not, "their" 9/11. This practice is distinct from the "testimonies" one finds in works like Afterwords: Stories and Reports from 9/11 and Beyond (Editors of Salon, 2002) or Tower Stories: An Oral History of 9/11 (DiMarco, 2007). These generally come from people who were in direct contact with the event. My focus will rather be on the widespread practice among those who witnessed the events through the media (which is to say the vast majority) to tell 9/11 through the mundane details of the everyday life in which they were absorbed when they received the news. Almost inevitably, their personal stories will provide a precise spatial location, as " I was in my car when I heard on the radio " or " I was early at work when I got a call ". In reviewing the different works and cultural manifestations that enable us to conceptualize what really constitutes this practice of the " where were you when ", I will address the printed and televised ads for the memorial at Ground Zero whose slogan was " Where were you when it happened? ", Alan Jackson's country song " Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning) ", the Wherewereyou.org website and various occurrences in anthologies of fiction and poetry (Ulrich Beck's 110 Stories and William Heyen's September 11, 2001 : American Writers Respond), as well as novels (William Gibson's Pattern Recognition). I will demonstrate how the " Where were you when " is a particular type of memory, inscribed in a tension between the micro and macroscopic scales of the event, and how it imposes itself in the background of the whole cultural production linked with 9/11.

[fr] Certaines dates ont marqué plus profondément que d'autres la psyché de la nation américaine : l'attaque de Pearl Harbor, le premier pas de Neil Armstrong sur la lune ou l'assassinat de John F. Kennedy, pour n'en nommer que quelques-unes. H. L. Hix, dans sa contribution au recueil de textes September 2001: American Writers Respond, parle de ces événements qui s'impriment dans notre mémoire d'une façon particulière : " Certain unforgettable events become "where were you when" events because they locate us, alerting us to or reminding us of who we are. […] We remember where we were physically when these events occurred, because they tell us where we are spiritually. " (Hix, 2002) Pour Hix, le 11 septembre aurait provoqué massivement une telle remise en question. Je me propose dans un premier temps de circonscrire un objet d'étude : que sont ces événements " où étiez-vous quand ? " et comment nous informent-ils sur la nature particulière du 11 septembre. En effet, il est frappant de constater la régularité avec laquelle on retrouve, dans toute la palette des représentations du 11 septembre, cette localisation du sujet en face de l'événement pris dans sa dimension macroscopique. Dans nombre de récits ou d'essais, en marge de l'événement, les auteurs fournissent avec régularité au lecteur les circonstances dans lesquelles eux-mêmes ont vécu ces événements. En plus de représenter le 11 septembre, ils relatent, consciemment ou non, " leur " 11 septembre. Il n'est pas question ici des récits de type " témoignage " tels qu'on en retrouve dans des ouvrages comme Afterwords: Stories and Reports from 9/11 and Beyond (Editors of Salon, 2002) et Tower Stories: An Oral History of 9/11 (DiMarco, 2007) et qui émanent généralement de personnes ayant été directement en contact avec l'événement. Je m'intéresserai dans le cadre de cet article à la pratique répandue chez ceux qui ont assisté aux événements par l'entremise des médias de raconter le 11 septembre à travers les détails anodins du quotidien dans lequel ils étaient plongés au moment où ils ont reçu la nouvelle. Leur récit personnel passe presque inévitablement par une localisation spatiale précise du type " J'étais au volant de ma voiture " ou " J'étais au travail ". En passant en revue les différentes œuvres et manifestations culturelles qui nous permettent de conceptualiser ce que constitue réellement cette pratique du " où étiez-vous ? ", j'aborderai les publicités pour le mémorial à Ground Zero dont le slogan était " Where were you when it happened? ", la chanson " Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning) " de l'artiste country Alan Jackson, le site Web wherewereyou.org, ainsi que diverses occurrences du " Où étiez-vous ? " dans des recueils de fiction et de poésie (Ulrich Beck, 110 Stories et William Heyen, September 2001: American Writers Respond) et des œuvres de fiction (William Gibson, Pattern Recognition). Il s'agira de démontrer comment le " Où étiez-vous ? " constitue un type de mémoire particulier mettant en tension les dimensions micro et macroscopiques de l'événement et s'imposant en filigrane de toute la production culturelle en lien avec le 11 septembre.