War of Words: Language, Politics and 9/11
Linguist Silberstein argues persuasively that 9/11 was not just about events but also about the words that shaped our understanding of and response to them. She carefully dissects America's renderings of the terrorist attacks in presidential speeches, media texts, and eyewitness accounts. Before a single bomb was dropped on Afghanistan, words had made an "act of terror" a "war" (this generation's "Pearl Harbor"), turned New York into "America," and rendered dissent "un-American." President Bush, speaking of a nation "under God" pitted against "evildoers," rose to the position of national pastor. Publicity campaigns, Silberstein shows, rhetorically re-created national identity ("I am an American") while conflating "patriotism and consumerism in a dance of political/economic codependence." Silverstein finds altruistic strains in America's post-9/11 discourse, but her study also suggests how times of national crisis make us vulnerable to verbal posturings--our killing is "collateral damage," theirs "mass murder"--and how we suffer a loss of liberties in the name of "fighting for democracy."Philip HerbstCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved