Research Article

Language of conciliation: A reading of Joseph O’ Neill’s Netherland

Number: 14 March 21, 2019
TR EN

Language of conciliation: A reading of Joseph O’ Neill’s Netherland

Abstract

The present paper analyzes Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland as a narrative of conciliatory engagement with the Other despite the presence of an Orientalist discourse in the post- September 11 world. This novel depicts a Western society disoriented by the anxiety generated by the intensified phenomenon of terrorism after September 11. Mostly Western characters find themselves anxious, fearful and discomforted due to the ubiquitous presence of individual and collective anxiety. The manifest intent in the novel is to bring these characters out from their pre-September 11 spaces of comfort into a post-September 11 world of discomfort in order to confront, engage and reconcile with people, events and phenomenon that have contributed to those discomforts. These undertakings force the characters to explore a whole plethora of strategies, some escapist and irrational, others more meaningful and productive. Like the conflict between the self and the other, and the West and Islam in most September 11 novels, Netherland too recognizes those differences. However, the distinct approach here is not to avoid, ignore or escape from those differences, but to look for a middle ground based on the principles of peaceful co-existence, mutual understanding, conciliation, forgiveness, humanism, tolerance and multiculturalism. The other is accorded recognition in an international and cosmopolitan space of less divisiveness as the new discourse discourages the binary divisions of nations, ethnicities, cultures and religions. 

Keywords

References

  1. Alam, Shahid. (2006) Challenging the New Orientalism: Dissenting Essays on the “War against Islam.” North Haledon, NJ: Islamic. Appiah, Kwame Anthony. (2006) Introduction. Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers. New York: Norton. xi-xxi. Bradley, Arthur, and Andrew Tate.(2010) The New Atheist Novel: Fiction, Philosophy and Polemics after 9/11. New York: Continuum. Brown, Jeffrey. “Joseph O’Neill, Author of Netherland.” YouTube. YouTube, 23 Nov. 2010. Web. 16 May 2013. Butler, Judith P. (2006)Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence. London: Verso. Derrida, Jacques. (2001) On Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness. London: Routledge. Gilroy, Paul. (2005) Postcolonial Melancholia. New York: Columbia UP. Gray, Richard J. (2011) After the Fall: American Literature since 9/11. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley. Head, Dominic.(2008) The State of the Novel: Britain and Beyond. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley. Hill, Jeffrey.(2010) “The American Dream of Chuck Ramkissoon: Cricket in Joseph O’Neil’s Netherland.” Journal of Sport History 37.2: 219-34. Houen, Alex. (2004) “Novel Spaces and Taking Place(s) in the Wake of September 11.” Studies in the Novel 36.3 (2004): 419-437. Huntington, Samuel P.(1996) The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order. New York: Touchstone, 1996. Lazarus, Neil.(1995) “Cricket and National Culture in the Writings of C.L.R. James.” Liberation Cricket: West Indies Cricket Culture. Ed. Hilary Beckles and Brian Stoddart. Manchester, England: Manchester UP. 342-355. O’Neill, Joseph.(2008) Netherland. New York: Pantheon. Said, Edward. (2003)Orientalism. New York: Vintage. Versluys, Kristiaan. (2009) Out of the Blue: September 11 and the Novel. New York: Columbia UP.
 Zizek, Slavoj. (2002)Welcome to the Desert of the Real! Five Essays on September 11 and Related Dates. New York: Verso.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Creative Arts and Writing

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

March 21, 2019

Submission Date

May 8, 2018

Acceptance Date

February 17, 2019

Published in Issue

Year 2019 Number: 14

APA
Güven, F. (2019). Language of conciliation: A reading of Joseph O’ Neill’s Netherland. RumeliDE Dil Ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, 14, 411-428. https://doi.org/10.29000/rumelide.541074
AMA
1.Güven F. Language of conciliation: A reading of Joseph O’ Neill’s Netherland. RumeliDE. 2019;(14):411-428. doi:10.29000/rumelide.541074
Chicago
Güven, Fikret. 2019. “Language of Conciliation: A Reading of Joseph O’ Neill’s Netherland”. RumeliDE Dil Ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, nos. 14: 411-28. https://doi.org/10.29000/rumelide.541074.
EndNote
Güven F (March 1, 2019) Language of conciliation: A reading of Joseph O’ Neill’s Netherland. RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi 14 411–428.
IEEE
[1]F. Güven, “Language of conciliation: A reading of Joseph O’ Neill’s Netherland”, RumeliDE, no. 14, pp. 411–428, Mar. 2019, doi: 10.29000/rumelide.541074.
ISNAD
Güven, Fikret. “Language of Conciliation: A Reading of Joseph O’ Neill’s Netherland”. RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi. 14 (March 1, 2019): 411-428. https://doi.org/10.29000/rumelide.541074.
JAMA
1.Güven F. Language of conciliation: A reading of Joseph O’ Neill’s Netherland. RumeliDE. 2019;:411–428.
MLA
Güven, Fikret. “Language of Conciliation: A Reading of Joseph O’ Neill’s Netherland”. RumeliDE Dil Ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, no. 14, Mar. 2019, pp. 411-28, doi:10.29000/rumelide.541074.
Vancouver
1.Fikret Güven. Language of conciliation: A reading of Joseph O’ Neill’s Netherland. RumeliDE. 2019 Mar. 1;(14):411-28. doi:10.29000/rumelide.541074