ABSTRACT
This chapter examines what has become known in contemporary literary scholarship, on university syllabi and beyond, as the ‘9/11 novel. It argues that the 9/11 novel has been characterized by anxiety and internal conflict relating to a set of competing impulses that pull the narratives in opposing directions. ‘9/11 Novel’ is often used interchangeably with ‘post-9/11 novel,’ a term which is deployed to describe texts that engage centrally with 9/11 but also as a general catchall for novels written after the attacks. The anxiety that has defined the 9/11 canon may partly be a consequence of the extraordinary anticipation and perceived need for a literary response that was expressed directly after the attacks. The popularity of the short pieces amplified the anticipation for the novels to come, and the prevalence of essayistic, autobiographical or documentary style accounts emphasized the challenges in the move from non-fiction to fiction.
