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Abstract:
The rapidity with which discourses on respect for otherness were replaced after 9/11-almost on a global scale-by those that come close to fascism puts the validity of the idea of liberal tolerance in question. As the image of the Other is defined in increasingly radicalized terms, it becomes equally difficult for the subject, that considers its self as liberal, and the "tolerated" Other to place themselves within the shifting parameters. Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Amy Waldman's The Submission expose the existing problematics in the nature of liberal tolerance and the difficulty of maintaining this attitude after 9/11. In an attempt to understand the underlying implications of the disintegration of the idea of liberal tolerance, this essay uses Slavoj Zizek's concept of the Neighbour as well as Judith Butler's ideas on grief to point out how aesthetic engagements with the world of the tolerated Other may provide a critique of the current condition. At the same time, this article seeks an alternative to the discourse of tolerance.
Keywords: tolerance, Neighbour, 9/11, Mohsin Hamid, Amy Waldman
The time will soon come when we will not be able to remember the horrors of September 11 without remembering also the unquestioning technological and economic optimism that ended that day.
Wendell Berry, In the Presence of Fear 1
Wendell Berry opens In the Presence of Fear by announcing the end of liberal optimism. The accuracy of this statement manifested itself in the aftermath of 9/11 and the ensuing "war on terror." Discourses on respect for otherness and liberal tolerance were immediately undercut by voices that come alarmingly close to fascism not only in the United States but in nations around the globe. State discourses of security over freedom are promoted by government officials as well as mainstream media to justify even the use of torture. However, the more the characteristics attributed to otherness are defined in radicalized terms, the more difficult it becomes for the subject, that considers its self as liberal, and the "tolerated" Other1 to place themselves within the shifting parameters. Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Amy Waldmans The Submission differ from several post-9/11 works as they expose the intricacies of contemporary representations of liberal selfhood and otherness in a post-9/11 context.
Though...