The reconceptualizing of Terrorism and Trauma in Feature Films and Series from Israel, Germany and America

The post-doc study is dedicated to representations of terrorism and trauma in films and TV series produced post-9/11 in three countries, Germany, Israel, and the United States. While the countries under discussion share a historical ground for their contemporary social-political ideologies, this research is based on the assumption that, as in the case of the concept of nationalism, the national-popular cultures of these countries do not share a common generic concept of terrorism and that the productions of narratives in each country stimulate a unique understanding of terrorism and trauma. Since the 9/11 attacks, the discussion on terrorism has been deeply immersed in symbols, and without our noticing, haslost its human expression. The war on terrorism became a war on the remembrance of, or preferably, the perpetuation of images. This project aims in particular to reconceptualize terrorism and trauma from a cultural point of view on the basis of its imaginary manifestation. Therefore, and based on the assumption that fictional stories better reflect the cultural imagery of each society, this project will offer a new theoretical platform for the concept of terrorism in the countries under discussion. This study presents a comparative analysis for clarifying the unique articulation of terrorism and trauma through the specific cultural expressions.