
Cloning Terror
The War of Images, 9/11 to the Present
W. J. T. Mitchell(Author)
University of Chicago Press
Published on 1. January 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-0-226-53260-8 (ISBN)
Description
The phrase 'War on Terror' has quietly been retired from official usage, but it persists in the American psyche, and our understanding of it is hardly complete. Nor will it be, W. J. T. Mitchell argues, without a grasp of the images that it spawned, and that spawned it. Exploring the role of verbal and visual images in the War on Terror, Mitchell finds a conflict whose shaky metaphoric and imaginary conception has created its own reality. At the same time, Mitchell locates in the concept of clones and cloning an anxiety about new forms of image-making that has amplified the political effects of the War on Terror. Cloning and terror, he argues, share an uncanny structural resemblance, shuttling back and forth between imaginary and real, metaphoric and literal manifestations. In Mitchell's startling analysis, cloning terror emerges as the inevitable metaphor for the way in which the War on Terror has not only helped recruit more fighters to the jihadist cause but undermined the American constitution with 'faith-based' foreign and domestic policies.
Bringing together the hooded prisoners of Abu Ghraib with the cloned stormtroopers of the "Star Wars" saga, Mitchell draws attention to the figures of faceless anonymity that stalk the ever-shifting and unlocatable 'fronts' of the War on Terror. A striking new investigation of the role of images from our foremost scholar of iconology, "Cloning Terror" will expand our understanding of the visual legacy of a new kind of war and reframe our understanding of contemporary biopower and biopolitics.
Bringing together the hooded prisoners of Abu Ghraib with the cloned stormtroopers of the "Star Wars" saga, Mitchell draws attention to the figures of faceless anonymity that stalk the ever-shifting and unlocatable 'fronts' of the War on Terror. A striking new investigation of the role of images from our foremost scholar of iconology, "Cloning Terror" will expand our understanding of the visual legacy of a new kind of war and reframe our understanding of contemporary biopower and biopolitics.
Reviews / Votes
"A fiercely intelligent and insightful book that is ambitious, shocking, angry, and heartfelt in equal measure. Mitchell makes the case convincingly that the War on Terror and cloning share a deep cultural logic. Cloning Terror offers original insights into the most pressing issues of our recent past, our present, and our immediate future." - Marquard Smith, Director, Institute for Modern and Contemporary Culture, University of Westminster, London"More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Dimensions
Height: 22 mm
Width: 14 mm
Thickness: 1 mm
Weight
340 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-53260-8 (9780226532608)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
01/2011
1st Edition
University of Chicago Press
€37.39
Available for download
Person
W. J. T. Mitchell is the Gaylord Donnelley Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, the Department of Art History, and the College at the University of Chicago. He is the author or editor of ten books, including, most recently, Critical Terms for Media Studies, also published by the University of Chicago Press. He is also coeditor of the journal Critical Inquiry.