The Corpse Washer: An Ontological Critique of Counter-Terrorist Discourse and Iraq War

Abstract

Abstract: Sinan Antoon's The Corpse Washer has an ontological concern over the misery of Iraqi people and initiates a new perspective for Iraqi-war literature. It denounces violence and the trend of treating alien nations as the other in the U.S. counter-terrorist discourse. It also exemplifies how daily life and art advance anti-war theory and practice as a means of non-violent resistance. Beginning with the ritual of corpse washing, the death narrative exhibits the devastating effect of war on one's ontological entity. The dialectic negation of death gives rise to the awakening of subjective being and resolves the immanent paradox of anti-war art, which inhibits the dissemination of “radical evil”.

Key words: The Corpse Washer, Iraqi War, anti-war literature, counter-terrorist discourse

Chen Hao. The Corpse Washer: An Ontological Critique of Counter-Terrorist Discourse and Iraq War[J]. Foreign Literature Studies, 2017, 39(4): 125-133.

References

[1] Antoon, Sinan.“A Barbarian in Rome.” We Are Iraqis. Ed. Nadje Al-Ali and Deborah Al-Najjar. Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 2013. 24-34.
[2] ---. The Corpse Washer. New Haven: Yale UP, 2013.
[3] 汉娜·阿伦特:《共和的危机》,郑辟瑞译.上海:上海人民出版社,2013年.
[Arendt, Hannah.Crisis of the Republic. Trans. Zheng Pirui. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2013.]
[4] 瓦尔特·本雅明:《启迪:本雅明文选》,张旭东王斑译.北京:三联书店,2012年.
[Benjamin, Walter.Illuminations: Essays and Reflections. Trans. Zhang Xudong and Wang Ban. Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2012.]
[5] 理查德·J. 伯恩斯坦:《根本恶》,王钦朱康译.南京:译林出版社,2015年.
[Bernstein, Richard J.Radical Evil: A Philosophical Investigation. Trans. Wang Qin and Zhu Kang. Nanjing: Yilin Press, 2015.]
[6] Bush, George W. “Bush’s Speech: A Transcript of George Bush’s War Ultimatum Speech from the Cross Hall in the White House.” The Guardian. 18 March2003. <https://ww w.theguardian.com/world/2003/mar/18/usa.iraq>.
[7] Butler, Judith.Frames of War: When Is Life Grievable. London: Verso, 2009.
[8] ---. Precarious Life: The Power of Mourning and Violence. London: Verso, 2004.
[9] Calabrese, Andrew.“Casus Belli: U.S.Media and the Justification of the Iraq War.” Television & New Media 6.2(2005): 153-75.
[10] Caygill, Howard.On Resistance: A Philosophy of Defiance. London: Bloomsbury, 2013.
[11] 卡尔·冯·克劳赛维茨:《战争论》,时殷弘译.北京:商务印书馆,2016年.
[Clausewitz, Carl Von.On War. Trans. Shi Yinhong, Beijing: The Commercial Press, 2016.]
[12] Freud, Sigmund.Beyond the Pleasure Principle. Trans. James Strachey. New York: Norton, 1961.
[13] ---. Civilization and Its Discontents. Trans. James Strachey. New York: Norton, 1962.
[14] Fromm, Erich.Marx’s Concept of Man. New York: Bloomsbury, 2013.
[15] Huntington, Samuel P.“The Clash of Civilizations?” Foreign Affairs 72.3(1993): 22-49.
[16] Luckhurst, Roger.“In War Times: Fictionalizing Iraq.” Contemporary Literature 53.4(Winter 2012): 713-37.
[17] Marcuse, Herbert.The Aesthetic Dimension: Toward a Critique of Marxist Aesthetics. Trans. Erica Sherover. Boston: Beacon Press, 1978.
[18] 安东尼奥·内格里:《超越帝国》,李琨陆汉臻译.北京:北京大学出版社,2016年.
[Negri, Antonio.Empire and Beyond. Trans. Li Kun and Lu Hanzhen. Beijing: Peking UP, 2016.]
[19] Packer, George.“Home Fires: How Soldiers Write Their Wars.” The New Yorker. 7 April 2014. <“Home Fires: How Soldiers Write Their Wars.” The New Yorker. 7 April 2014. <http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/04/07/home-fires-2>.
[20] 爱德华·萨义德:《从奥斯陆到伊拉克路线图》,康建军译.北京:三联书店,2009年.
[Said, Edward.From Oslo to Iraq and the Road Map. Trans. Kang Jianjun. Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2009.]
[21] 俞吾金:《存在、自然存在和社会存在——海德格尔、卢卡奇和马克思本体论思想的比较研究》,《中国社会科学》2(2001):54—65.
[Yu Wujin.“Existence, Natural Existence and Social Existence — A Comparative Study of the Ontological Concepts of Martin Heidegger, Gyorgy Lukacs and Karl Marx.”Social Sciences in China 2(2001): 54-65.
[22] 赵勇:《艺术的二律背反:在可能与不可能之间——阿多诺“奥斯维辛之后”命题的一种解读》,《外国文学评论》3(2015):178—196.
[Zhao Yong.“The Antinomy of Art, or Theodor W. Adorno’s Vibration: Trying to Understand ‘To Write Poetry after Auschwitz is Barbaric’.”Foreign Literature Review 3(2015): 178-96.]
[23] 斯拉沃热·齐泽克:《暴力:六个侧面的反思》,蓝江译.北京:中国法制出版社, 2012年.
[Zizek, Slavoj.Violence: Six Sideways Reflections. Trans. Lan Jiang. Beijing: China Legal Press, 2012.]