Title: Deconstructing the Myth of "Us": The Submission's Reconsideration of Post-9 / 11 American National Identity

Abstract: Amy Waldman's debut novel The Submission is the representative of American post-9 / 11 literature. The novel fictionalizes an anonymous "Ground Zero" memorial design competition, and, by focusing on the furious debates within the memorial jury in the shadow of trauma, the hierarchy of the victims’ families betraying the American Creed, as well as the identity crisis of the American Muslim protagonist under the pressure of Islamophobia, deconstructs the post-9 / 11 myth of "us." It is a criticism of the hegemony, hypocrisy and exclusiveness of post-9 / 11 American national identity elucidated by the mainstream discourse.

Keywords: The Submission, American national identity, trauma, American Creed, Islamophobia

Author: Zhulin Nie, Ph.D. Candidate, Foreign Studies College, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China.