The Sleeper Agent in Post-9/11 Media

By Vanessa Ossa

Book Overview

This book examines the figure of the sleeper agent as part of post-9/11 political, journalistic and fictional discourse. There is a tendency to discuss the terroristic threat after 9/11 as either a faraway enemy to be hunted down by military force or, on the other hand, as a ubiquitous, intangible threat that required constant alertness at home. The missing link between these two is the sleeper agent - the foreign enemy hiding among US citizens. By analyzing popular television shows, several US comic books, and a broad variety of Hollywood films that depict sleeper agents direct or allegorically, this book explores how a shift in perspective--from terrorist to sleeper agent--brings new insights into our understanding of post-9/11 representations of terrorism. The book's interdisciplinary focus between media studies, cultural studies, and American studies, suggests that it will find an audience in a variety of fields, including historical research, narratology, popular culture, as well asmedia and terrorism studies.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 303111518X
• ISBN13: 9783031115189
• Release Date: January 2024
• Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
• Length: 323 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.3"