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.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
1. Introduction. - 2. Fiction, 9/11, and the Sleeper Agent. - 3. The Sleeper in Hollywood Cinema after 9/11. - 4. The Sleeper in US TV Series after 9/11. - 5. The Sleeper in Comic Books after 9/11. - 6. Conclusion.
