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Tom Clancy and Orientalism UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ TOM CLANCY AND ORIENTALISM Arabs and Muslims in the Contemporary Technothriller Novel A Pro Gradu Thesis in English by Miika Malinen Department of Languages 2006 HUMANISTINEN TIEDEKUNTA KIELTEN LAITOS Miika Malinen TOM CLANCY AND ORIENTALISM Arabs and Muslims in the Contemporary Technothriller Novel Pro gradu -tutkielma Englannin kieli Joulukuu 2006 156 sivua Tutkimuksessa analysoidaan arabi- ja muslimihenkilöhahmojen kuvausta amerikkalaisen kirjailijan Tom Clancyn kaunokirjallisuudessa. Tutkielma käy läpi aikaisempaa keskustelua orientalismista, jossa on perehdytty siihen miten Lähi-itä ja sen kansat esitetään länsimaisessa kulttuurituotannossa. Tekstissä nostetaan esiin miten Clancyn luoma kuva on muuttunut vuosien saatossa ja vaihtuvan kansainvälisen politiikan ympäristössä, varsinkin kylmän sodan loppuessa ja vuoden 2001 terroristihyökkäysten jälkeisessä tilassa. Clancyn arabi- ja muslimihahmoja verrataan hänen kertomustensa länsimaista tai muuta alkuperää oleviin henkilöihin. Lisäksi tutkitaan kirjailijan tapaa selostaa Lähi-idän tilannetta amerikkalaisen toiminnan ja politiikan kontekstissa. Materiaali koostuu Clancyn kirjoittamasta kahdestatoista novellista, sekä yhdestä kirjasta joka on tehty yhteistyönä toisen kirjailijan kanssa. Erityisesti näistä käsitellään kuitenkin viittä teosta joissa arabit ja muslimit ovat keskeisessä osassa. Novelleja tarkastellaan kronologisessa järjestyksessä. Jotkut orientalismin tutkijat, mm. Edward Said, ovat väittäneet, että länsimaisessa kulttuurituotannossa, kuten elokuvissa ja kirjallisuudessa esiintyy stereotypioita ja negatiivisia kuvauksia maailman eri alueista - varsinkin Lähi-idästä. Myös Clancyn tuotannossa tällaista on havaittavissa. Siitä huolimatta hänellä on negatiivisista stereotypioista poikkeavia henkilökuvauksia, ja esimerkiksi kylmän sodan ajan tuotannossa ja sen jälkeenkin löytyy neutraaleja ja kunnioittavia kuvauksia arabeista ja muslimeista. Yleisiä stereotypioita alkaa esiintyä enemmän Clancyn keskittyessä Amerikka-vastaiseen terrorismiin yleisenä teemana. Varsinkin vuoden 2001 terroristi-iskujen jälkeen hänen maailmansa on mustavalkoinen ja kuvaus arabeista ja muslimeista on negatiivinen. 2 CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS 5 1 INTRODUCTION 7 1.1 Introducing Tom Clancy 7 1.2 Constructing Identity and the “Other” 10 1.3 Arabs and Muslims in Contemporary Cultural Products 12 1.4 Arabs and Muslims in Clancy’s Novels 13 1.5 Research Questions 14 1.6 Thesis Plan 15 1.7 Thesis Writer’s Background 16 2 THE MIDDLE EAST AND ITS PEOPLES 17 2.1 Definition of Terms and a Look at History 17 2.2 Orientalism – The Study of the East in Europe 20 2.3 The Assault on Orientalism 22 2.4 Responses to the Critique of Orientalism 24 2.5 The US in the Middle East, Arabs and Muslims in Contemporary Cultural Products 26 2.6 Discussion 31 3 TOM CLANCY AND HIS NOVELS 33 3.1 The Author and His Followers 33 3.2 Clancy’s Genre and the Importance of Guns in Politics 35 3.3 Clancy’s World View in Fiction 37 3.4 Characteristics of the Good Guys and the Bad Guys 39 3.5 Clancy’s Enemies 44 3.6 Clancy and Orientalism 47 4 COLD WAR MUSLIM PEOPLES IN RED STORM RISING (1986) AND THE CARDINAL OF THE KREMLIN (1988) 48 4.1 Azerbaijani Muslims in Red Storm Rising (1986) 48 4.1.1 The Plot 48 4.1.2 Historical Context 49 4.1.3 Portrayal of Characters 49 4.1.4 Discussion 50 4.2 Afghan Muslims in The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988) 51 4.2.1 The Plot 51 4.2.2 Historical Context 52 4.2.3 Portrayal of Characters 53 4.2.4 Discussion 56 4.3. Discussion: Clancy’s Cold War Muslim Peoples 58 3 5 THE POST-COLD WAR MIDDLE EAST WITH PALESTINIAN TERRORISM IN THE SUM OF ALL FEARS (1991) 60 5.1 The Plot 60 5.2 Historical Context 62 5.3 The October War Introduction 64 5.3.1 Portrayal of Characters 64 5.3.2 Discussion 65 5.4 The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict 65 5.4.1 Portrayal of Characters 65 5.4.2 Discussion 68 5.5 Palestinian and Other Terrorists 71 5.5.1 Portrayal of Characters 71 5.5.2 Discussion 75 5.6 Bin Sheik, Islam, and the Middle East 78 5.6.1 Portrayal of Characters 78 5.6.2 Discussion 80 5.7 Discussion 81 5.7.1 The Palestinian Struggle and Islam 81 5.7.2 Palestinian Terrorism 82 6 SHIITE MUSLIM EXTREMISM AND MIDDLE EASTERN TERRORISM IN EXECUTIVE ORDERS (1996) 86 6.1 The Plot 86 6.2 Historical Context 88 6.3 Ryan’s Policies and Domestic Adversaries 89 6.3.1 Portrayal of Characters 89 6.3.2 Discussion 91 6.4 Iraqi and Iranian Political and Religious Extremism 92 6.4.1 Portrayal of Characters 92 6.4.2 Discussion 95 6.5 Middle Eastern Terrorism 97 6.5.1 Portrayal of Characters 97 6.5.2 Discussion 101 6.6 Bin Sheik, Islam, and the Middle East 103 6.6.1 Middle Eastern People, Culture, and Tradition 103 6.6.2 The Religion of Islam 106 6.7 Discussion 108 7 POST-9/11 SUNNI MUSLIM EXTREMISM AND MIDDLE EASTERN TERRORISM IN THE TEETH OF THE TIGER (2003) 112 7.1 The Plot 112 7.2 Historical Context 114 7.3 American Politics and Leadership 114 7.3.1 Portrayal of Characters 114 7.3.2 Discussion 116 7.4 American Counterterrorism 118 4 7.4.1 Portrayal of Characters 118 7.4.2 Discussion 120 7.5 Sunni Muslim Extremism and Middle Eastern Terrorism 121 7.5.1 Portrayal of Characters 121 7.5.2 Discussion 130 7.6 Bin Sultan, Islam, and the Middle East 134 7.7 Discussion 138 7.7.1 The Arab Muslim and American Characters 138 7.7.2 The New World of Islamist Terrorism and America 141 7.7.3 The World After 9/11 143 8 CONCLUSION 146 8.1 Clancy’s Portrayal of Arabs and Muslims 146 8.2 Clancy’s Orientalism 149 8.3 Discussion 151 BIBLIOGRAPHY 154 5 ABBREVIATIONS Primary sources: Hunt – The Hunt for Red October. Clancy 1985 (1984). Red Storm –Red Storm Rising. Clancy 1987 (1986). Patriot – Patriot Games. Clancy 1987. Cardinal –The Cardinal of the Kremlin. Clancy 1994 (1988). Clear – Clear and Present Danger. Clancy 1989. Sum – The Sum of All Fears. Clancy 1992 (1991). Without – Without Remorse. Clancy 1994 (1993). Debt – Debt of Honor. Clancy 1995 (1994). Executive –Executive Orders. Clancy 1997 (1996). Rainbow –Rainbow Six. Clancy 1999 (1998). Bear – The Bear and the Dragon. Clancy 2001 (2000). Red Rabbit –Red Rabbit. Clancy 2003 (2002). Teeth – The Teeth of the Tiger. Clancy 2004 (2003). Other Abbreviations: CIA - Central Intelligence Agency, primary US foreign-intelligence agency with DIA and NSA. Cold War - Political setting after the Second World War where the West and the USSR fought for influence for their ideologies in the world rather than actual wars against each other. DIA - Defence Intelligence Agency, under the Department of Defence. DEA - Drug Enforcement Agency, enforces drug-control in the US. EU - European Union, economic and monetary union of European countries. FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation, national interstate law-enforcement agency under the Department of Justice. ICBM - Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, capable of carrying nuclear weapons anywhere on Earth. IRA - Irish Republican Army, Irish nationalist resistance organization. KGB - Komitet Gosudarstvenny Bezopasnosti, Committee for State Security, former Soviet security and intelligence agency. KKK - Klu Klux Klan, extremist White supremacist group in the US. Mossad - Israeli intelligence service. NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization, military alliance between North American and European states, counter-force to the Soviet Warsaw Pact. NSA - National Security Agency, intelligence and security agency under the Department of Defense. PIRA - Provisional Irish Republican Army, break-away extreme faction of the IRA. 6 PFLP - Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Palestinian militant resistance group. PLO - Palestinian Liberation Organization, umbrella organization joining diverse Palestinian resistance groups together in many countries. Politburo - The Soviet government, the thirteen full members and eight candidate members making up the ruling body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. START - Strategic Arms Reduction Talks, under President Reagan in the 80’s. Stasi - Staatssicherheit, State Security, former East German secret police. SVR - Russian foreign intelligence service. ULA - Ulster Liberation Army, extreme offshoot of the nationalist resistance group the IRA. UN - United Nations Organization, international organization for intercultural debate on world issues. US - The United States of America, also America or USA. USSR - Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, former union of countries with Communist ideology. WMD - Weapon of Mass Destruction, biological, chemical, or nuclear device causing great destruction. 9/11 - Nine-Eleven, the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, on New York City and Washington D.C. 7 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introducing Tom Clancy When Tom Clancy, aged 36, submitted his work on The Hunt for Red October for printing in 1983, he had no expectations of the extraordinary reception it would get. The best he could hope for at the time was a few thousand copies in print; he never anticipated to make real money with it, especially as he was new in the business of writing.1 Getting his name on the cover of a book was his dream. Yet, when President Reagan mentioned it in an interview and described it as “the perfect yarn”, demand for the novel shot upwards and it soon reached the bestseller lists. Clancy quit his job as an insurance broker in his own firm and began writing fulltime. Over twenty years later he continues as one of the biggest-selling authors with an amazing degree of success on the international market. (Greenberg 2005: 3-4) Tom Clancy is now more than just the name of the author. His name has become a brand of a certain genre of products and a style of writing in America. Clancy’s personal works of fiction now consist of twelve novels. His production also includes nearly thirty franchises, novels bearing his name but which were only influenced by or co-created by him, as well as at least one fictional novel and one book on submarine warfare that he has coauthored.
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