Antiheroes in Mock-heroic Battles: Post 9/11 Alternatives in Jess Walter’s Novel The Zero

Abstract

Placing Jess Walter's The Zero within a post 9/11 counter discourse, the present study examines the novel as a modern mock-heroic fictional work. The novel is critically analyzed as a parody of both the detective fiction genre as well as the early post 9/11 fiction adopting the American official narrative. The argument proceeds through three sub-headings. The first part queries the novel's representation of antiheroism in response to the discourse of heroism prevalent in American culture. The second part ponders on the mock-heroic battles and situations taking place as part of the US war against terror. The last part tackles the multilayered parody by which the novel addresses the hyperreal world by the mainstream media create to overshadow the event's factual enigma.