Homines Sacri in Contemporary War Novels: A Comparative Insider–Outsider Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7187/GJAT072022-1Keywords:
War Narrative, War on Iraq, Homo Sacer, Sinan Antoon, Kevin PowersAbstract
This paper examines the status of Iraqis in Sinan Antoon’s The Corpse Washer (2013) and Kevin Powers’ The Yellow Birds (2013) within the circumstances of war in Iraq and addresses the repercussions of the American-led 2003 war on Iraq from an insider–outsider perspective, that is, Antoon’s portrayal of his native land, Iraq, vis-à-vis that of Powers, an American who served in Iraq as a machine gunner for the US Army. This paper draws on Derek Gregory’s conception of homo sacer, which is initially derived from Agamben’s 1998 work. Homines sacri (singular: homo sacer), which emerge when the law suspends itself, are placed outside the law and can be abused and/or killed advertently. The insider–outsider perspectives in the aforementioned novels converge in the way that Iraqi civilians are given the ‘bare life’ status. The fragility and vulnerability of Iraqis in the face of American intervention can be seen both in life and death as the struggles of the living in performing the necessary Muslim ritual of cleansing and burying the deceased. However, the insider’s perspective in Antoon’s novel emphasizes the muted voices of the homines sacri.
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