The Traumatic Mirror and the Asymptote: Cinematic Representations of American Intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan

Abstract

This article explores cinematic representations of American military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, examining documentary and fiction films from American, Iraqi, and Afghan perspectives. The article argues that these films often fail to communicate meaningfully with domestic and international audiences effectively, instead remaining ‘asymptotic’ or ‘uroboric’ in their rhetorical and communicative impact. I highlight the ethical challenge faced by filmmakers, whether situated in the West or in the Middle East, of turning the ‘traumatic mirror’ back on themselves, and the difficulties in achieving successful communication and self-reflexivity. The post-9/11 era is marked by a complex intersection of realpolitik, public performatives, and moral commitments, with long-standing tensions between West and non-West persisting in new forms. Cinematic representations of these interventions serve as a window into the traumatic legacies of these conflicts and the ongoing struggle for ethical representation, as well as a lens on the rhetorics of cinema.

Keywords:

• asymptote
• post-9/11 American film
• post-9/11 Iraqi/Afghan film
• failure
• traumatic mirror
• communication
• U.S. Interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Samir Dayal

Samir Dayal is Professor of English and Media Studies at Bentley University, Postcolonial and Cultural studies. He is President of the PsyArt Foundation and Editor-in-Chief of the PsyArt Journal. Publications include co-edited books Global Babel and New Cosmopolitanisms, Race, and Ethnicity, and the monograph Dream Machine: Realism and Fantasy in Hindi Cinema. As editor of a book series at Other Press, he edited Julia Kristeva's Crisis of the European Subject. Current projects include books on loneliness and World Literature. Recent essays include ‘Artificial Flesh: Rights and New Technologies’ in Literature and ‘Precarity and Planetarity’ in an edited collection.