The Decade of Homeland (2011–2020): Critically Analyzing the (Gendered) Narrative of the War on Terror
The Decade of Homeland (2011–2020): Critically Analyzing the (Gendered) Narrative of the War on Terror

Summary/Abstract: Drawing from the recent postcolonial and feminist scholarship and critiques of ethnocentric and orientalist narratives of the war on terror that informed popular culture within the last two decades, the text looks critically at the HBO television series Homeland (2011–2020), whose eighth and concluding season aired in early 2020. It focuses on the following aspects: the state of exception (as coined by Giorgio Agamben), the processes of surveillance and targeting the enemy, and the leading female protagonist of the series, Carrie Mathison. The text aims to investigate the changes Homeland has undergone with regards to (gendered) depictions of the war on terror and the Muslim Other as well as the show’s contributions to, impacts on, and reevaluation of the notion of national (in)security, the politics of surveillance, the failure of securitization of American life, and the (toxic) masculinity that dominated the post-9/11 political and media discourses. The conclusion is that Homeland goes beyond narrating the war on terror by turning to more recent threats and challenges for American politics and society, such as polarization of the political elite, populist and nationalist movements, fake news, and conspiracy theories that fuel media and public discourses. However, it does not condemn the overall logic of the war on terror, based on the state of exception, aggressive American foreign politics, racial profiling in the domestic fight with terrorism and torture as an effective way to deal with extremists.

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