Cultural Legacies of the Iraq War

Although the Iraq War has officially ended, it continues to exert a profound influence on American and Iraqi cultures—effects that no longer feature prominently in the public rhetoric of either country’s government. As state actors seek to mobilize representations of the war’s end for the purposes of advancing other regional agendas, this discussion aims to complicate understandings of a terminal point in war. Speakers will explore the literature, art, popular culture, memorial practices, and everyday lives of Iraqi and American citizens to produce an evaluation of this war’s cultural effects.

The first evening will feature twenty-minute presentations by NYU faculty whose recent research deals with the Iraq War, followed by a roundtable discussion.  On the second day, film maker Olivier Morel will present his documentary “On the Bridge,” which juxtaposes the critical reflections of American veterans on their war experiences with their individual practices of making meaning out of trauma.

Speakers include:



Presented by the NYU Department of English graduate division, the Department of Comparative Literature, the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, the Postcolonial Colloquium, and the Modern and Contemporary Colloquium