Two general sorts of responses to the suffering caused by the 9/11 attacks are distinguishable in the statements of public officials, journalists, and citizens: one manifests a tragic sensibility, another takes the form of theodicy. Each response entails a distinctive set of expectations about the nature of political agency and solidarity in a democracy. With its claim of access to a transcendental form of truth, theodicy promises a robust sense of political solidarity and agency based on a shared religious belief. Tragic modes of appeal muster their consolatory effects by appealing to intuitions or taste rather than religious belief and therefore potentially remain open to more diverse public audiences.
Arendt, Hannah (1963) On Revolution. New York: Viking
2.
Arendt, Hannah (1978) `What Is Authority?', Between Past and Future. New York: Penguin.
3.
Barry, Dan (2002) `A Day of Tributes, Tears and the Litany of the Lost', New York Times 12 September: A1.
4.
Bellah, Robert (1992[1974]) The Broken Covenant: American Civil Religion in Time of Trial. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
5.
Bellah, Robert and Hammond, Phillip (1980) Varieties of Civil Religion . San Francisco: Harper & Row .
6.
Chen, David W. (1999) `Subway Victim's Funeral Is Intimate Look at Close-Knit Family', New York Times 8 January: A17.
7.
Connor, W. Robert (1996) `Civil Society, Dionysiac Festival and the Athenian Democracy', in Josiah Ober and Charles Hedrick (eds) Dēmokratia. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
8.
De Tocqueville, Alexis (1863) Democracy in America, Vol. I, trans. Henry Reeve . Cambridge, MA: Sever and Francis .
9.
Dewey, Howard Jr (2002) `Letter to the Editor', Connect Savannah 11 September.
10.
Disch, Lisa (1994) Hannah Arendt and the Limits of Philosophy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
11.
Duffy, John and Schaeffer, Mary (2002) Triumph Over Tragedy: September 11 and the Rebirth of a Business. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
12.
Dwyer, Jim and Flynn, Kevin (2005) 102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers. New York: Times Books.
13.
Eagleton, Terry (2002) Sweet Violence: The Idea of the Tragic. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
14.
Elam, Harry J. Jr (2002) `A Forum on Theatre and Tragedy in the Wake of September 11', in David Román (ed.) Theatre Journal54: 102-4.
15.
Gilbert, Allison et al. (2002) Covering Catastrophe: Broadcast Journalists Report September 11. Chicago: Bonus Books.
16.
Giunta, Ray with Stephenson, Lynda Rutledge (2002) God @ Ground Zero . Nashville: Integrity Publishers .
17.
Green, Rodney (1987) `Theodicy', in Mircea Eliade (ed.) Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 14. New York: Macmillan.
18.
Greenwald, Glenn (2007) A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency. New York: Crown Publishers.
19.
Harris, Martin (2003) `Letter', London Review of Books25(9) 8 May.
20.
Jaeger, Werner (1974) Paideia, Vol. 1, trans. Gilbert Highet. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
21.
Kirtzman, Andrew (2001) Rudy Giuliani: Emperor of the City. New York: Perennial.
22.
Landau, Mark J. et al. (2004) `Deliver Us from Evil: The Effects of Mortality Salience and Reminders of 9/11 on Support for President George W. Bush', Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin30(9): 1136-50.
23.
Langewiesche, William (2003) American Ground: Unbuilding the Trade Center. New York: North Point Press.
24.
Mearns, David C. (1963) `Mr. Lincoln and the Books He Read', in Three Presidents and Their Books: Jefferson, Lincoln, F. D. Roosevelt.Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
25.
Mechalakos, James (2003) `Letter to the Editor', New York Times 2 December: A30.
26.
Meier, Christian (1988) Die politische Kunst der griechischen Tragödie . Munich: Beck.
27.
Mendelsohn, Daniel (2004) `Theatres of War', The New Yorker 12 January: 79-84.
28.
Morris, Kenneth E. (1996) Jimmy Carter: American Moralist. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.
29.
Neiman, Susan (2002) Evil in Modern Thought: An Alternative History of Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press
30.
Niebuhr, Gustav (2001a) `Clergy of Many Faiths Answer Tragedy's Call' , New York Times 15 September: B10.
31.
Niebuhr, Gustav (2001b) `Religion Journal: In Devastation's Shadow, a Renewal', New York Times 3 November: A11.
32.
Norris, Pippa and Inglehart, Ronald (2004) Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
33.
Ober, Josiah and Strauss, Barry (1990) `Drama, Political Rhetoric, and the Discourse of Athenian Democracy', in John Winkler and Froma Zeitlin (eds) Nothing to Do with Dionysos?: Athenian Drama in its Social Context. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
34.
Pirro, Robert (2001) Hannah Arendt and the Politics of Tragedy. Dekalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press.
35.
Pirro, Robert (2004) `Remedying Defective or Deficient Political Agency: Cornel West's Uses of the Tragic', New Political Science26(2): 147-70.
Raynor, Alice (2002) `A Forum on Theatre and Tragedy in the Wake of September 11', Theatre Journal54: 129-31.
38.
Reinelt, Janelle (2002) `A Forum on Theatre and Tragedy in the Wake of September 11', Theatre Journal54: 134-6.
39.
Ruprecht, Louis Jr (1994) Tragic Posture and Tragic Vision. New York: Continuum.
40.
Schifrin, Debra (2001) `Report', Morning Edition 4 October. National Public Radio.
41.
Shklar, Judith (1984) Ordinary Vices. Cambridge, MA : Belknap Press.
42.
Simpson, David (2003a) `It's Not About Cheering Us Up', London Review of Books25(7) 3 April: 19.
43.
Simpson, David (2003b) `Letter', London Review of Books25(10) 22 May.
44.
Sourvinou-Inwood, Christiane (2003) Tragedy and Athenian Religion. New York: Lexington.
45.
Stow, Simon (2007) `Pericles at Gettysburg and Ground Zero: Tragedy, Patriotism, and Public Mourning', American Political Science Review101(2): 195-208.
46.
Strassel, Kimberley (2008) `Bush on His Record', The Wall Street Journal WSJ.com. 20 December.
47.
The 9/11 Commission Report (2004) New York: W. W. Norton.
48.
Verhovek, Sam Howe (2001) `2 Disasters Lead a Cruise Ship Into 2 Nights of Vigils and Prayers', New York Times 15 September: B10.
49.
Vernant, Jean-Pierre and Vidal-Naquet, Pierre (1981) Tragedy and Myth in Ancient Greece. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press.
50.
West, Cornel (1999) `Prophetic Christian as Organic Intellectual: Martin Luther King, Jr.', in The Cornel West Reader. New York: Basic Civitas Books.
51.
`Woman Gets 15 Years in Fatal Wreck' (2001) Savannah Morning News 4 March: 1A.
52.
Woodward, Bob (2004) Plan of Attack. New York: Simon & Schuster.
53.
Worthen, W.B. (2002) `A Forum on Theatre and Tragedy in the Wake of September 11', Theatre Journal54: 99-100.
54.
Wyatt, Kristen (2004) `Hope, Helplessness Present at Grandparents' Funeral' , Savannah Morning News 10 August: 3B.
55.
Yardley, Jim (2002) `Smaller but Heartfelt Ceremonies Around the U.S.' , New York Times 7 September.
56.
Zak, William F. (1995) The Polis and the Divine Order. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press.
