neo-orientalism, terrorism, and “anticipation of history” in don delillo’s mao ii

the post-9/11 fiction is regarded as one of the indispensable parts of contemporary american literature. prominent novelists such as martin amis, john updike, and don delillo have directly addressed the 9/11 terrorist events in their fiction. delillo’s novels, however, have been of especial interest to the literary circles due to their decades-long preoccupation with the issue of terrorism in its different forms. for instance, mao ii is particularly described to be the historical prescience and anticipation of the 9/11 attacks. in this article, the writers explore the re-inscription of the dominant discourse of neo-orientalism in mao ii and make a comparison between some of the dominant accounts of the 9/11 event and what is being introduced as terrorism through the framework of orientalist discourse within the novel. the objective is to expose the roots of the novel’s “anticipations” of the 9/11 and thereby de-mythologize the author’s status as a guru of terrorist novel.