Masculinity in the metanarrative of the global war on terror: Shauna Singh Baldwin`s transnational critique

Abstract

This article offers a feminist critique of the globalized metanarrative on the so-called ‘war on terror,’ through an analysis –from decolonial and feminist perspectives– of Shauna Singh Baldwin’s short story collection We Are not in Pakistan (2007). Focusing on the contrasting depictions of masculinity portrayed in a selection of her stories, I intend to reveal the complexities in the gendering of a metanarrative that attempts to mobilize affects of fear and revenge. In contra-diction (that is, as counter-discourse) to the dominant rhetoric of stereotypical Islamophobia, Baldwin’s characters point out surprising comparisons and parallelisms across cultural differences, revealing common links and shared affectivity among characters of diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds. Vocally political, her narratives provide a transCanadian perspective on violent neoimperialism after 9/11.