A brief response to Reinhard Bernbeck

I was struck by how closely Bernbeck's description of his response and that of the American academic community of which he forms a part, paralleled my own experience as a US citizen in another American university community reacting in 1970 to the overt bombing of Cambodia by the US. In both cases, the profundity of the reaction overturned prescribed course curricula. All discussion became confined to attempts to absorb the event. The reaction in a UK university academic community has been markedly different in that taught elements of courses have not been displaced: 'the European Neolithic, state formation or material symbolism' have continued to be discussed 'as if nothing was changing in the outside world'. Not surprisingly, issues of identity and perceived involvement at some level affect the intensity of the response. Interrogating the event clearly has a cathartic effect since this process leads to understanding, distance and perspective. It· serves as an outlet for highly charged emotions thereby alleviating, to some degree, feelings of helplessness. Reason provides some succour. However, my concern is that deconstruction of the circumstances surrounding the September 11th attacks can only be preliminary at this stage

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