Inter-textual relations - The quarrel over the Iraq War as a conflict between narrative types

Abstract

In this article, I analyse the unexpected quarrels and strange new alliances that formed in response to the United States' decision to go to war against Iraq in the spring of 2003. Telling different stories about Iraq, about themselves and about the nature of world politics, decision-makers reached different, conflicting conclusions. As is the case with all stories, these accounts are best analysed with the help of literary theory. Pursuing such an investigation I find that the stories follow closely one or the other of four classical narrative types: romance, tragedy, comedy and satire. I explain the quarrels and strange new alliances as a problem of inter-textuality.