The broken relationship between art and society:
Nine eleven in Literature 

Art and society are two terms operating in two different disciplines and do not seem to relate to each other.  Art, on one hand, is considered to be special: it is only there for the selected few and is mostly seen as 'high art'. The most important thing about 'high art' literature1 is that it always transcends time and place and can therefore be seen as 'pure' and universal.2 Society, on the other hand, is mainly concerned with occurrences that cause a stir within a community or, on a more international level, cause problems where many different people are affected by, such as immigration, politics, and terrorism. Given this description of the two contrasting terms, it seems unlikely for students in Literature to analyse works about these 'modern problems' because these problems are always determined by time and place. However, there are novels worth analysing to understand the relationship between Literature and society and the way Literature can contribute to society. 
This essay discusses the impact of the September 11 attacks3 on society, represented in Literature. 'Specimen Days' (2005), a novel by Michael Cunningham, will be taken as an example for this case study. The novel contains three short stories: 'In the Machine', 'The Children's Crusade' and 'Like Beauty'. The stories relate to each other by the use of the same character names, the (physical) presence of American poet Walt Whitman, and the surroundings of New York City. In addition, the stories are all taking place in a different period of time: the stories divide the novel into the past, the present and the future. The first story is a ghost story, well known as a typical nineteen-century gothic story4, while the second story takes place in the twenty-first century, whereas the last story is depicted as a futuristic story, situated one hundred and fifty years ahead of the present. All three stories have the theme 'fear' in common, which is based on the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and possibly the Capitol Building on 11 September 2001. 
Thomas Vaessens states in his book 'De revanche van de roman' (2009) that novels about occurrences that cause a stir in society can be seen as a distinct genre, the so called 'Engaged Literature'.5 In this book Vaessens tries to restore the broken relationship between Literature and society by claiming that society needs works of art, more specifically Literature, to give a traumatic experience such as nine eleven meaning. However, Literature's 'literariness' should not be forgotten in this process. Therefore Vaessens tries to determine whether Literature as 'Engaged Literature' is able to give meaning to traumatic experiences without leaving out the literary characteristics of a novel.
In order to give meaning to a traumatic event, Vaessens states that the writer of a novel needs to bridge the gap between his work and the reader by breaking with the chic literary conventions.6 As for 'Specimen Days', Cunningham breaks with the conventions by combining both literary and non-literary genres, by writing lyrical prose, and by using three different narratives without any of the narratives containing a happy end. 
First, Cunningham makes use of three different genres in three different stories that make up 'Specimen Days'. By combining a ghost story, a thriller, and a science fiction story, many American critics accuse Cunningham of using a strictly non-literary genre (science fiction) as well as a literary genre (ghost story) within one novel that tends to be Literature.7 Cunningham therefore breaks with the literary conventions about genre by the use of both a non-literary and a literary genre. 
Second, although many critics criticize the use of different genres, the novel is highly commended for its lovely prose and its, according to The Observer, 'generous spirit'.8
Third, Cunningham breaks with literary conventions by making use of three narratives that seem to ensure happy endings and make the reader expect this, without actually ending the three stories in a 'happy' manner.9  The lead character in the first story dies of his injuries after harming himself in the factory and the lead character in the second story runs off because of her unethical decision to help a young wanted terrorist. The last story ends with the lead character left alone by his loved ones after deciding not to board the spaceship with them. However, this is not the real end of the last story. After failing to board the spaceship at the very last moment, the lead character decides to leave and to explore the rest of America on his horse. This ending does not seem to be a happy end, though, it does seem to be the only ending in which the lead character has a future ahead of him. By leaving on a horse, note that this ending takes place in the futuristic story while a horse is mostly seen as a historic manner of transport, the story goes back to the nineteenth century; the century where the first story started. In other words, 'In The Machine' starts where 'Like Beauty' ends. 
The relationship between Literature and society, seemingly two contrasting terms, thus can be useful to analyse in terms of assigning meaning to traumatic experiences. 'Engaged Literature' arises when the writer combines a traumatic experience, such as nine eleven, with literary characteristics in a novel. However, by breaking with chic literary conventions, the writer tends to bridge the gap between his work and the reader. On one hand, Cunningham breaks with literary conventions by combining non-literary genres with literary genres and by not meeting the expectations of a narrative readers usually have of novels. On the other hand, Cunningham writes lovely prose: a characteristic feature that does meet the literary conventions. Therefore 'Specimen Days' can be seen as a succeeded work of 'Engaged Literature' because nine eleven as a traumatic experience is described while Cunningham both breaks and meets with literary conventions to bridge the gap between 'Specimen Days' and the reader. 
1 Note that in this essay 'high-art' literature will be referred to as Literature. 
2 Vaessens, Thomas. De revanche van de roman. Literatuur, autoriteit en engagement. Vantilt, Nijmegen 2009, (pp.9)
3 Note that in this essay the September 11 attacks will be referred to as nine eleven.
4 Fokkema, Aleid. 'Wakende doden, vallende lichamen. Het begin van post-9/11-literatuur' in: Stof en as. De neerslag van 11 september in kunst en populaire cultuur. van Gennep/De Balie, Amsterdam 2006 (pp.164)
5 Vaessens (2009)
6 Vaessens (2009), pp.18
7 Faber, Michel. 'Time travelling with Walt Whitman' in: The Obverver. 6 augustus 2005:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/aug/06/featuresreviews.guardianreview7 (26-06-2012)
8 Faber, Michel. 'Time travelling with Walt Whitman' in: The Obverver. 6 augustus 2005:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/aug/06/featuresreviews.guardianreview7 (26-06-2012)
9 Cain, Caleb. 'Fine Specimen' in: New York Magazine. 5 juni 2005:
http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/books/reviews/11940/index1.html (26-06-2012)