Bridging Conflicting Cultures

Drawing upon Hayden White's concept of tropics of discourse, this research paper fully discusses the thorny issue of terrorism in Wilbur Smith's The Triumph of the Sun, Those in Peril and The Sounds of Thunder. By and large, this book exposes and explores the anatomy of terrorism and the ways terrorists operate in Africa, revealing terrorism as a deadly phenomenon and threatening the stability of the world. This study also offers an overview of the historical representation of terrorism: the nationalist form of terrorism stemming from the colonial epoch as well as its internationalization. It specifically examines the capitalist exploitation of terrorist organizations materialized through the symbolic imagery of human trafficking or kidnapping. The analysis of the traumatic effect of terrorism on both the victims and their relatives is conducted through the psychoanalytic perspective.