Options
Political Initiation in the Novels of Philip Roth
Type
dissertation project
Start Date
01 October 2007
End Date
30 June 2010
Status
completed
Keywords
political socialization
Transtextualität
Politisierung
political novel
Philip Roth
Initiation
political rhetoric
political scenario novel
Narratologie
politische un literarische Rhetorik
initiation story
Description
Political science and literary criticism share an interest in stages of transition, transformation and transgression. Although not yet explored by political science, initiation has to be regarded as an archetypical example of a transitory phase which marks an adolescent's discovery of evil, his end of innocence or his discovery of his inner self. In U.S. literature, this experience is the focal point of novels dealing with adolescent protagonists, wherefore a sub-genre of its own has been named thereafter, the initiation novel.
Political science often talks of initiation when describing an event or an experience which leads to an individual's political awakening, i.e. which heightens his political consciousness and turns him into a political being. Initiation can thus be regarded as a marking point in his political socialization, a process which denominates a person's learning of his political role in a society.
Philip Roth's novels might not have been labelled initiation novels and he might not be regarded as a predominantly political writer strictu sensu. His protagonists, however, frequently undergo processes that open their eyes for a less idyllic reality, they have to come to terms with the being they truly are, or have to learn to defend their own viewpoints. In other words, they undergo processes of initiation. Moreover, in certain novels Roth's characters get acquainted with political ideas and religious convictions, often under the guidance of mentors whose rhetorical power or charisma has a substantial impact on them.
The different aspects mentioned above demand a thorough analysis both from a literary as well as a political angle: literary, since initiation is one of the major topics in literary criticism which often deals with transgressions of rules, be they societal or textual. Political, because political science possesses greater analytical strength in depicting phenomena of power, both rhetorical and ideological. However, when dealing with the ideas and the political awakening of fictional characters, literary criticism will frequently have to remind the political scientist that he is not dealing with empirical reality, but with an autonomous work of art which might bend to the factitious side at times, but which remains, after all, a work of fiction.
Political science often talks of initiation when describing an event or an experience which leads to an individual's political awakening, i.e. which heightens his political consciousness and turns him into a political being. Initiation can thus be regarded as a marking point in his political socialization, a process which denominates a person's learning of his political role in a society.
Philip Roth's novels might not have been labelled initiation novels and he might not be regarded as a predominantly political writer strictu sensu. His protagonists, however, frequently undergo processes that open their eyes for a less idyllic reality, they have to come to terms with the being they truly are, or have to learn to defend their own viewpoints. In other words, they undergo processes of initiation. Moreover, in certain novels Roth's characters get acquainted with political ideas and religious convictions, often under the guidance of mentors whose rhetorical power or charisma has a substantial impact on them.
The different aspects mentioned above demand a thorough analysis both from a literary as well as a political angle: literary, since initiation is one of the major topics in literary criticism which often deals with transgressions of rules, be they societal or textual. Political, because political science possesses greater analytical strength in depicting phenomena of power, both rhetorical and ideological. However, when dealing with the ideas and the political awakening of fictional characters, literary criticism will frequently have to remind the political scientist that he is not dealing with empirical reality, but with an autonomous work of art which might bend to the factitious side at times, but which remains, after all, a work of fiction.
Leader contributor(s)
Funder(s)
Topic(s)
politics and literature
Philip Roth
political initiation
Method(s)
textual analysis
Range
Institute/School
Range (De)
Institut/School
Eprints ID
53290
Reference Number
K-11K1- 117902
5 results
Now showing
1 - 5 of 5
-
PublicationPolitical Initiation in the Works of Philip RothThis thesis exemplifies how literature can help political science understand the ways in which individuals develop their political identity, learn to understand po¬litical ideas, and define their role in society. The formula suggested to encapsulate these developments is "political initiation," a term which bridges the gaps be¬tween political science, literary theory, and anthropology. Thereby, political so¬cialization research, the branch of political science usually concerned with in¬dividual political awakenings, can broaden its perspective for the mechanisms of self-creation that both anthropology and literary science have unraveled. In this vein, an individual's political coming of age may be read as a political initiation story, which is crafted as much by the individual himself as by the circumstances influencing him, such as political events or the political attitude of the parents. Methodologically, this means that political scientists who read fiction should con¬sider a literary character's development in context, decipher his dependence on other figures, and focus on the political, social and historical context in which the character is embedded. Philip Roth's characters are masters of self-invention, re-creation, imperso¬nation and disguise: They constantly re-write their own stories and experiment with their identities. In addition, Roth likes to blur the boundaries between fact and fiction, thus further challenging allegedly stable categories, such as identity it¬self. Accordingly, his works enable the political scientist interested in literature to explore, for instance, what roles stories themselves play for an individual's per¬ception of politics - or fails to do so. While at times Roth's plots and characters illustrate the findings of political socialization research, they may also contribute to the understanding of phenomena with regard to which political science has reached an impasse or has not yet established a consensus. In this manner, Roth presents the reader with answers to terrorism's "why?" which may be counter¬intuitive to many political scientists. As Philip Roth's works demonstrate, literature can confront political science with challenging counter-realities, and force it to consider aspects it has hitherto neglected.
-
PublicationChiastic Reflections : Rash Moments in the Life of Zuckermanhttp://muse.jhu.edu/journals/philip_roth_studies/summary/v005/5.2.bruhwiler.html Nathan Zuckerman's farewell with Exit Ghost is interwoven with Joseph Conrad's initiation story The Shadow-Line (1917) which traces the moral maturation of a young captain. While one could see Conrad's unnamed protagonist mirrored in Richard Kliman, this article rather suggests to read The Shadow-Line as the motivic fundament of Zuckerman's life: during his whole literary existence, Zuckerman has been meandering along the shadow-line, the emblem of this developmental twilight state the initiand is held in. In contrast to the typical initiand who will, eventually, be able to claim a new position, Zuckerman remains a perpetual initiand.Type: journal articleJournal: Philip Roth StudiesVolume: 5Issue: 2
-
PublicationType: newspaper articleJournal: Philip Roth Society NewsletterVolume: 11Issue: 2
-
PublicationPolitical Initiation in the Novels of Philip RothPolitical Initiation in the Novels of Philip Roth exemplifies how literature and, specifically, the work of Philip Roth can help readers understand the ways in which individuals develop their political identity, learn to comprehend political ideas, and define their role in society. Combining political science, literary theory, and anthropology, the book describes an individual's political coming of age as a political initiation story, which is crafted as much by the individual himself as by the circumstances influencing him, such as political events or the political attitude of the parents. Philip Roth's characters constantly re-write their own stories and experiment with their identities. Accordingly, Philip Roth's works enable the reader to explore, for instance, how individuals construct their identity against the backdrop of political transformations or contested territories, and thereby become initiands-or fail to do so. Contrary to what one might expect, initiations are not only defining moments in childhood and early adulthood; instead, Roth shows how initiation processes recur throughout an individual's life.
-
PublicationA Reluctant Public Intellectual : Seeing America through Philip Roth( 2011-05-26)Philip Roth frequently stressed, both in his novels and in interviews, that he did not believe in literature's transformative powers, beyond its turning people into better readers. For instance, he shows in I Married A Communist (1998) how Nathan Zuckerman first perceives literature as a means of political persuasion, until he is taught to recognize the antagonistic relationship between art and politics. Moreover, Roth has repeatedly fought attempts by critics to read parts of his oeuvre as political allegories, most notably in the case of his novel The Plot Against America (2004). At the same time, however, he never withholds his own political opinions. Roth's frankness combined with the politically pertinent questions raised by his novels makes him, (in)voluntarily, a sought-after observer and critic of American life. Particularly in the German speaking world, where critical literary voices such as Günter Grass or Adolf Muschg are perceived as important public intellectuals, Philip Roth is often presented as a messenger, an interpreter of American reality whose views are not only quoted in the culture pages of the newspaper, but sometimes even in the sports section. This paper shall explore what America German and Swiss media as well as scholarly works believe to recognize through their readings of and interviews with Philip Roth. It will in a first step show the extent of the media coverage and the scholarly work on Roth's novels, and then discuss in a second step how he is cast as a public intellectual, who explains the transatlantic "Other" to the German speaking reader.Type: conference paper