Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: What can we expect from the turn to literature in political thought and analysis? This paper examines recent attempts to utilize literature in political science departments through a reading of Philip Roth’s ‘American Trilogy’ of 'I Married A Communist,' 'American Pastoral,' and 'The Human Stain.' It argues that Roth’s work alerts us to an important distinction between the written world of the text and the unwritten world in which that text is written, even as it plays with that distinction for literary purposes. The paper suggests that the current work on literature in the discipline often fails to recognize or respect this distinction, rendering its conclusions highly suspect. The paper concludes by identifying ways in which Roth’s distinction should force us to rethink how we, as political thinkers and social scientists, approach literature in order that we might reap the benefit of its considerable insights without falling into methodological error.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Populism, as both ideology and social movement, is nearly a universal, albeit sporadic, feature of all modern democratic political systems. Populism is also arguably the only example of an indigenous radical mass movement in America and after the discredited state of socialism, the only continuing source of democratic protest. Yet populism does not enjoy a central place in democratic theory. In fact, many writers contend that when populism arises, it has a destabilizing effect on democratic regimes. Even when others attempt to credit populism, they acknowledge the existence of significant negative features. This essay reviews the contested status of populism and suggests a greater appreciation of its positive contribution to democratic theory can be reached through an analysis of Philip Roth’s “American Trilogy.” Like Roth, students of populism place their assessments in the context of historical narratives. Thus Roth’s fictional recreations of post-war America can be compared to the analyses of “populist moments” in America analyzed by both populist critics and defenders. Unlike most democratic theorists, however, Roth is willing to explore the nature and source of populist anger and related expressions and thus expose its poignant dimensions. By appending Roth’s insights, it is possible to ameliorate populism’s contested status in democratic theory by acknowledging the positive role of emotion, properly understood, in political protest.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Coleman Silk, the hero in Philip Roth’s The Human Stain, decided to pass after World War II. The unusual fairness of his skin allowed him to enlist as a white private during the conflict. After the war, Silk did not undo the confusion. He decided to be a white man, even if this meant to definitely break with his family. Neither his wife, nor his children know or suspect anything about their father’s past. He also developed a brilliant career at the academia as a white man. Ironically, Silk is accused of discriminating against African-American students 50 years later. This paper analyzes de role of public opinion in the inquisitorial process against the professor accused of racism. Public opinion creates a pressure to homogenize thinking and to establish moral standards that identify a society and allow its members to identify themselves with it.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Philip Roth has devoted his recent novels to exploring the tragic aspects of liberal self-consciousness. He suggests that the essentially Lockean “American dream,” understood as a pastoral agrarian ideal, posits an Eden that is always collapsing under its own weight—his characters construct narratives of their own Americanism only to find their identities unraveled by their fatal decisions. Roth’s view of history is tragicomic. As his alter ego, Nathan Zuckerman, claims in The Human Stain, “we leave a stain, we leave a trail, we leave an imprint. . . . What is the quest to purify, if not more impurity.” Drawing upon both classical and modern traditions, Roth explores the “republican” logic of corruption and decay as it manifests itself in modern America, but he does so in a way that incorporates, rather than rejects liberalism. As such, he proves useful for thinking about the utopian undercurrents of American politics and their sometimes tragic implications for national identity.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The novels of Philip Roth focus on the struggle for assimilation and the American Dream. Often, however, Roth's protagonists attain their goals only to be left empty and unfulfilled. As such, Roth's work reflects the necessary balance one must strike between tolerance, materialism, and fear in order to maintain order with pluralist society. This paper will focus on the later Zuckerman novels, American Pastoral, I Married A Communist, and The Human Stain in examining these issues.