Roth and trauma : the problem of history in the later works (1995-2010) / Aimee Pozorski.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pozorski, Aimee L. (Aimee Lynn)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Roth, Philip, 1933-2018--Criticism and interpretation.

Roth, Philip.

Psychic trauma in literature.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

xiv, 175 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Continuum, [2011]

Summary:

Pozorski (English, Central Connecticut State U.) points out the importance of American writer Phillip Roth's fiction not only to his generation of Jewish writers and intellectuals, but also to young readers everywhere who have an interest in history and democracy. She also appeals specifically to a new set of readers prepared to dismiss Roth on reputation alone as a misogynist or perhaps too self-referential or pornographic to be appealing. Critical reception of his recent fiction has focused on his interest in America since World War II, she says, but she argues that the novels grapple more comprehensively with the country's traumatic beginnings and the legacy of the American Revolution. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Roth and trauma: the problem of history in the later works

"I pledge a legion to the flag": Drenka Balich's malapropisms and the traumatic sublime of the flag

American pastoral and the traumatic ideals of democracy

"The stars are indispensable": trauma, betrayal, and celebrity in I married a communist

Founding traumas: Vietnam, infanticide and The Iliad in The human stain

Terror, trauma, and "the mockery of armageddon": The dying animal in the new millennium

Traumatic realism, "afterwardsness", and the figure of the child in The plot against America

Exit ghost: mourning Zuckerman in the age of terror

"The gravest meaning": trauma and the tetralogy of the grave.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1441185119

9781441185112

OCLC:

705717091