The mask of historical agency in philip roth's AMERICAN PASTORAL

Abstract

Philip Roth’s 1997 novel American Pastoral presents a nuanced critique of the prevalent totalizing worldview that sees history as the progressive manifestation of transcendent ideals. In the novel, thus, we notice the Jewish American protagonist, Seymour “Swede” Levov, internalizing the notion that the nation is progressing toward a harmonious society through the gradual realization of liberal democratic values. But since the Jews occupy only a marginalized position within the framework of this dominant version of history, Swede has to forge an unambiguous American self-image to attain agency in the alleged social development. In critiquing Swede’s historical vision and his place therein, Roth uncovers various contingent factors, including relations of power and egotistical and pathological impulses, which masquerade as elevated ideals directing the course of history.