Fifties Nostalgia in Selected Novels of Philip Roth
This study investigates the significance of a formative period in American history for Philip Roth's writing: the American fifties. Nostalgia for this "golden age" still plays an important role in popular and political discourses in the United States. In three case studies, this book analyses how Ph...
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Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier (WVT)
2026
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| Online Access: | https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/177702.3 |
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| _version_ | 1869529014821978112 |
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| author | Schmitt, Sebastian |
| author_browse | Schmitt, Sebastian |
| author_facet | Schmitt, Sebastian |
| author_sort | Schmitt, Sebastian |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | This study investigates the significance of a formative period in American history for Philip Roth's writing: the American fifties. Nostalgia for this "golden age" still plays an important role in popular and political discourses in the United States. In three case studies, this book analyses how Philip Roth engages with fifties nostalgia in his novels "Indignation", "I Married a Communist" and "Sabbath's Theater". These novels are not simply set in the American fifties, they are essentially about this historical period which still captures the American imagination. Contextual close readings of the individual texts illuminate how these novels are pervaded by a specific rhetorical structure, the American jeremiad, and how this allows Roth to dramatize a specifically Jewish-American form of Americanization. By investigating the functions of fifties nostalgia in his novels, the present study sheds light on the means with which Roth appropriates American history as a form of dissent in his writing and how he appropriates the American fifties to engage with contemporary political discourses in American culture. This also serves to reveal the imaginative and ideological constraints that Roth contends with in his novels. In Roth's hands, the American fifties become ultimately a means to explore a wide range of issues such as the spectre of homelessness, the culture-war debates or the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. What Philip Roth's novels therefore demonstrate in utmost clarity is that fifties nostalgia remains as relevant as ever. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-177702.3 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier (WVT) |
| publisherStr | Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier (WVT) |
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| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-177702.32026-06-17T07:47:32Z Fifties Nostalgia in Selected Novels of Philip Roth Schmitt, Sebastian Philip Roth American fifties nostalgia thema EDItEUR::F Fiction and Related items::FX Fiction: narrative themes::FXN Narrative theme: Identity / belonging thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies::JBCC8 Cultural policies and debates thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day::3MP 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999::3MPQ Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999::3MPQM c 1950 to c 1959 thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1K The Americas::1KB North America (USA and Canada)::1KBB United States of America, USA This study investigates the significance of a formative period in American history for Philip Roth's writing: the American fifties. Nostalgia for this "golden age" still plays an important role in popular and political discourses in the United States. In three case studies, this book analyses how Philip Roth engages with fifties nostalgia in his novels "Indignation", "I Married a Communist" and "Sabbath's Theater". These novels are not simply set in the American fifties, they are essentially about this historical period which still captures the American imagination. Contextual close readings of the individual texts illuminate how these novels are pervaded by a specific rhetorical structure, the American jeremiad, and how this allows Roth to dramatize a specifically Jewish-American form of Americanization. By investigating the functions of fifties nostalgia in his novels, the present study sheds light on the means with which Roth appropriates American history as a form of dissent in his writing and how he appropriates the American fifties to engage with contemporary political discourses in American culture. This also serves to reveal the imaginative and ideological constraints that Roth contends with in his novels. In Roth's hands, the American fifties become ultimately a means to explore a wide range of issues such as the spectre of homelessness, the culture-war debates or the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. What Philip Roth's novels therefore demonstrate in utmost clarity is that fifties nostalgia remains as relevant as ever. Published 2026-06-17T07:47:30Z 2026-06-17T07:17:44Z 2026-06-17T07:47:30Z 2023 book 978-3-98940-001-6 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/177702.3 eng Mosaic - Studien und Texte zur amerikanischen Kultur und Geschichte application/octet-stream image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International Attribution 4.0 International https://www.wvttrier.de/p/fifties-nostalgia-in-selected-novels-of-philip-roth https://www.wvttrier.de/p/fifties-nostalgia-in-selected-novels-of-philip-roth https://www.wvttrier.de/p/fifties-nostalgia-in-selected-novels-of-philip-roth https://www.wvttrier.de/p/fifties-nostalgia-in-selected-novels-of-philip-roth Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier (WVT) Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier e817b8e7-82d0-4a7e-a757-258d62230608 978-3-98940-001-6 Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier 60 218 Trier open access |
| spellingShingle | Philip Roth American fifties nostalgia thema EDItEUR::F Fiction and Related items::FX Fiction: narrative themes::FXN Narrative theme: Identity / belonging thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies::JBCC8 Cultural policies and debates thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day::3MP 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999::3MPQ Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999::3MPQM c 1950 to c 1959 thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1K The Americas::1KB North America (USA and Canada)::1KBB United States of America, USA Schmitt, Sebastian Fifties Nostalgia in Selected Novels of Philip Roth |
| title | Fifties Nostalgia in Selected Novels of Philip Roth |
| title_full | Fifties Nostalgia in Selected Novels of Philip Roth |
| title_fullStr | Fifties Nostalgia in Selected Novels of Philip Roth |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fifties Nostalgia in Selected Novels of Philip Roth |
| title_short | Fifties Nostalgia in Selected Novels of Philip Roth |
| title_sort | fifties nostalgia in selected novels of philip roth |
| topic | Philip Roth American fifties nostalgia thema EDItEUR::F Fiction and Related items::FX Fiction: narrative themes::FXN Narrative theme: Identity / belonging thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies::JBCC8 Cultural policies and debates thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day::3MP 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999::3MPQ Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999::3MPQM c 1950 to c 1959 thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1K The Americas::1KB North America (USA and Canada)::1KBB United States of America, USA |
| topic_facet | Philip Roth American fifties nostalgia thema EDItEUR::F Fiction and Related items::FX Fiction: narrative themes::FXN Narrative theme: Identity / belonging thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies::JBCC8 Cultural policies and debates thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day::3MP 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999::3MPQ Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999::3MPQM c 1950 to c 1959 thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1K The Americas::1KB North America (USA and Canada)::1KBB United States of America, USA |
| url | https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/177702.3 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT schmittsebastian fiftiesnostalgiainselectednovelsofphiliproth |