The Exploration Of Cultural Identity In Philip Roth's Works

With the development of globalization, multiculturalism has gradually accepted by most people. There is also a new trend to study literary works from the cultural perspective and thus, a new subject to explore the cultural identity of the literary figures. The present thesis, for this occasion, attempts to explore the evolution of Philip Roth's cultural identity in his works.Cultural identity refers to the collective selection between the weak culture and the strong culture, and one's sense of belonging to a particular culture or ethnic group. People consciously identify themselves with a group that has a shared system of symbols and meanings as well as norms for conduct. Because cultural identity exists within a changing social context, it is not static, fixed, and enduring; rather, it is dynamic and changeable with one's ongoing life experience. The study on cultural study involves with specific elements, such as, history, geography, society, economy, state, ideology, colony and colonization, culture, subculture and popular culture. So it is of great significance to introduce cultural studies into text study, for it can not only operate to enhance the research's visual field to a more comprehensive perspective and to get a better understanding of the text and the author, but also help him perceive the historical development of the culture in which the author writes his works.The American Jewish writer, Philip Roth, has always been a contradict figure in American literary world. From the first novel, Goodbye, Columbus, published in 1959, to the upcoming The Humbling in September 2009, Philip Roth's literary career has gone through half a century and during this period, the number of fictions, prose and biographies he wrote has reached as much as 30, both of which are rare in American literary history. For this reason, it is meaningful to study Roth and his works, which will assist us to observe the Jewish culture and Jewish literature.The thesis consists of five chapters. The first chapter gives a brief introduction to Roth and the three periods of Roth's career, gives a review to the studies on Roth and his works at home and abroad, in addition, this chapter expounds the main definitions of cultural identity, laying the theoretical basis of the thesis. Chapter two, three and four are the body of the present thesis, which carry out a systematical and in-depth analysis of Roth's works from the perspective of cultural identity. Through the research, the present author finds out that, firstly, in Roth's early works from 1950s to 1970s, Roth's characters were all second or third generation American Jews. They faced the same predicament as the author: on one hand, attracted by the melting American culture, they were eager to integrate into the mainstream culture; on the other hand, they were trapped by the norms and restrictions set by their parents and Jewish tradition. The conflicts between their parents and them were usually tense and could not reconcile. They set lots of tasks to break up the confinement, later they would find they became lost in fulfilling their aims. As a result, they felt confused and alienated. Under this condition, both the writer and his characters chose to. escape from their Jewish identity. Secondly, influenced by Renaissance of Jewish literature, represented by his work The Counterlife, through his characters Nathan Zuckerman and Henry Zuckerman's experiences in Israel and Britain, Roth's writing has showed obvious trend to search for and return to Jewish tradition. In this period, the conflicts between Jewish identity and American identity are also irreconcilable. Thirdly, in Roth's recent works, take American Pastoral as an example, the conflicts between the first generation Lou (symbol of Jewish identity) and second generation the Swede (symbol of American identity) has become not as radical as before. It seems that Roth tries to seek harmony between Jewish identity and American identity, which agrees with the concept of multiculturalism. Chapter five, the concluding part, makes a summary of the thesis and draws the conclusion that cultural interpretation of literary images is one of the most important topics as reflected in American Jewish writer Philip Roth's works. In these works, the different images, such as Alexander Portnoy in Portboy's Complaint, Nathan Zuckerman in The Ghost Writer, Henry Zuckerman and Nathan Zuckerman in The Counterlife, and the Swede in American Pastoral, demonstrate the changes in the process of interpreting Jewish identity and American identity. These changes indicate the historical continuity and temporal construct with regard to cultural identity, and reflect the historical development of Jewish culture in America. Secondly, the Jews' identity in America is not static, whether one's identity is Jewish or American is not so obvious, one's sense of cultural identity is constantly influenced by his or her social and historical background.