On The Alternate History In Philip Roth's The Plot Against America

Growing up in the Jewish community in Newark,New Jersey,Philip Roth(1933-)began to win his reputation as he published his first book Goodbye,Columbus in 1959.From then on,he produced many serial books,including fictions and non-fictions,such as Nathan Zuckerman series,David Kepesh Series,and Philip Roth series.Through the rewriting of American history during World War ?,Roth published a new novel The Plot Against America in 2004,in which he posed a question:what if Charles A.Lindbergh instead of Franklin D.Roosevelt became president in 1940?Noticeably,referring to "alternate history" to substitute The Plot Against America is commonplace among critics both at home and abroad.An alternate history usually provides a fantastic imaginary history that is radically different from the recorded one.More often than not,its revision of history focuses on a certain period in the past and then changes or transplants a significant event in another time-space.However,most scholars employ alternate history in analyzing The Plot Against America in quite discursive ways.Therefore,this thesis will take "alternate history" as a critical fulcrum in an effort to deepen scholarly criticisms of Roth.As it combines national history with Jewish familial anecdotes,the alternate history in this novel embodies various connotations on three levels.On the first level,it stands for the novelist's effort to explore the possibilities and causes of the configuration of a Nazi America as well as the impact of the national pogrom on ordinary civilians.But,in Roth's imaginary world,that Jewish-Americans are prejudiced and even slaughtered is beyond simple cause-and-effect relationships.The anti-Semitism and genocide in the alternate history largely resembles the European Holocaust.In this way,on the second level,it serves as a Holocaust testimony indirectly yet overwhelmingly,and Roth's rethinking of Jewishness,which signals his strong attachment to Jewish family.The past is not only a mirror for the past and the present,but a subject matter to be allegorized,allowing for more critical distance for the author.Therefore,the third level is that the alternate history addresses the post-9/11 fear and commotion.As an allegory of the post-9/11 age,it suggests the importance of tolerance and democratic freedom.