Exile,Alienation And Return:The Redemption Of Jewish Culture In Zuckerman Bound Trilogy

Focusing on the protagonist Nathan Zuckerman's experience,this thesis studies Phillip Roth's Zuckerman Bound Trilogy from the Diasporic criticism,and explores Roth's ponderation over the redemption of Jewish culture in modern American society.The thesis holds that Roth contemplates the redemption of Jewish culture by Zuckerman Bound Trilogy.Zuckerman is Roth's alter-ego and spokesperson,therefore,Zuckerman's cultural choices represent Roth's considerations.Zuckerman takes“exile” as his first move to redeem the Jewish culture.Zuckerman wants to integrate into mainstream American culture,he chooses to violate the Jewish tradition of writing,and thus he abandons his own culture to pursue his dream.Then,Zuckerman experiences “alienation” in the process of his exile.Zuckerman bears a sense of alienation in the process of exile.He not only loses connection with Jewish community,but also fails to live a satisfactory life in modern American society.Therefore,Roth reflects on the effectiveness of exile to redeem the Jewish culture.Zuckerman realizes the necessity to “return” eventually.Suffering from the physical pain and psychological hatred,Zuckerman tries to get self-rescue through his pilgrimages to Prague.Through Zuckerman's attempt to save a Yiddish manuscript,Roth aims to let Zuckerman return to the Jewish culture.Zuckerman Bound Trilogy reveals the physical and spiritual exile of Jewish people and their struggle to escape from their solitariness and guilt through returning to their cultural root.Roth's Zuckerman Bound Trilogy tells us that living under the shadow of the Holocaust and confronting with the conflicts between the education of traditional Jewish culture and the sharp reality of American society,Jewish immigrant descendants are more likely to be trapped into cultural dilemma.Only by integratingtraditional Jewish culture with mainstream American culture and returning to their people and community,can the Jewish immigrants escape from the cultural dilemma and solve the on-going problem of Jewish culture.