Political Initiation in the Novels of Philip Roth

A self-proclaimed 'political scientist who has learned to read fiction differently,' Claudia Franziska Bruhwiler considers the 'ambiguities of beginnings' in Philip Roth's oeuvre, looking specifically at Roth's representation of the evolution of an individual's political self. Interested particularly in transitional moments, Bruhwiler's work remarkably joins the fields of anthropology, political science, sociology, history, and literary studies in order to shed new light on the political identity of Roth's characters. Exceedingly well researched, Political Initiation in the Novels of Philip Roth covers a wide range of Roth's novels and the intertexts within them. Putting this fiction into conversation with predominant thinking in the social sciences, Bruhwiler's work not only serves as a model for Roth studies, but also as a model for interdisciplinary research overall. -- Aimee Pozorski, Associate Professor, Central Connecticut State University, USA, and President of the Philip Roth Society This book is an amazing critical journey through the works of Philip Roth. It offers new approaches to the complex relationships between the factual and the fictional, opening inspirational views to the ambiguous landscape of Roth's creativity. Roth's novels are redefined in Claudia Franziska Bruhwiler's essay by the political textures of society and the ways characters express the process of their own initiation and development. Bruhwiler reveals with an extremely sharp eye the multiple ways Philip Roth plays games with his readers, how he makes them struggle between the undefined, the transitor,y and the fragmentary in a space of counter-realities. With a sense of literary imagination, theatrical sensibility, and critical thinking Bruhwiler unfolds Roth's panorama of political identities, whereby she shows creators, scholars, political scientist and literary theorist how to read fiction in a nutritious way. This is a necessary book that vindicates the dialogue between arts and sciences, bringing inclusive approaches to the tense experience of historiography and fiction. Identity, diversity and otherness are expressive tools that make Roth novels connect with global history and individual existence. The term initiation is in constant movement between the anthropological and the political, adding new attributes to the creative power that builds Roth's characters. Literary theory has a lot to learn from the new approaches political science is adding to fiction. This excellent book by Claudia Franziska Bruhwiler proves through the works of Philip Roth that political consciousness is the new poetics of politics in the space of creative imagination and identity. -- Ana Merino, MFA Director, Creative Writing, University of Iowa, USA