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Madness and Subversion in Saul Bellow’s Later Novels

A Deconstructive Perspective

by Ramzi Marrouchi (Author)
©2023 Monographs X, 184 Pages

Summary

Saul Bellow emphasized to a remarkable degree that the protagonists in his later novels were intellectuals trained in the humanistic traditions of European liberal education. He supposed that these protagonists would lead modern American society and predict its future. However, they were ostracized from the intellectual center of modern America, marginalized and rejected by the ethics of capitalism, and therefore denied any significant moral or ethical role. Bellow addressed this gap and acknowledged that deconstructing the negativity of capitalism helped solve this intellectual and moral decay in America.
Madness and Subversion in Saul Bellow’s Later Novels examines how and why intellectuals were regarded in European humanistic tradition as wise heroes who sought to deconstruct the norms of their society, which was dominated by low culture. It goes on to explain the unravelling of the Bellovian paradigm, unrealizable in a society where democracy and capitalism were the dominant ideologies. Author Ramzi Marrouchi uses a combination of Derrida’s premises on deconstructionism, Foucault’s conception of "épistémè", and de Man’s view on blindness and insight to explain the social and historical fracture from which Bellow’s intellectuals suffered. This book is the first to investigate Bellow’s later novels from a deconstructionist perspective. It will be appeal to all scholars and students interested in Bellow’s creations, and in the intellectual and literary history of twentieth-century America.
The book, like its author, is innovative, clear, and able to open pathways to new ideas.
—Dr. Wael Mustafa, Fayoum University, Cairo, Egypt, Associate Professor of Literary Theory and Criticism
Hilariously entertaining and thoroughly written.
—Dr. Shaimaa El-Ateek, Imam University, Riyadh, KSA Associate Professor of
Literary Theory and Criticism

Table Of Contents


Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Control Number: 2023028390

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
The German National Library lists this publication in the German
National Bibliography; detailed bibliographic data is available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

Cover design by Peter Lang Group AG

ISBN 9781636671499 (hardback)
ISBN 9781636671505 (ebook)
ISBN 9781636671512 (epub)
DOI 10.3726/b20621

© 2023 Peter Lang Group AG, Lausanne
Published by Peter Lang Publishing Inc., New York, USA
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This publication has been peer reviewed.

About the author

Ramzi Marrouchi is assistant professor of Jewish American fi ction. He has Canadian BA, MA and PhD in modern American Literature and criticism. His fi eld of interest is Jewish American fi ction, deconstructionism and theories of texts.

About the book

Saul Bellow emphasized to a remarkable degree that the protagonists in his later novels were intellectuals trained in the humanistic traditions of European liberal education. He supposed that these protagonists would lead modern American society and predict its future. However, they were ostracized from the intellectual center of modern America, marginalized and rejected by the ethics of capitalism, and therefore denied any significant moral or ethical role. Bellow addressed this gap and acknowledged that deconstructing the negativity of capitalism helped solve this intellectual and moral decay in America.

Madness and Subversion in Saul Bellow’s Later Novels examines how and why intellectuals were regarded in European humanistic tradition as wise heroes who sought to deconstruct the norms of their society, which was dominated by low culture. It goes on to explain the unravelling of the Bellovian paradigm, unrealizable in a society where democracy and capitalism were the dominant ideologies. Author Ramzi Marrouchi uses a combination of Derrida’s premises on deconstructionism, Foucault’s conception of “épistémè”, and de Man’s view on blindness and insight to explain the social and historical fracture from which Bellow’s intellectuals suffered.

This book is the first to investigate Bellow’s later novels from a deconstructionist perspective. It will be appeal to all scholars and students interested in Bellow’s creations, and in the intellectual and literary history of twentieth-century America. The book, like its author, is innovative, clear, and able to open pathways to new ideas.

—Dr. Wael Mustafa, Fayoum University, Cairo, Egypt, Associate Professor of Literary Theory and Criticism

Hilariously entertaining and thoroughly written.

—Dr. Shaimaa El-Ateek, Imam University, Riyadh, KSA Associate Professor of Literary Theory and Crit

This eBook can be cited

This edition of the eBook can be cited. To enable this we have marked the start and end of a page. In cases where a word straddles a page break, the marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by this marker.

The worlds we sought were never those we saw; the worlds we bargained for were never the worlds we got. […] But I must know what I myself am. Joseph. Bellow, S. 1944. 23.

The true vision of things is a gift. Augie March. Bellow, S. 1953. 23.

Who—who was I? A millionaire wanderer and wayfarer. A brutal and violent man driven into the world. A man who fled his own country, settled by his forefathers. A fellow whose heart said, I want. I want. Who played the violin in despair, seeking the voice of angels. Who has to hurst the spirit’s sleep or else. Bellow, S. 1956. 23.

Table of Contents

· 1 ·

Introduction

“Enlightenment? Marvelous! But out of hand, wasn’t it?” Bellow, S. 1970. 34.

Saul Bellow’s position as one of the major Jewish American postwar writers has already been solidly established. Part of this distinction stems from the fact that his eccentric fictional world is able to touch the hearts and minds of many of his devoted readers. His artistic qualities include “his ability to describe experience in a human voice so that the texture of the experience comes through and his ability to convey the philosophical-moral complexities of human life without losing that life itself” (Clayton, 1979, p. 1). He believes that the best author is the one who is inspired, whose writings should respond to the social, historical, political, intellectual and cultural inquiries of the age. Bellow is successful at reaching such a diverse audience because he draws heavily on biographical emphases, life experiences such as childhood, marriage, divorce, and even the deaths of loved ones. Bellow’s life in New York and Chicago as an aspiring writer gave him the opportunity to be acquainted with literary circles, and gave his works the quality of life in big cities, streets and suburbs, people young and old, rich and poor, colorful personalities, hoodlums and mobsters, doctors, lawyers, students, business, politicians and common people.

Details

Pages
X, 184
Publication Year
2023
ISBN (PDF)
9781636671505
ISBN (ePUB)
9781636671512
ISBN (Hardcover)
9781636671499
DOI
10.3726/b20621
Language
English
Publication date
2023 (November)
Keywords
Madness Subversion Alienation Deconstruction Jewish American literature Decline of Civility Agony of Intellectuals Capitalism MADNESS AND SUBVERSION IN SAUL BELLOW’S LATER NOVELS A DECONSTRUCTIVE PERSPECTIVE Ramzi Marrouchi
Published
New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Oxford, Wien, 2023. X, 184 pp.

Biographical notes

Ramzi Marrouchi (Author)

Ramzi Marrouchi is assistant professor of Jewish American fiction. He has Canadian BA, MA and PhD in modern American Literature and criticism. His field of interest is Jewish American fiction, deconstructionism and theories of texts.

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Title: Madness and Subversion in Saul Bellow’s Later Novels