Open Access

Michael Sauter

• This study offers a reading of Philip Roth‘s so called “Zuckerman novels”. Published in the years between 1979 and 2007, these novels trace the career and life of the writer Nathan Zuckerman. The central argument of this study is that the series of novels can be understood as a form of exploratory ethics. The novels are interpreted with a special focus to their mutual cohesion and various intertextual references. The readings presented here are located at the intersection of two critical discourses: ethical criticism and ecocriticism. A special focus is the nexus between identity and narrative and the ethics of reading. The cultural-ecological and ecocritical readings of Roth’s fiction attempt to reinterpret the novels in a new light. This stems from a conscious decision to provide alternative perspectives on the texts. All readings share a focus on the question how Roth’s fiction stages conflicts and crises of identity and ethical dilemmas. The analysis of different textual strategiesThis study offers a reading of Philip Roth‘s so called “Zuckerman novels”. Published in the years between 1979 and 2007, these novels trace the career and life of the writer Nathan Zuckerman. The central argument of this study is that the series of novels can be understood as a form of exploratory ethics. The novels are interpreted with a special focus to their mutual cohesion and various intertextual references. The readings presented here are located at the intersection of two critical discourses: ethical criticism and ecocriticism. A special focus is the nexus between identity and narrative and the ethics of reading. The cultural-ecological and ecocritical readings of Roth’s fiction attempt to reinterpret the novels in a new light. This stems from a conscious decision to provide alternative perspectives on the texts. All readings share a focus on the question how Roth’s fiction stages conflicts and crises of identity and ethical dilemmas. The analysis of different textual strategies for the staging of such ethics is another focal point of the study. The interpretive frameworks of the readings are developed in various close readings of the texts. The section “Ecologies: Environmental, Literary &Ethical” discusses the interrelation between ecocriticism and literary ethics, and introduces the theoretical background underpinning the readings. Zuckerman Bound & Beyond collects analyses of the earlier Zuckerman books. The Ghost Writer is analyzed with a focus on the ethics of writing and authenticity. The reading of Zuckerman Unbound foregrounds a discourse of memory and its metaphorical representation in the novel. The Anatomy Lesson is interpreted as an exploration of the effects of chronic pain on the psyche and identity constructs. The Prague Orgy is analyzed as a formal hybrid with deep reciprocal ties to the preceding novels. The reading analyzes its function as an epilogue and shows the ethical potential of the genre. The Counterlife is My Life as a Man and The Facts. A Novelist’s Autobiography provide important context and are also discussed in this section.The chapter on American Pastoral is central to this study. The novel is read from a variety of different ecocritical perspectives. Subchapters are dedicated to the multi-facetted role of animal metaphors in the novel, the concept of the pastoral and an analysis of the spatial concepts structuring the novel. Within the framework of an cultural ecological interpretation, these diverse perspectives are integrated into a comprehensive analysis. The following readings of I Married a Communist and The Human Stain expand this analysis and demonstrate a continuous focus on ecocritical themes in the novels of the American trilogy. The final Zuckerman novel, Exit Ghost, is read as an epilogue to both, the American trilogy and the entire series. The findings are summarized in a concluding chapter.…