On Saul Bellow’s Jewish Complex From The Perspective Of Binary Opposition

Saul Bellow (1915-2005) is one of the most famous Jewish American writers of the 20th century, who is known as the literary heir of Hemingway and Faulkner. In his writing career of more than 60 years, thirteen novels, several other short stories, plays, travel notes and essays were published. He had won The Pulitzer Prizes and the National Book Awards three times;in 1968, he was awarded Chevalier des Arts et Letters by the French government. Moreover, the Nobel Prize came to Saul Bellow for his "humanistic understanding and subtle analysis of the contemporary culture" in 1976, and he became the first American Jewish writer winning the Nobel Prize for literature. And he is the only one who won the National Book Awards three times. The pursuit of human nature in the world of alienation is the inner motive power of Saul Bellow’s literary creation and the spiritual orientation of his literary expression. As a conscious humanistic intellectual, he made unremitting efforts for the future of human civilization by reflecting and pondering their living conditions and spiritual existence.Saul Bellow’s novels are famous for their complexity, which is confirmed by the huge differences in their understanding, interpretation and evaluation. However, most research has focused on the themes of the works while the artistic characteristics have been less discussed. This thesis will take his two most typical novels The Adventures of Augie March and Herzog as examples to expound the Saul Bellow’s another artistic technique, the binary opposition, by analyzing the internal logic order of his works from the perspective of structuralism. Moreover, by the employment of Jung’s theory of complex,it can be deduced that Bellow’s artistic technique of binary opposition is the embodiment of the collective unconscious of the binary thinking mode in Jewish culture. Then, it will be further elucidated that just because of the specificity of the binary thinking mode, the seemingly weak Jewish nation can stand in the world stage and Saul Bellow’s literary creation can shine with great splendor. The significance of embracing the scientific thinking features of the binary opposition for the human civilization is further discussed.This thesis consists of an introduction, the main body and a conclusion. Its main contents are as follows:The first part is introduction, which firstly makes a brief overview of Saul Bellow’s literary creation and research. And then a brief introduction of the contents and literary review of The Adventures of Augie March and Herzog is given. Finally, the research perspective and approach, points of innovation and practical significance of this thesis are presented.The body of the thesis is composed of four chapters.Chapter One makes a brief summary of the theoretical background which will be involved in this thesis. Firstly, a comparatively systematic summary of the theory of binary opposition is presented by the contribution of Ferdinand de Saussurem, Claude Levi-Strauss and Jacques Derrida. And then the significance of the binary opposition as the basic analytic approach of structuralism is analyzed. And secondly, the historical origin of binary attribute of Jewish culture and its universal value is expounded. Beyond that, I will probe into the Jewish origin of the binary opposition in Saul Bellow’s works by applying Jung’s theory of complex.The next three chapters is a closely linked organic whole, which gives an exposition of the common themes in Saul Bellow’s works based on the binary analysis, that is, loss of self-identity, exploration of self-identity and recovery of self-identity. Owing to the employment of the binary analytic approach, the seemingly chaotic structure of Saul Bellow’s works developed into a well-regulated unity, which is a prominent manifestation of Saul Bellow’s logical and considerate narrative techniques.Chapter Two gives an investigation of the loss of self-identity in the conflicts between traditional Jewish value and modern capitalist civilization, the opposing relationship between suffering of reality and salvation of ideal, and the recognition of self-identity from the repression of reality.Chapter Three presents the exploration of self-identity of Bellow’s protagonists in extended conflicts through the comparative analysis of wandering soul and search for stability, the emotional grandeur and physical squalor.Chapter Four is a systematic analysis of the Jewishness of Saul Bellow and his protagonists in the process of Americanization. Their self-identity, representative and universal meanings are achieved by self-transcendence in the compromise with reality by self-sacrificing when confronting conflicts.The last part is conclusion, which makes a summary of the thesis. The binary thinking mode of Saul Bellow is the embodiment of the collective unconsciousness of his Jewish complex. Furthermore, the distinctive significance of the binary opposition in the textual analysis is discussed. Besides, it points out that an unique reflection of optimistic value endows Saul Bellow’s creation with an extensive popularity among the readers throughout the world precisely because of his Jewishness.