Diasporyzm jako przewrotne przeciwieństwo syjonizmu w powieści Philipa Rotha Operacja Shylock

Abstract

The article discusses the purpose and the literary devices Philip Roth adopted to present the complicated problem of Jewish identity in the context of the raison d'être of the State of Israel as a homeland of Jews. Introducing himself as a fictitious character and the narrator, the author also gives voice to other figures who criticize not only the policies of Israel but also its existence, whereby the narration seems polyphonic. One of the characters is “false Philip Roth”, a man with mental problems, who preaches the idea of Diasporism, which advocates the return of the Ashkenazi Jews from Israel to the countries of their origins, including Poland. “Real Philip Roth”, however, talking to his old Palestinian acquaintance, George Ziad, who takes him for the champion of Diasporism, learns the Arab’s point of view. In the meantime the narrator becomes entangled in an operation of the Israeli secret service. Roth’s narrative leaves little illusion that the idea of Diasporism could be treated seriously, even though it appears logical: leaving Northern Europe the Jewish population actually fulfilled the plan of Hitler and European anti-Semites, simultaneously imposing their presence on the Arab population of Palestine. The literary perverse game of characters, as well as the role of a jester the author assumes, are literary tricks used in order to present the author’s own doubts and dilemmas, quite typical of Philip Roth, who throughout his literary career seems to have fought for the right to his own interpretation of his Jewish identity.