From Citizens to Aliens
This article analyzes how Philip Roth in The Plot Against America (2004) explores the ephemerality of US citizenship by providing examples of legislative ebbs and flows as they adhere (or not) to the constitutive story the nation makes about itself. Throughout the article, I will highlight how the R...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University of Verona
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Iperstoria |
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| Online Access: | https://iperstoria.it/article/view/1619 |
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| author | Maria Ilaria Tonelli |
| author_facet | Maria Ilaria Tonelli |
| author_sort | Maria Ilaria Tonelli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article analyzes how Philip Roth in The Plot Against America (2004) explores the ephemerality of US citizenship by providing examples of legislative ebbs and flows as they adhere (or not) to the constitutive story the nation makes about itself. Throughout the article, I will highlight how the Roths “fall from grace” from Americanness into Jewishness in the government’s eyes as they are gradually stripped of their rights as American citizens and progressively turned into aliens in their own home through a series of government initiatives, such as Just Folks, Homestead ’42, and the Good Neighbor Project. I will do so by framing these initiatives within a broader US legislative context, as well as by drawing parallelisms with historical instances that bear striking similarities to the same initiatives. I will also point out how the constitutive story of the nation framed within the novel should interact with the historical and contextual complexities around citizenship and its practices, thus showing how the novel provides commentary not only on the story the nation tells about itself, but also on how such a story can be improved. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-916eb7dd492a4cfaa0c702cc87146f80 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2281-4582 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University of Verona |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Iperstoria |
| spelling | doaj-art-916eb7dd492a4cfaa0c702cc87146f802025-08-20T02:10:21ZengDepartment of Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University of VeronaIperstoria2281-45822025-06-012510.13136/2281-4582/2025.i25.16191605From Citizens to AliensMaria Ilaria Tonelli0https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8687-9304University of TorinoThis article analyzes how Philip Roth in The Plot Against America (2004) explores the ephemerality of US citizenship by providing examples of legislative ebbs and flows as they adhere (or not) to the constitutive story the nation makes about itself. Throughout the article, I will highlight how the Roths “fall from grace” from Americanness into Jewishness in the government’s eyes as they are gradually stripped of their rights as American citizens and progressively turned into aliens in their own home through a series of government initiatives, such as Just Folks, Homestead ’42, and the Good Neighbor Project. I will do so by framing these initiatives within a broader US legislative context, as well as by drawing parallelisms with historical instances that bear striking similarities to the same initiatives. I will also point out how the constitutive story of the nation framed within the novel should interact with the historical and contextual complexities around citizenship and its practices, thus showing how the novel provides commentary not only on the story the nation tells about itself, but also on how such a story can be improved.https://iperstoria.it/article/view/1619citizenshipconstitutive storyphilip rothlawsdemocracy |
| spellingShingle | Maria Ilaria Tonelli From Citizens to Aliens Iperstoria citizenship constitutive story philip roth laws democracy |
| title | From Citizens to Aliens |
| title_full | From Citizens to Aliens |
| title_fullStr | From Citizens to Aliens |
| title_full_unstemmed | From Citizens to Aliens |
| title_short | From Citizens to Aliens |
| title_sort | from citizens to aliens |
| topic | citizenship constitutive story philip roth laws democracy |
| url | https://iperstoria.it/article/view/1619 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mariailariatonelli fromcitizenstoaliens |