The Fragility of Democratic Voices in Philip Roth's Radio

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Abstract: This article explores the multifaceted role of radio in Philip Roth's novels I Married a Communist (1998) and The Plot Against America (2004). Radio, as a pervasive medium of communication and influence during the mid-20th century, is the narrative mechanism that Roth employs to convey the idea of community as drawn together or taken apart by and through acts of listening. The emphasis on listening to the radio enables a complex reflection on democracy, which is depicted as both a tool of ideological dissemination and a symbol of public sentiment, open to both admiration and criticism in these novels. In this article, I propose reading I Married a Communist and The Plot Against America through their resonance of voices as a way to reflect on the transience of political discourses and the fragility of democracy. Through close textual analysis, I argue that Roth's scrutiny of the acoustics of society may be a counterhegemonic stance representing anti-democratic forces and authoritarian systems in a substantially and formally disruptive way. Ultimately, the hermeneutics of listening developed in this article reflects on the ethics of community-building and the stakes of democratic participation, which is key to understanding the political depth of these novels.