The Visual Apologetics of Philip Roth's Pastoral America

Abstract

This essay analyzes the iconic intertexts that structure Philip Roth’s American Pastoral (1997). Situating the novel in relation to the memory boom of the 1990s, I argue that, when read through the pictures that guide it, American Pastoral reflects a post—Cold War apologetics that rationalizes as much as it repents for the violence of the Vietnam War.