Literary Interdisciplinary Research

A study of the concept of the American exceptionalisim in the novels of Terrorist(2006) and Expensive people(1968) based on the actantial discourse

Document Type : Original Article

Author

mehdi sabzevari

Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics, Payame Noor University, Tehran. Tehran. ایران. m.sabzevari@sharyar.tpnu.ac.ir

10.30465/lir.2021.30613.1135
Abstract
This paper will study the concept of American exceptionalism which defines America as an exception to the rest of the world has been depicted in different novels and media in two different American novels. The analysis based on the actantial Discourse which is a semiotic one could shed more light on this concept in the contemporary American literature .According to this concept, America is exceptional in life style and it can be considered as a role model politically, economically, artistically etc. for the rest of the world. Therefore America will be a symbol of free and prosperous life and democracy. This American exceptionalism could be followed in two novels: Terrorist (2006) by Updike and Expensive People (1972) by Oates. Although these two novels present American exceptionalism in two different perspectives, the basic concept can be traced in both novels. This paper will read two novels through semiotic analysis of the actantial Discourse in a broader concept in literature.

Keywords

American exceptionalism
Actantial discourse
Suburbian life
Narrative
American literature

Subjects

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Literary Interdisciplinary Research
Volume 3, Issue 6 - Serial Number 6
October 2021
Pages 121-140

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