Capitalist and De-Industrialized Identity: American “National” Allegory in John Updike’s The Centaur and Philipp Meyer’s American Rust

Abstract

Jameson’s national allegory of the third world literature uses post-colonial identity to represent the embattled intellectual. In this paper the post -colonial identity will be replaced by a capitalist and post-industrial identity, since the American society has been subject to these two major molds during the second half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the millennium. John Updike’s The Centaur (1963) and Philipp Meyer’s American Rust (2009) represent not Jameson’s “embattled intellectual” but the average downtrodden American citizen who struggles to provide the basics of life in a relentlessly materialistic society. The feeling of unworthiness of the protagonists dooms their lives, but only the allegory of sacrifice gives unity and meaning to the otherwise meaningless world and gives dignity to the mediocre middle and (non)-working class. The use of allegory for both writers helped them to draw in words the disappointment of the American citizens towards their country which left them to face their predicament on their own in an everchanging society.