Shame and Identity in Philip Roth’s The Human Stain
Shame and Identity in Philip Roth’s The Human Stain

Summary/Abstract: Our study aims to demonstrate that shame in literature does not function only as a theme with an imagined psychological ground, but also as an extended framework (philosophical, moral and sociological). The literary representation of shame involves an insight and deep cultural analytical skills for both the author and the reader. The literary cases propose, in fact, versions of identity, which are not just literary types. Some of the most renowned authors illustrate a specific paradigm of shame: for example, Philip Roth (The Human Stain) imagines a cultural and social context for the protagonist’s shame, a context related with the specific American historical and racist, “politically correct” paradigm. The research is intended to argue that a literary theme – shame – is intertwined with plural dimensions (determinations) of the human being, seen as a social and historical product. Briefly, shame is not just a literary theme, it is a human phenomenon connected with the social and psychological construction of identity and the literary discourse has specific, contextualized messages, sometimes connected with various agendas.

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