To make and unmake souls: Fiction as a tool for dehumanisation and rehumanisation

Abstract

This thesis investigates the dehumanising and rehumanising power of literature, illustrating the points with examples from novels, most prominently Philip Roth's 2004 novel The Plot Against America. It argues that the kind of fiction we consume influences how we think, and that we must be critical readers in order to not get swept away by a dehumanising narrative. Antisemitism will be a major focus, obviously when explicitly discussing The Plot Against America, but other forms of prejudice will also be discussed, primarily racism more generally, alongside homophobia. The thesis identifies dehumanisation as a literal phenomenon, arguing that when we dehumanise someone we literally do not think of them as human.