The Reformulation of Ethnological Sources and Orientalist Discourse in Bellow’s Henderson the Rain King
Keywords:
Edward Said, Orientalist discourse, Melville Herskovics, Stereotypes, Colonialism, Saul Bellow, Henderson the Rain KingAbstract
When Saul Bellow composed his renowned novel Henderson the Rain King fifty years ago, his undergraduate studies of anthropology under the Africanist Melville Herskovics exerted a significant influence. This paper considers the sources of many of Bellow’s descriptions of East and West African tribes in the novel. Where Bellow diverts from these sources, his changes will be considered in light of Edward Said’s concept of ”Orientalist discourse” as set out in Orientalism.
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