Performing Jewish Identity and Preserving Power: The Role of Cultural Apostrophe and Narrative Control in Saul Bellow’s "The Old System"

Abstract

This study explores Saul Bellow’s "The Old System", examining its treatment of Jewish-American identity, familial duty, and the interplay between heritage and modernity. Through "cultural apostrophe," fragmented storytelling, and performative character interactions, Bellow creates a nuanced narrative where past and present continually reshape identity and agency. The study analyzes three primary character categories—women, men, and the narrator—to examine how power, autonomy, and ethnic heritage manifest in familial structures. Aunt Rose, Tina, and Isaac’s wife embody contrasting modes of influence—through financial control, open defiance, or quiet endurance—each negotiating the patriarchal and communal expectations imposed upon them. Similarly, Isaac Braun and Old Braun represent different approaches to masculinity, with Isaac torn between modern individualism and inherited Jewish traditions, while Old Braun symbolizes quiet submission and the weight of historical survival. Dr. Braun’s narrative control and use of apostrophe serve as a reflective lens, shaping the reader’s perception of familial tensions and collective remembrance. Drawing on Jan Assmann’s concept of "cultural memory," Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of social capital, and Judith Butler’s notion of gender performativity, this study demonstrates how Bellow constructs a multi-layered interrogation of identity, continuity, and resistance. This story ultimately functions as a microcosm of Jewish-American struggles, capturing the paradoxes of legacy, power, and assimilation. By situating the story within Bellow’s broader literary concerns, this study highlights its lasting significance in Jewish-American literature and its contribution to the discourse on ethnic survival and self-representation.