A Stylistic Analysis of Saul Bellow's Herzog

Saul Bellow’s Herzog has been regarded by some critics as a polyphonic novel in which plural voices coexist. However, it has not been fully discussed how polyphony is embodied in the text. In this article, I analyse the speech and thought presentation involved in the characterization of the protagonist. I pay special attention to the fusion of and competition among ‘different versions’ of Herzog and subjectivities of other characters existent in Herzog’s consciousness. From the analysis of selected passages, it is shown how Bellow creates ‘polyphony’ or ‘poly-subjectivization’ in the text, and the place of Herzog in the context of ‘Postmodernism’ is also clarified.