From Legislator to Experts: The Decline of Intellectuals in Ravelstein

Anti-intellectualism is rooted in American historical tradition and has gradually become the most prominent social trend in American society. The rise of anti-intellectualism is also the process of changing the role of intellectuals. With the popularity of anti-intellectualism, authority possessed by intellectuals gradually weakened, not only authority over knowledge but also authority in power mechanism, which ultimately led to intellectuals constantly seeking role transformation. From the aspect of anti-intellectualism and role transformation of intellectuals, extreme egalitarianism inherent in anti-intellectualism and populist politics has expelled intellectuals from being legislators. After being legislators, intellectuals transformed into interpreters, but the interpreter was impacted by division among intellectuals and conflict between intellectuals and the public caused by anti-intellectualism. As anti-intellectualism intensified, intellectuals’ chosen role as experts was unable to cope with the overall anti-intellectual atmosphere of society. Based on Saul Bellow’s Ravelstein as a model, this paper will discuss how anti-intellectualism has affected the transformation of the role of intellectuals regarding social phenomena as well as the characters depicted in the novel.