A04 Flashcards
Dystopia
set in an imagined future and commenting on issues in the contemporary society
concerned with power and characterised by lack of freedom
usually deals with invasive technology
often criticised for creating two-dimensional characters
Atwood calls it ‘speculative fiction’ which unlike science fiction this ‘could really happen’
Satire
it is a genre dominated by men and only few successful satire’s have been written by females
Postmodern Novel
undermines traditional notions of ‘truth’ and you are encouraged to question the narrators reliability. For example Atwood draws attention to the text as a reconstruction
Offreds story doesn’t participate in the official discourse of the Gilead regime, and can be seen as a resistance to power from a feminist perspective
Atwood questions the status of official history by highlighting gaps between the narrators lived experiences, her oral tale, and it’s written version
Romantic Characteristics
critics have critics have criticised this as it removes the novel from being ‘feminist fiction’
Offred’s political action is halted in favour of her romance
Madonne Miner- Similarities between Luke and the commander questions Luke and Offreds relationship as traditional such as interest in foreign languages.
Nick and the typical ‘fairy tale’ romance as Nick saves Offred
Slave Narrative
Atwood condemns the forces of American imperialism that are responsible for the silencing of marginalised people
African slaves pre-civil war America saw literacy crucial to their freedom, as oppressors forbade language thus the slaves craving this. By Offred telling her story just like the slaves of the past this establishes self-ownership and power that her oppressors have denied.
Post-colonial reading
Post colonial literature challenges the assumptions which justified colonialism.
This is shown in the Handmaids tale as the undermined women are perhaps more dominant then men. Figurativley women have been ‘colonised’ by men
Atwood has stated that the States are extreme in philosophy
