This thesis examines how patriarchal dystopian societies attempt to control their citizenry through the homogenization of discourse and the employment of Foucauldian panopticons. In the context of these power structures, I argue that nonviolent storytelling and restorative memory are more effective in resisting oppression than violent, openly subversive forms of rebellion. In my discussion of The Handmaid’s Tale, I examine how Gilead’s manipulation of public discourse through religious hegemony and restrictions on literacy suppresses the efficacy of individually heroic acts by characters such as Ofglen and Moira. I assert that Offred’s playful deconstruction of language, defiant remembering of her past experiences, and insistence on bearing witness to Gilead’s atrocities without the promise of a listener allows her to successfully resist power and maintain a distinct self. In the analysis of Salt Fish Girl that follows, I study how the Big Six employ a series of cooperative hegemonies to promote neoliberal policies, dehumanize Othered bodies, and rob people in diaspora of cultural memory. Though protagonist Miranda fails in a conventional sense, I conclude that she succeeds due to her remixing of Western texts, hybridization of histories and values, and role in birthing a new, more hopeful future. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

In her 2007 essay “Slow Death (Sovereignty, Obesity, Lateral Agency),” Lauren Berlant asserts that “in the scene of slow death, a condition of being worn out by the activity of reproducing life, agency can be an activity of maintenance” (759). This concept emphasizes the difficulty of maintaining one’s agency while experiencing chronic exhaustion, or what can be referred to as the “wearied state.” Utilizing Berlant’s theoretical framework, this thesis investigates the concept of weariness in two dystopic texts: Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) and Oryx and Crake (2003). The respective protagonists of The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake, Offred and Oryx, each struggle to maintain their agency in the dystopic societies that work to oppress them. Offred, by utilizing wordplay, locates a way to successfully navigate her weariness while simultaneously subverting these who hold power over her. Oryx, oppositely, fails to recognize the sexual power dynamics of her position as a sex slave. Oryx fails to locate her agency, which causes her to normalize her sexually traumatic past. Overall, this thesis argues that weariness need not be final if one makes no attempt to normalize traumatic experiences, remains privy to oppressive ideologies, and retains the ability to cope.

透過主角兼敘事者奧芙弗雷德 (Offred) 的信件書寫，愛特伍 (Margaret Atwood)《使女故事》(The Handmaid's Tale, 1986) 一書回憶並訴說過往的故事。奧芙弗雷德的敘事打破順時性，呈現了斷裂與曖昧難解的狀況，點出了敘事者對於其所訴說的過去缺乏完整的理解。本論文從創傷敘事的角度分析《使女故事》，試圖探究奧芙弗雷德敘事中缺乏連貫的起因。 本論文分成五章來探討奧芙弗雷德的敘事，以期完整呈現小說中創傷敘事與語言、書信模式所交織成的複雜關係。第一章介紹《使女故事》的梗概與相關評論，並說明本論文所使用的理論架構。第二章以傅柯 (Michel Foucault) 的語言理論，探討語言與權力統治的關係與其在「反烏托邦」(dystopia) 世界中所承擔的角色，進而分析奧芙弗雷德如何一步步地取回了原本被禁用的語言，透過敘事釋放潛藏的溝通慾望。第三章則透過佛洛伊德 (Sigmund Freud) 的創傷理論與後續發展的創傷敘事研究，檢視奧芙弗雷德令人困惑的敘事。第四章藉由巴赫汀 (Mikhail Bakhtin) 的對話論 (dialogism) 分析書信模式在奧芙弗雷德敘事 (narration)／重構 (reconstruction) 中的影響與作用。最後，第五章討論愛特伍在文本末章〈史料〉("Historical Notes") 呈現對書信編輯一角的翻轉，並點出奧芙弗雷德對於敘事的堅持來自於她對於溝通與生存的期望。 / Through the narrator-protagonist Offred's letter-composition, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid’s Tale (1986) unfolds as Offred recalls her past to tell the story. Offred's narrative is not chronological, but elusive and fragmentary. The scattered narrative fragments indicate Offred's incomplete understanding of the past. The present thesis seeks to explore the intricate cause of Offred’s narrative fragments by reading The Handmaid's Tale as a trauma narrative. To gain a full picture of Offred's trauma narrative, the thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter I introduces The Handmaid's Tale and its literature reviews and explicates the theoretical approaches used in the thesis. With the introduction of Foucauldian discourse on language, Chapter II focuses on the role of language in relation to power in dystopia. In addition, the chapter illustrates the process of Offred's gradual regaining of the denied language and embarking on her narrative expedition, seeking to communicate. Meanwhile, Chapter III focuses on Offred’s puzzle-like narrative, inspecting her narrative through the lens of the Freudian trauma theory and trauma narrative. Chapter IV analyzes the function of the epistolary form in Offred's reconstruction of the past with the Bakhtinian dialogism. Finally, Chapter V discusses Atwood's revision of the role of the editor demonstrated in the epilogue "Historical Notes" of The Handmaid's Tale and concludes with Offred's longing for communication and survival that propels her act of storytelling.

瑪格莉特•愛特伍《使女的故事》可視為是對童話故事的改寫，其採用了童話故事的結構及特色，並且印證了女性透過改寫可展現的顛覆力量。自從1970年代起，女性主義評論家對於傳統童話故事的批評主要可分為兩派，相對於早期評論家總是對童話故事中性別刻板印象的描述多所責難，後期的評論家漸漸傾向將童話故事視為是可提供重新詮釋或改寫的場域。對於小說作者愛特伍而言，童話故事中隱含了許多潛在的矛盾及反動的因素，而這些因素就構成了可供改寫並加以顛覆的空間。透過小說互涉的技巧，愛特伍不只是探究隱含在童話故事中的性別政治議題，同時也將其中的反動因子加以放大，並且加以改寫顛覆。 本文將探討《使女的故事》這本小說對於童話故事以及聖經的改寫以及顛覆。第一章介紹愛特伍、此小說及其與童話故事的關聯性。第二章著重在兩派理論家對於傳統童話故事的爭論（是與父權主義共謀抑或是可提供重新詮釋或改寫的場域），第三章則指出這本小說包含了哪些童話故事的特色，並且探究同時存在於基列政權與童話中的性別議題，也就是父權體制對女性的宰制與壓迫。而第四章分析愛特伍如何藉由突顯出隱含在童話故事中的反動因子，對童話故事以及聖經故事加以解構。最後一章以愛特伍對童話故事的修訂印證了女性重新詮釋或改寫所具有的顛覆力量。 / As a revision of the fairy tale, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale not only reveals its adoption of the structure and components of fairy tales but also demonstrates the subversive potential for feminist revision of the fairy tale. While classical fairy tales have long rebuked by early feminist critics as conservative and as reinforcing the gender stereotypes, there has been a critical tendency since the 1970s that the genre of fairy tale can be seen as a site of contestation, which offers the opportunities of reinterpretation and revision. Acknowledging that the fairy tale cannot be interpreted one-dimensionally, Atwood unearthes the underlying disturbing elements within classical fairy tales, which constitute the space for feminist reappropriation and subversion. Through the techniques of metafictional writing, Atwood not only explores the sexual politics in fairy tales but also highlights the subversive elements, exaggerates them, and revises the tales. This thesis will discuss The Handmaid’s Tale in terms of its revision of fairy tales and the biblical texts. The first chapter introduces Atwood, the novel, and its relevance to the genre of fairy tale. The second chapter will provide a survey of critical depute on classical fairy tales, such as Perrault’s and the Grimms’, as colluding with patriarchy or as a site of contestation. Chapter Three will point out that this novel can be viewed as a modern fairy tale or a revision of fairy tale in terms of some fairy-tale characteristics and that it explores patriarchal domination and oppression of women not only present in Gilead but also inherent in the fairy tales. Chapter Four will analyze that Atwood explores a subtext that she has found in the tale and deconstructs the dominant discourse of the fairy tale and the Bible. The final chapter will conclude that Atwood’s revision of the fairy tales reveals the subversive potential of feminist reappropriation.

Relationship between thought and language -- Whorf's hypothesis of linguistic determinism -- Linguistic relativism -- Sociopolitics, oppression, and language.

This qualitative study aims to examine the differences between Margaret Atwood’s novel and Bruce Miller’s adapted version of The Handmaid’s Tale by the application of adaptation, as well as, feminist theory. An additional aim is to investigate the didactic potential of using both the original version and the TV series adaptation in the EFL-classroom, this in relation to the Curriculum for English at upper secondary level. The two research questions addressed in this study were: What are the main differences between the adapted version and the original version? and, in relation to the EFL-classroom and the subject English 7, what can be gained by working comparatively with the original version and the TV series adaptation? The essay is examined by using adaptation theory and feminist theory. The findings of the analysis presented in this study show for example that the television adaptation features a more feminist portrayal of the female characters than the original story. In addition, the findings of this study suggests that by using both texts in the EFL-classroom, one can get the opportunity to highlight prominent themes within the two media which were discovered in this study. For example, discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation. Therefore, by comparing the two texts, students may become aware of differences between how the two texts are able to portray such indifferences as mentioned above. In an educational setting this is useful since by working with questions which aims to compare both texts in the EFL-classroom, students also get the chance to deal with various living conditions and attitudes in relation to both the historical and contemporary English-speaking world (Skolverket 2011, p. 4).

<p>This study is an examination of the developing self-consciousness of three female protagonists in three different novels. Chapter One is a discussion of the detrimental social factors that hinder the complete selfdevelopment of Hester Prynne in the seventeenth-century New England environment of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Chapter Two investigates the emerging consciousness of self of Edna Pontellier and her subsequent failure to achieve an autonomy that permits her to integrate into the confining, social climate of Chopin's nineteenth-century Creole environment in The Awakening. Chapter three is the examination of the repressive forces in the futuristic society of Gilead that serve as a barrier to the development of a unified self for Offred in Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. In all three chapters of the thesis, I argue that each female protagonist's struggle to successfully assert the self, and to extend the self toward genuine relationships with others, is not actualized. This study attempts to show the precarious hold of the self that the female protagonist demonstrates in each of these three works of fiction. Throughout the body of the text, an abbreviated form iii iv will be used for the three primary novels examined. The reference consists of the underlined initials of the title of the novel followed by the page number, all contained within parentheses. The abbreviations are as follows: TSL for Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, TA for Chopin's The Awakening, and THT for Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.</p> / Master of English

The portfolio of compositions comprises six pieces: a chamber opera, an orchestral piece and four shorter chamber works. These pieces are diverse and distinct from one another but collectively explore aesthetic tensions relating to tonality, aura and ontology. The largest piece is a chamber opera setting Margaret Atwood's novel, The Handmaid's Tale, which has been flexibly scored as a series of fragments in order to reflect the quality of her text. The remaining pieces draw influence from poetry, landscape and the environment. They all encompass a series of material contrasts but attempt to simply contain these tensions in some way, leaving them partially unresolved. The thesis is a re-assessment of the music of the Ukrainian composer, Valentin Silvestrov, in particular, his 'metamusic' approach to composition that treats pre-existing styles as a form of musical metaphor. Through a series of comparisons with landscape and photography, I offer new vantage points for approaching the aesthetic issues present in his work, relating to aura, imitation and historical reference. The metaphors of landscape and photography might appear far removed from his work, but mediated by the work of the artist Gerhard Richter, offer a basis for critically analysing Silvestrov's approach. Furthermore, by drawing upon the theories of Walter Benjamin, Roland Barthes and the geographer, Stephan Harrison, I demonstrate how concepts from other disciplines can be recast in order to be effective for approaching both Silvestrov and Richter. As a form of conclusion, I consider the role of photography in the production of CD covers and how this relates to the reception of Silvestrov's metamusic in a commercial setting.

This essay’s primarily focus is on the common discourse about the persisting effects of the past in the present in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale(1985)and Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred (1979).These novels are the testimonies of the protagonists Offred and Dana who shares their experience of traumatic violence and oppression. Dana, with her ability to time travel, will see her present time in clearer light as she experiences the life of a slave on an antebellum plantation. Offred, the Handmaiden owned by the totalitarian regime Gilead, portrays her contemporary life in parallel to remembering her former and thus describing Gilead’s increasing authority. Based on different theorists and concepts in the field of cultural memory studies, this essay examines the tension between memory and history, the distantness towards the past and the problematics with representations of traumatic events. As I argue that the voices of Dana and Offred calls attention to the importance of perspective and of sharing stories, they are also an act of hope, therapy and resistance; an act that also make possible a critique of the processes of the production of historical knowledge.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis uses an analysis of Fay Weldon's Puffball and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale to explore the construction of identity, particularly female identity. It takes into consideration the influence of both biology and culture on identity and explores how, within the context of the patriarchal societies depicted by the novels, female identity is closely linked to reproductive function. It examines how the construction of female identity based on reproductive function further objectifies the female body in society, and how it can aid patriarchal domination and oppression of women. The analysis of the novels draws on both essentialist and social constructionist feminist approaches to oppression and female identity. The essentialist approach views female biological difference (reproductive function) as responsible for the way in which women are oppressed. The social constructionist view argues that female oppression stems from the social construction of female identity around concepts of motherhood and femininity. The thesis takes both approaches into account as it seeks to explain how patriarchy oppresses women through the construction of female identity. The thesis also explores how control over the female body and identity can be exercised through reproductive technology. An examination of the role reproductive technology plays in contributing to patriarchal dominance, suggests that new technologies may compel women to conform to stereotypes of femininity based on pregnancy and motherhood. The thesis considers the impact infertility and the choice not to have children have on female identity and takes into account the options available to these women. The main focus, with regard to infertility and choice, is on the relationship between women who have children and those who do not. This thesis refutes the notion that there is solidarity between women based on shared childbearing experience, and focuses on the conflict that occurs between fertile and childless women. It finds that the conflict that occurs is a result of the socialisation of women into viewing motherhood as an essential aspect of 'normal' femininity. The thesis also considers what causes the desire to have children and finds that, as in the case of the conflict between women, it is as a result of socialisation and an innate/instinctual biological drive. The thesis investigates options available to women in order for them to avoid constructing their identities solely around their reproductive function. It considers the alternatives women are presented with when constructing their identity and how these may contribute to or liberate them from patriarchal oppression. If they choose to identify themselves using patriarchal norms, then they are contributing to their objectification; but if they choose to construct their identity on their own terms, and offer some resistance to patriarchal constructions, they will be more liberated than women who conform to stereotypes. Evidence of such resistance can be seen in both novels in the narrative structure the respective authors have chosen: just as the main characters subvert traditional stereotypes through the construction of their own identity, embracing female experience on their own terms, so do both authors subvert traditional narratives. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis is gegrond op die analisering van die novelle Puffball deur Fay Weldon en The Handmaid's Tale deur Margaret Atwood ter ondersoek van die konstruksie van identiteit, naamlik die vroulike identiteit. Die analise neem beide die biologiese en kulturele invloed van identiteit in ag, veral binne die konteks van die patriargale samelewing wat in novelles voorkom.Die wisselwerking tussen vroulike identiteit en die funksie van reproduksie word aangeraak. Die tesis ondersoek die wyse waarop die konstruksie van die vroulike identiteit gebasseer op die reproduksie funksie, verder die vroulike liggaam binne samelewingskonteks tipeer en hoe dit indirek patriargale dominansie ondersteun sowel as die onderdrukking van die vrou. Die analise van die novelles steun sterk op beide die essensialistiese en sosiale konstruksialistiese feministiese benaderings ten opsigte van onderdrukking en vroulike identiteit. Die essensialistiese benadering blameer die vroulike biologiese verskil, met verwysing na die reproduksie funksie, vir die wyse waarop die vrou onderdruk word. In kontras hiermee, argumenteer die sosiale konstruksialistiese seining dat vroulike onderdrukking voortspruit uit die sosiale konstruksie van vroulike identiteit binne die konsep van moederskap en vroulikheid. Die tesis neem beide standpunte in ag daar dit hom ten doel stelom te verduidelik waarom patriargie die vrou onderdruk deur die konstruksie van die vroulike identiteit. Die tesis fokus ook op die wyse waarop kontrole oor die vroulike liggaam en identiteit uitgeoefen kan word deur die reproduktiewe tegnologie. 'n Ondersoek na die rol wat reproduktiewe tegnologie speel ter ondersteuning van patriargale dominansie, argumenteer dat nuwe tegnologieë "Toue kan verplig tot die konformering van stereotipes van vroulikheid gebasseer op swangerskap en moederskap. Die analise neem ook die impak wat onvrugbaarheid op die vroulike identiteit het, in ag , sowel as die besluit om nie kinders te hê nie. Verder neem dit ook die verskeie opsies wat beskikbaar is vir die vrou wat daarteen besluit om kinders te hê, in ag, sover dit die konstruksie van identiteit raak. Die hooffokus met betrekking tot onvrugbaarheid en keuse, is gebasseer op die verhouding tussen vroue wat wel kinders het en diegene wat kinderloos is. Die tesis weerlê die idee dat daar solidariteit is tussen vroue gebasseer op gedeelde ervarings en gemeenskaplike doelwitte en begeertes en fokus op die konflik wat ontstaan tussen kinderlose en vrugbare vroue. Die ondersoek ondervind dat die konflik wat onstaan, 'n produk is van die sosialisering van vroue met die idee van moederskap as 'n essensiële aspek van "normale" vroulikheid. Die tesis ondersoek ook die oorsake van die begeerte om kinders te hê en ondervind dat, soos ook die geval met konflik, dit die produk is van sosialisering en instinktiefbiologies gedrewe is. Die tesis ondersoek die opsies beskikbaar vir die vrou ten einde haar te verhoed om die konstruksie van haar identiteit te grond alleenlik op die reproduktiewe funksie. Die analise neem die alternatiewe waarmee die vrou gekonfronteer word tydens die konstruksieproses, in aanmerking, en bevraagteken die wyse waarop hierdie alternatiewe kan bydra tot , of die bevryding van, die patriargale onderdrukking. Indien die vrou verkies om haarself te identifiseer deur patriargale norme te gebruik sal sy bydra tot haar objektivering binne die tradisionele patriargale konteks; maar indien sy kies om haar eie identiteit te konstruktueer volgens haar eie norme en terselfdertyd patriargale konstruksie teenstaan, sal sy meer geëmansipeerd wees as haar eweknie wat tot die stereotipe gekonformeer het. Deel van die weerstand wat voorkom in beide novelles, kan opgemerk word in die naratiewe struktuur gekies deur die skrywer. Paralelle word aangetref tussen enersyds, die wyse waarop die hoofkarakters hulself aan die tradisionele stereotipes ondermyn deur die konstruksie van hul eie identiteit, terselfdertyd deur die koestering van vroulike ervarings, en andersyds die wyse waarop beide skrywers hulself aan tradisionele naratiewe onderwerp.