Thesis (M.A.)--Central Connecticut State University, 2003. / Thesis advisor: Denise Lynch. " ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-138). Also available via the World Wide Web.

This study examines the figure of the violent woman in Atwood’s fiction as a productive starting point for the re-evaluation of various socio-cultural debates. Emerging from Atwood’s conviction that art, in its various forms, is often involved in the re-writing of convention, I begin by re-defining traditional constructions of womanhood and violence in order to evince the reformative work and often unconventional forms of brutality employed by women in Atwood’s novels, including Surfacing, The Blind Assassin, Lady Oracle, and Cat’s Eye, and in her collections of short fiction, such as Dancing Girls, Bluebeard’s Egg, The Penelopiad, and The Tent. Throughout, I demonstrate the ambivalence of violence as both destructive and generative, Canadian and un-Canadian, and Atwood’s drawing on this destabilizing ambivalence in order to propose change within her broader social milieu. More precisely, the introductory chapter offers an overview of representations of female violence in Canadian fiction, and of the various responses to this figure as she appears in Atwood’s fiction, that point to the need for a critical vocabulary that addresses women’s capacity to enact harm. The second chapter examines the various mythologies that define Canada and its people, and how the violent woman troubles these mythologies by inciting recognition of national identity as a narrative process open to re-evaluation. The third chapter moves away from this focus on national narratives to highlight the discourses that similarly shape our understanding of art, and those who participate in it. Here, the violent woman can be seen to engage in revisionary work by exposing the limits of the Red Shoes Syndrome that has in many ways come to define the fraught relationship between the female artist and her art. The final chapter examines Atwood’s on-going fascination with various kinds of mythologies and her revisions of Classical and Biblical myths in order to highlight the veritable range of female violence and the possibility, and at times necessity, of responding to these behaviors in ways that circumnavigate traditionally masculine forms of justice ethics. In focusing on how Atwood’s violent women engage these various socio-cultural discourses, this study concludes that traditionally marginal and nonliterary figures can perform central and necessary roles and that Atwood’s fiction responds to, and in turn (re)creates, the social environment from which it emerges. / Thesis (Ph.D, English) -- Queen's University, 2008-07-31 16:21:26.474

Thesis (M.A.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-81). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.A.)--Villanova University, 2009. / English Dept. Includes bibliographical references.

This essay attempts to study transhumanism and its role in the anthropogenic pandemic at the center of the novel, in order to show that transhumanist thought was a driving factor behind it. By looking at transhumanist concerns in the portrayed society, and the beliefs of Crake, one uncovers that Crake was able to exploit the desire for enhancement of humanity as a whole in order to achieve the ultimate transhumanist goal: the near-perfect and immortal posthuman Crakers. Analyzing the intentions behind the creation of the posthuman, and Snowman’s relationship to them, it becomes clear that the posthuman is a replacement of existing humanity, since the sought after qualities of the posthuman can only be attained through genetic engineering before birth and not by altering individual humans. I hope to have shown that the novel contains a warning about transhumanism and the potential misuse of science when one person think things through to its logical conclusion. / Denna uppsats ämnar studera transhumanism och dess roll I den antropogeniska pandemi som står I centrum I romanen, med avsikt att visa att transhumanistiska tankesätt var en drivande kraft bakom den. Genom att titta på transhumanistiska intressen i det beskrivna samhället och Crakes egna idéer, upptäcker en att Crake lyckades exploatera önskan om en förbättrad mänsklighet för att uppnå det ultimata transhumanistiska målet: det nästan perfekta och odödliga posthumana varelserna Crakers. Genom att analysera avsikterna bakom skapandet av dessa posthumana, och Snowmans förhållande till dem, blir det tydligt att the posthumana är en ersättning för redan existerande människor, eftersom de begärliga förmågor och egenskaper som de posthumana besitter endast kan anskaffas genom genteknik och inte genom att förändra individuella människor. Jag hoppas att ha visat att romanen innehåller en varning om transhumanism och det potentiella missbruket av vetenskap när en person tänker igenom något tills dess logiska slutpunkt.

Margaret Atwood's early fiction provides a valuable insight into issues surrounding the establishment of the women's health movement. From The Edible Woman in 1969 to The Handmaid's Tale in 1985, Atwood's work takes up key issues of the movement during this time. Her fiction explores a number of women's health topics including contraception, abortion, birthing, assisted reproductive technologies, eating disorders and breast cancer. Atwood's interest in the appearance of victims in Canadian literature, however, leads to a rejection of the notion that women are fated victims of patriarchal institutions like medicine. This thesis argues that while she does not deny women can be victims, she refuses to accept that this role is inevitable. Foucault's later constructions of power and resistance are explored with the female protagonists refusing to believe their situations are inescapable. Atwood's recognition of her role as a popular fiction writer and her refusal to wear the 'feminist' label allow her the space to critique the women's health movement. Her early fiction exposes the absolutism of the movement and demonstrates its limitations in accounting for women's diversity.

No description available.

Na virada do pós-estruturalismo, um olhar menos unificado e universalizante do espaço como mero palco esvaziado de significação se vê proposto. Este, como já denunciava Michel Foucault nos anos 1970, deixará de ser percebido como fixo e simplesmente referencial, para adquirir, nos mais diversos fóruns de discussão, caráter dialético e dinâmico, o qual se alinha às questões centrais desta nova forma de conceber o mundo, a filosofia e o fazer científico. Paralelamente, estudos acerca da constituição da subjetividade apontam para o status oscilante desta, demonstrando como o sujeito é fruto de uma multiplicidade de discursos, os quais tornam impossíveis quaisquer esforços em demarcá-lo dentro de fronteiras estanques. Percebe-se aqui, portanto, um imbricamento das noções de ser e deslocar-se, no qual a apropriação de metáforas e do campo semântico em torno da noção de trânsitos mostrar-se-á constitutiva da obra literária, agindo como importante operador no desenvolvimento da trama e suas personagens. O presente trabalho tem por objetivo analisar a obra Alias Grace (1996) de Margaret Atwood, à luz da teoria do gênero, a fim de mapear a desconstrução de essencialismos acerca das protagonistas, Grace Marks e Simon Jordan. No romance, Atwood dá voz à personagem histórica Grace Marks, uma jovem imigrante irlandesa do século XIX, a qual se torna mentora e cúmplice do assassinato de seu patrão, Thomas Kinnear, e da governanta e suposta amante deste, Nancy Montgomery. Perceberemos ao longo da narrativa que esta personagem-narradora utilizar-se-á das diversas fronteiras que ronda e ultrapassa, como uma forma de expandir sua identidade a partir da manipulação sistemática que faz da linguagem. Paralelamente, Atwood cria uma personagem que desempenhará o papel de principal interlocutor da imigrante: o Dr. Simon Jordan, um jovem médico americano, cuja trajetória pessoal também é marcada por vários deslocamentos. Em um movimento antecipatório da psicanálise freudiana, ele se propõe a desvendar a mente de Grace, a fim de tentar extrair desta uma verdade, estabelecendo um diagnóstico que lhe confira sucesso e reconhecimento profissional. Como veremos, a autora empenhará uma crítica do masculino, na qual ele se verá gradativamente destituído de tudo aquilo que lhe conferiria status dentro do rol de expectativas daquela sociedade. Ademais, estabeleceremos uma leitura de um aspecto formal empregado ao longo das páginas do romance: as entradas paratextuais. A partir deste recurso, veremos nossas leituras de ambas as personagens sendo reforçadas em um constante deslizamento entre fontes, documentais e ficcionais, ligadas ao imaginário da época. Para tal, trabalhos de Philip Wegner (2002) e Neil Smith (1993) acerca da noção de espaço, Bronwen Walter (2001), Lorna McLean e Marilyn Barber (2004) sobre a imigração irlandesa no Canadá, Roland Barthes (1986), Gérard Genette (1987) e Linda Hutcheon (1990), acerca dos paratextos, bem como considerações de Chris Weedon (1987), Jane Flax (1990), R.W. Connell (1997), Judith Butler (1990), entre outros, em torno do gênero e pós-modernismo servirão de aparato teórico para esta investigação. / In the Post-structuralist turn, a less unified and universalizing concept of space as merely a meaningless stage is proposed. Such notion, as Michel Foucault announced in the 1970s, will no longer be perceived by its fixity and/or as simply referential, in order to acquire, in the most multiple forums of discussion, a dynamic character, which is aligned to central questions of this renewed way of conceiving the world, Philosophy, and Epistemology. In parallel fashion, studies concerning the constitution of subjectivity point towards its oscillating status, showing how the subject is the product of multiple discourses, which make any demarcating of solid frontiers, a hard task. Therefore, one can observe an imbrication of the notions being and displacing, in which the appropriation of metaphors and the semantic scope around the notion of transience is shown to be constitutive of the literary text, performing a relevant role in the development of the plot and its characters. The present work aims at analyzing the novel Alias Grace (1996) by Margaret Atwood, under the light of Gender theory, in order to map the deconstruction of essentialisms around the protagonists, Grace Marks and Simon Jordan. In her book, Atwood gives voice to the historical figure Grace Marks, young Irish immigrant in the XIX century, which becomes mentor and accomplice of murder of her employer, Thomas Kinnear, and his mistress and governess of the house, Nancy Montgomery. It can be seen that, throughout the narrative, Grace will negotiate with the various borders that she delineates, and even crosses, as a means of expanding her identity through the systematic manipulation of language she engages with. In parallel fashion, Atwood creates a character that will play the role of this immigrants main interlocutor: Dr. Simon Jordan, a young American physician, whose personal trajectory was also marked by several displacements. In an anticipatory movement of the Freudian psychoanalysis, he is determined to unveil the mysteries of the human mind, revealing the truth behind Graces case in order to gain success and professional recognition. As we will demonstrate, the author establishes a criticism around masculinity, in which he will gradually lose everything that gives him status as a man of his times, within the set of expectations in that society. Furthermore, we will analyze a formal aspect employed along the pages of the novel: its paratextuality. Through this resource, we will see our reading of both the protagonists being reinforced in the constant slippery move between sources, documental and fictional, linked to that eras imaginary. In order to do that, works by Philip Wegner (2002) and Neil Smith (1993) around the notion of space, Bronwen Walter (2001), Lorna McLean and Marilyn Barber (2004) on the Irish immigration in Canada, Roland Barthes (1986), Gérard Genette (1987) and Linda Hutcheon (1990), regarding paratexts, as well as the studies by Chris Weedon (1987), Jane Flax (1990), R.W. Connell (1997), Judith Butler (1990), among others, around gender and postmodernism will serve as the theoretical apparatus for this investigation.

Thesis (M.A.)--Acadia University, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-106) and index. Also available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Na virada do pós-estruturalismo, um olhar menos unificado e universalizante do espaço como mero palco esvaziado de significação se vê proposto. Este, como já denunciava Michel Foucault nos anos 1970, deixará de ser percebido como fixo e simplesmente referencial, para adquirir, nos mais diversos fóruns de discussão, caráter dialético e dinâmico, o qual se alinha às questões centrais desta nova forma de conceber o mundo, a filosofia e o fazer científico. Paralelamente, estudos acerca da constituição da subjetividade apontam para o status oscilante desta, demonstrando como o sujeito é fruto de uma multiplicidade de discursos, os quais tornam impossíveis quaisquer esforços em demarcá-lo dentro de fronteiras estanques. Percebe-se aqui, portanto, um imbricamento das noções de ser e deslocar-se, no qual a apropriação de metáforas e do campo semântico em torno da noção de trânsitos mostrar-se-á constitutiva da obra literária, agindo como importante operador no desenvolvimento da trama e suas personagens. O presente trabalho tem por objetivo analisar a obra Alias Grace (1996) de Margaret Atwood, à luz da teoria do gênero, a fim de mapear a desconstrução de essencialismos acerca das protagonistas, Grace Marks e Simon Jordan. No romance, Atwood dá voz à personagem histórica Grace Marks, uma jovem imigrante irlandesa do século XIX, a qual se torna mentora e cúmplice do assassinato de seu patrão, Thomas Kinnear, e da governanta e suposta amante deste, Nancy Montgomery. Perceberemos ao longo da narrativa que esta personagem-narradora utilizar-se-á das diversas fronteiras que ronda e ultrapassa, como uma forma de expandir sua identidade a partir da manipulação sistemática que faz da linguagem. Paralelamente, Atwood cria uma personagem que desempenhará o papel de principal interlocutor da imigrante: o Dr. Simon Jordan, um jovem médico americano, cuja trajetória pessoal também é marcada por vários deslocamentos. Em um movimento antecipatório da psicanálise freudiana, ele se propõe a desvendar a mente de Grace, a fim de tentar extrair desta uma verdade, estabelecendo um diagnóstico que lhe confira sucesso e reconhecimento profissional. Como veremos, a autora empenhará uma crítica do masculino, na qual ele se verá gradativamente destituído de tudo aquilo que lhe conferiria status dentro do rol de expectativas daquela sociedade. Ademais, estabeleceremos uma leitura de um aspecto formal empregado ao longo das páginas do romance: as entradas paratextuais. A partir deste recurso, veremos nossas leituras de ambas as personagens sendo reforçadas em um constante deslizamento entre fontes, documentais e ficcionais, ligadas ao imaginário da época. Para tal, trabalhos de Philip Wegner (2002) e Neil Smith (1993) acerca da noção de espaço, Bronwen Walter (2001), Lorna McLean e Marilyn Barber (2004) sobre a imigração irlandesa no Canadá, Roland Barthes (1986), Gérard Genette (1987) e Linda Hutcheon (1990), acerca dos paratextos, bem como considerações de Chris Weedon (1987), Jane Flax (1990), R.W. Connell (1997), Judith Butler (1990), entre outros, em torno do gênero e pós-modernismo servirão de aparato teórico para esta investigação. / In the Post-structuralist turn, a less unified and universalizing concept of space as merely a meaningless stage is proposed. Such notion, as Michel Foucault announced in the 1970s, will no longer be perceived by its fixity and/or as simply referential, in order to acquire, in the most multiple forums of discussion, a dynamic character, which is aligned to central questions of this renewed way of conceiving the world, Philosophy, and Epistemology. In parallel fashion, studies concerning the constitution of subjectivity point towards its oscillating status, showing how the subject is the product of multiple discourses, which make any demarcating of solid frontiers, a hard task. Therefore, one can observe an imbrication of the notions being and displacing, in which the appropriation of metaphors and the semantic scope around the notion of transience is shown to be constitutive of the literary text, performing a relevant role in the development of the plot and its characters. The present work aims at analyzing the novel Alias Grace (1996) by Margaret Atwood, under the light of Gender theory, in order to map the deconstruction of essentialisms around the protagonists, Grace Marks and Simon Jordan. In her book, Atwood gives voice to the historical figure Grace Marks, young Irish immigrant in the XIX century, which becomes mentor and accomplice of murder of her employer, Thomas Kinnear, and his mistress and governess of the house, Nancy Montgomery. It can be seen that, throughout the narrative, Grace will negotiate with the various borders that she delineates, and even crosses, as a means of expanding her identity through the systematic manipulation of language she engages with. In parallel fashion, Atwood creates a character that will play the role of this immigrants main interlocutor: Dr. Simon Jordan, a young American physician, whose personal trajectory was also marked by several displacements. In an anticipatory movement of the Freudian psychoanalysis, he is determined to unveil the mysteries of the human mind, revealing the truth behind Graces case in order to gain success and professional recognition. As we will demonstrate, the author establishes a criticism around masculinity, in which he will gradually lose everything that gives him status as a man of his times, within the set of expectations in that society. Furthermore, we will analyze a formal aspect employed along the pages of the novel: its paratextuality. Through this resource, we will see our reading of both the protagonists being reinforced in the constant slippery move between sources, documental and fictional, linked to that eras imaginary. In order to do that, works by Philip Wegner (2002) and Neil Smith (1993) around the notion of space, Bronwen Walter (2001), Lorna McLean and Marilyn Barber (2004) on the Irish immigration in Canada, Roland Barthes (1986), Gérard Genette (1987) and Linda Hutcheon (1990), regarding paratexts, as well as the studies by Chris Weedon (1987), Jane Flax (1990), R.W. Connell (1997), Judith Butler (1990), among others, around gender and postmodernism will serve as the theoretical apparatus for this investigation.