University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of English

This thesis is a comparative study of two contemporary novels: Christa Wolf's: Cassandra (1983) and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale (1985). / Wolf's Cassandra can be interpreted as a utopian projection. It is an expression of Wolf's not so modest proposal: "Literature today ought to be research on peace." / Atwood examines the underside of hope. While describing the present time as alarming, she speculates about the future. Juxtaposing the two novels provides a view of the political and philosophical imagination of the two authors. The cultural critique is esthetically expanded through the perspective of the protagonists. Both novels can be viewed as archeological work from a female perspective, as they attempt to provide a new vision by uncovering the blind spots of our western socio-political history.

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The validity of the traditional arts in contemporary society is often questioned by the wider public. This dissertation argues that one of the ways in which the arts attain value is through their function as political activism. In order to do so, it investigates the characteristics of resistance art. This is followed by a discussion of contemporary opera. While this genre is a minority interest when compared to popular music forms, it is, nevertheless, a form of resistance art that has the potential to fulfill a social and political function. The dissertation focuses on two case studies: John Adam's The Death of Klinghoffer (1990) and Paul Ruders's The Handmaid's Tale (2000), and concludes that contemporary opera can be relevant and effective socio-political critique. / Thesis (M.Mus.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Margaret Atwoods dystopiska roman Tjänarinnans berättelse (The Handmaid’s Tale) från år 1985 fick åter uppmärksamhet år 2017 när teveseriens första säsong, baserad på romanen, hade premiär. I berättelsen skildras tjänarinnan Offreds liv i republiken Gilead, före detta USA, där infertilitet är ett av de stora problemen. Det föds sällan barn i landet och av de som föds är endast tre av fyra barn friska. Kvinnor med låg social status, men med fungerande livmoder, utses till tjänarinnor och enligt republiken har de en ärofylld uppgift; att föda friska barn åt aristokratiska makar. Republiken legitimerar tjänarinnornas avsaknad av frihet genom att hänvisa till Bibelns texter, främst till Genesisberättelsen om Bilha, Rakel och Jakob. Bilhas uppdrag i hushållskonstellationen är att förse patriarken Jakob med avkommor och på liknande sätt fungerar Offreds roll i romanens handling. Denna uppsats undersöker den bibliska intertextualiteten i romanen. Det förekommer både uppenbara citat och mindre tydliga allusioner. Genom att tillämpa Lina Sjöbergs system om markör, sätt och effekt analyseras bibelreferenserna på tre nivåer. Den första nivån identifierar referensen som citat, refererat, allusion eller tema. Den andra nivån undersöker på vilket sätt intertextualiteten sker och den tredje nivån beskriver vilken effekt bibelreferensen får hos läsaren.  Bibeln har länge inspirerat olika kulturyttringar och sedan den senare halvan av 1900-talet har den allmänna populärkulturen studerats ur ett bibelvetenskapligt perspektiv. Trots sekulariseringsteorier går det inte att avfärda bibelberättelsers inflytande i moderna verk. Bibeln har länge varit en del av vår kultur och många känner till de klassiska gammaltestamentliga berättelserna om Adam och Eva, Noa och flodvågen, Abrahams söner, Jobs olycka och Jona i valfisken. Detta bibliotek av böcker, med spridda stilar, har på många olika sätt influerat modern skönlitteratur och Tjänarinnans berättelse är en av dessa.

Thesis (M.Mus.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, Bodily Harm, and Alias Grace, Atwood demonstrates that the connection between language, translation, and the female body is evident in the ways in which language is used to control the female body. Atwood posits that language systems assume the female body is fixed; however, language is inherently unstable. Consequently, if the female body is inscribed by language, the female body is not fixed just as a text is not fixed. Atwood writes the female body as a translation of masculinist text in order to resist the tradition of constructing the female body reductively through masculinist language. Through the attempts of her female characters to represent themselves (rather than being represented) in her work, Atwood illustrates that ?authentic? linguistic representation of the female body is impossible because language is a patriarchal construction which defines limitations on female voice and articulates the female body in masculinist terms.

The validity of the traditional arts in contemporary society is often questioned by the wider public. This dissertation argues that one of the ways in which the arts attain value is through their function as political activism. In order to do so, it investigates the characteristics of resistance art. This is followed by a discussion of contemporary opera. While this genre is a minority interest when compared to popular music forms, it is, nevertheless, a form of resistance art that has the potential to fulfill a social and political function. The dissertation focuses on two case studies: John Adam's The Death of Klinghoffer (1990) and Paul Ruders's The Handmaid's Tale (2000), and concludes that contemporary opera can be relevant and effective socio-political critique. / Thesis (M.Mus.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

This essay aims to highlight and explain the gender inequality, the sexual assault and the rape in Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale from a feminist perspective, using the theory of the individualist, interactionist and institutional approach to gender found in Wharton’s The Sociology of Gender. Research questions: How does gender inequality shape the characters in the novel? What does it mean for them? How can the gender inequalities seen in Gilead society, as well as the sexual violence in the novel, be explained using sociological perspectives on gender? Gender inequality, which is what leads to the sexual violence, is produced on every level of society, and especially at the institutional level of society, that is, the culture of the society.

This essay deals with how Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) works as a critique of the patriarchal hierarchy and the values it brings. This is portrayed in a dystopic setting in which women are subordinate to men, but also men being subordinate and marginalized by other men. Based on a gender theory on masculinities, an analysis is made on two male characters; Luke and the Commander. Both characters gain advantages in society because of hegemonic masculinity. One of them gains advantages in pre-Gilead society, and the other in the Gilead society. The focus of the analysis is on the similarities of the two characters’ connection to hegemonic masculinity. Even though, they live in different periods of history. / Denna uppsats behandlar hur Margaret Atwoods roman En Tjänarinnas Bekännelse (1985) fungerar som en kritik mot det patriarkala samhället och de värderingar som det medför. Detta porträtteras i en dystopisk miljö där kvinnor är underlydande till män, men också där män är underlydande och marginaliserade av andra män. Baserat på en könsanalys om maskuliniteter, så görs en analys av två karaktärer. Luke och the Befälhavaren. Båda karaktärer får fördelar i samhället på grund av hegemonisk maskulinitet. En av dem får fördelar i samhället före skapandet av Gilead, och den andra i Gileads samhälle. Analysen fokuserar på de likheter som finns i kopplingen till hegemonisk maskulinitet hos dem två karaktärerna. Även fast, de lever i två olika tider av historien.