LANGUAGE AS A SIGN OF POWER IN THE HANDMAIDʼS TALE

Mahshid Namjoo

Abstract


A language which seems to be an ordinary tool of communication can have a very critical and interesting role to shape the individuality and mentality of a person. The Handmaids’ Tale beautifully shows different ways in which language can manipulate humans’ minds and make them behave obediently. Power is not a simple process in which orders are clearly given and in which individuals can always recognize the powerful forces. Sometimes, the power that is everywhere needs to penetrate any aspect of individual life secretly and in a hidden way. One of these hidden ways is through language. By showing the power of language, Margaret Atwood becomes a strict critique of societies in which individuality is undermined.

Full Text:

PDF

References


Atwood, M.(1986) The Handmaid’s Tale.London: Vintage.

Butler, J. (1999) Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York & London: Routledge.

Fairclough, N. (1989) Language and Power.New York: Longman.

Focault, M. (2005) The will to Truth.Ed. Alan, Sheridan. London and New York: Routledge.

Godin D. M., Tilley, H. and Prakash, G. (2010) Utopia/Dystopia: Conditions of Historical Possibility. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Web:

http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/i9188.pdf. 2014-12-02

Jones, J. (2004) "Language and Class."Language, Society and Power.Eds. Ishtla Singh and Jean Stilwell Peccei. London & New York: Routledge. 133-156

Jones, J and Peccei, J. S. (2004) "Language and Politics."Language, Society and Power.Eds. Ishtla Singh and Jean Stilwell Peccei. London & New York: Routledge. 35-74

Ketterer, D. (2014-12-01) "Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid’s Tale: a Contextual Dystopia."Science Fiction Studies.Vol.16. No. 2 (July 1989). www.jstor.org/stable/4239936. p. 209-2017.

Pettersson, F. "Discourse and Oppression in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaids Tale."Linnaeus University, School of Languages and Literature/English.

lnu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:321781/FULLTEXT01.pdf. Web

Somacarrea, P. (2006) "Power Politics: power and identity. "The Cambridge Companion to Margaret Atwood.Ed. Coral Ann Howells. New York: Cambridge University Press. 43-57.

Rouse, J. (2005) "Power and Knowledge."The Cambridge Companion to Foucault.Ed.Gary Gutting. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Sheridan, Al. Ed. (2005) Michel Foucault: The Will to Truth. London & New York: Routledge.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21533/epiphany.v12i1.259

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2019 Epiphany

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Epiphany (pISSN 2303-6850, eISSN 1840-3719) is currently Indexed/Abstracted