Mapping Shadows: Eco-Dystopia in Margaret Attwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24113/smji.v14i5.11782Keywords:
Eco-dystopia; Landscape; Woman; Nature; Ecocriticism.Abstract
The genre of science fiction has long been concerned with the entanglement between ecological catastrophe, humans and technology. Margret Attwood in her work The Handmaid’s Tale blatantly captures the complex human-nature web of relation, societal decay, environmental degradation and reign of tyrannical power. In a grim, dystopic setting, the reality of events unfolds through Offred’s narration. This paper explores the landscape, nature and women under the theoretical framework of ecocriticism and eco-dystopia. An eco-dystopian world is marked by an abundant decay of nature and society. Despite being well acclaimed as a dystopian novel, critics have made less effort to underscore the eco-dystopian notions. By tracing the roots of this decay, the paper seeks to reflect Attwood’s novel as an eco-dystopian one. Such a reading places the text as a cautionary narrative that draws parallel between ecological destruction and woman oppression.
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