Humanity Cast as the Other in the Tragedy of Life: An Ecocritical Reading of Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing, The Handmaid’s Tale and MaddAddam Trilogy
This article aims to analyze Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing, The Handmaid’s Tale, and MaddAddam Trilogy from an ecocritical perspective. Establishing the recognizable pattern of error and guilt as the point of departure, we contend that the root of the tragic understanding of human existence is envi...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | deu |
| Published: |
Editura Universităţii Aurel Vlaicu Arad
2017-05-01
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| Series: | Journal of Humanistic and Social Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.jhss.ro/downloads/15/articles/4%20Changizi.pdf |
| Summary: | This article aims to analyze Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing, The Handmaid’s
Tale, and MaddAddam Trilogy from an ecocritical perspective. Establishing the
recognizable pattern of error and guilt as the point of departure, we contend that
the root of the tragic understanding of human existence is environmental.
Drawing on an unorthodox take on the concept of Othering in ecocritical
discourse, we posit that humans perceived themselves as the marginalized Other
in the tragedy of life. In this way, nature became the ultimate opponent to be
feared, fought, and conquered. The exiled humanity’s perception on planet earth
as adversarial catapulted them to an ultimately self-destructive path most
notable in Atwood’s apocalyptic literature. Finally, we argue against an absolute
sense of tragedy. Atwood’s stance is ultimately one of paradox: she is as much
as a pessimist that she is an optimist as hope inevitably is the everlasting
concomitant of tragedy. |
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| ISSN: | 2067-6557 2247-2371 |