Eski Bir Gerilim Filmini Çağrıştıran Dijital Devrim: Margaret Atwood’un The Heart Goes Last Romanını Yeniden Okumak

Year 2024, Issue: 62, 89 - 109, 30.12.2024

Katarzyna Machala

Abstract

Margaret Atwood’un The Heart Goes Last romanı, ABD’de yaşanan finansal bir çöküşün ardından evlerinden ve işlerinden olan insanların hayatta kalmaya çalıştığı post-apokaliptik bir dünyada geçer. Positron Projesi, nostaljik cazibesiyle mükemmel bir toplum sunarak tek kaçış yolu gibi görünmektedir. Ancak, ideal çözüm gibi görünen şey aslında gönüllüler için bir tuzaktır; zira, dijital devrimle beslenen bu distopik dünya, bir grubun çıkarları için diğerlerinin sömürülmesine yöneliktir. Bu makale, romanı, şiddet içeren korku filmlerini örnek alan bir korku hikâyesi olarak analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Modern izleyiciye aşina bir format kullanmak, Atwood’un, özgürlüğün değeri ve medyanın en hassas toplumsal gruplar (özellikle evlerini ve işlerini kaybetme riski altındakileri) üzerindeki etkisi hakkında temel sorular sormasına olanak sağlar. Romanın, Atwood’un daha önce Guardian gazetesinde yayımlanan “We Are Double-Plus Unfree” başlıklı makalesiyle bir arada incelenmesi, hikâyeyi çağdaş sosyopolitik bağlama oturtur.

Keywords

Dijital devrim, hayatta kalma, özgürlük, medya, korku hikâyesi

Digital Revolution that Evokes a Vintage Thriller Movie: Rereading Margaret Atwood’s The Heart Goes Last

Abstract

Margaret Atwood’s The Heart Goes Last is set in a postapocalyptic world after a financial crash in the US, where people struggle to survive without a home or a job. The Positron Project grants the only escape – the perfect community imbued with vintage charm. What seems to be an optimal solution, though, is a trap for the volunteers, as it is a dystopian world powered by the digital revolution and aimed at exploiting others for personal gain. This article analyzes the novel as a horror story modeled on a slasher movie. Using a format familiar to modern audiences allows Atwood to ask fundamental questions about the value of freedom and the power of the media in trapping the most vulnerable social groups – especially those at risk of losing their homes and jobs. Juxtaposing the novel with Atwood’s article “We Are Double-Plus Unfree,” published earlier in The Guardian, grounds the story within the contemporary sociopolitical context.

Keywords

Digital revolution, survival, freedom, media, horror story

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