Abstract
This paper aims at looking into the concept of play and its manifestations in language and art in Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale by utilizing the theories of Johan Huizinga, who, in his study Homo Ludens, argues that civilization itself is an outgrowth of play. By examining the ways play subverts oppressive strategies, it offers a larger view of the disarming and overpowering potential of the ingenious and humorous usage of language and exercise of art as extensions of play. The Handmaid’s Tale is narrated by a woman whose function is reduced to the reproductive capacity of her body. Every individual in this society has their assigned places and roles, and any deviation from them is punishable by no less than death. For the authorities of the Republic of Gilead committed themselves to return to a biblically ordained order in which the minimum suffices and there is no place for any forms of excess. However, as Atwood demonstrates, life reduced to biological necessities alone goes against life itself. For that reason, Gileadean regime inadvertently gives rise to subversive acts not only from the oppressed but from the oppressors themselves. Under such severe oppression, subversion asumes a shape that at first sight appears harmless: the human propensity for play. As opposed to the stipulated order in Gilead in which everything is defined by function, play is based on excess, a surplus of need and necessity. Moreover, based on the voluntary participation of all participants, it is an equalizing arena in which one player can only be defeated by a more ingenious one. Therefore, in this paper play will be examined as a platform on which socially-constructed categories based on power structures are fundamentally rejected.
References
- Andriano, J. (1992-1993). “The Handmaid’s Tale” as Scrabble Game. Essays in Canadian Writing, pp. 89-96.
- Atwood, M. (1985). The Handmaid’s Tale. New York: Fawcett Crest.
- Bergmann, H. F. (1989, December). “Teaching Them to Read”: A Fishing Expedition in “The Handmaid’s Tale”. College English, pp. 847-54.
- Feuer, L. (1997, Winter). The Calculus of Love and Nightmare: “The Handmaid’s Tale” and the Dystopian Tradition. Critique, pp. 83-95.
- Hanson, E. (1994). Selves, Survival and Resistance in “The Handmaid’s Tale”. Utopian Studies, pp. 56-69.
- Hogsette, D. S. (1997, Summer). Margaret Atwood’s Rhetorical Epilogue in “The Handmaid’s Tale”. Utopian Studies, pp. 262-278.
- Huizinga, J. (1944). Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture. London: Routledge.
- Ketterer, D. (1989. July). Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale”: A Contextual Dystopia. Science Fiction Studies, pp. 209-217.
- Laflen, A. (2009). “There’s a Shock in Seeing”: The Problem of the Image in “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Oryx and Crake”. Amerikastudien / American Studies [Appropriating Vision(s): Visual Practices in American Women’s Writing], pp. 99-120.
- Parker, E. (1995, Autumn). You are What You Eat: The Politics of Eating in the Novels of Margaret Atwood. Twentieth Century Literature, pp. 349-68.
- Staels, H. (1995). Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale”: Resistance Through Narrating. English Studies, pp. 455-67.
- Stillman, P. G., and Johnson, A. (1994). Identity, Complicity and Resistance in “The Handmaid’s Tale”. Utopian Studies, pp. 56-69.
- Veblen, T. (1899, 1944). The Theory of the Leisure Class. Mineola, NY: Dover Thrift.
Abstract
Bu çalışma, Margaret Atwood’un distopik romanı The Handmaid’s Tale’de, oyunu ve onun
dil ve sanattaki yansımalarını; Homo Ludens adlı yapıtında uygarlığın oyunun bir uzantısı olduğunu
ortaya koyan Johan Huizinga’nın kuramları çerçevesinde incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu yüzden,
mizahî dil kullanımı ve sanatsal edimlerin baskıyı etkisiz kılan potansiyellerini, daha geniş bir çerçeve
içinde, oyunun baskıcı rejimleri altüst etme biçimlerinin uzantıları olarak, ele almaktadır.
The Handmaid’s Tale, işlevi bedeninin üreme yetisine indirgenmiş bir kadın tarafından anlatılır.
Bu toplumda her bireyin yeri ve rolü belirlenmiş olup, bunlardan en küçük bir sapma ölümle
sonuçlanabilen cezalara neden olabilmektedir. Gilead yetkililerinin amacı Kutsal Kitabın normlarına
geri dönmeyi hedefleyen, minimumla yetinilen ve fazlalığın hiçbir biçimine izin verilmeyen bir düzeni
inşa etmektir. Ancak, Atwood’un gözler önüne serdiği gibi, yalnızca biyolojik gereksinimlere indirgenen
bir yaşam, yaşamın kendisine ters düşmektedir. Bu yüzden, Gilead rejimi farkında olmadan, yalnızca
ezilenler değil baskıyı bizzat inşa edenler tarafından sabote edilir. Bu tür aşırı baskıcı ortamlarda
başkaldırı, insanın oyuna olan yönelimi gibi, ilk bakışta zararsız görünen bir kaynaktan beslenir.
Gilead’da öngörülen her şeyin işleviyle tanımlandığı düzenin aksine, oyun, fazlalığın, gereksinim
ve zorunluluğun dışına taşarak var olur. Üstelik, oyuncuların gönüllü katılımlarına dayanması ve
yalnızca bireysel yeteneklerinden dolayı kazanabilmelerinden dolayı eşitlikçi bir alan oluşturur. Bu
yüzden, bu çalışmada, oyun iktidarın oluşturduğu yapıların sonucunda toplumsal olarak inşa edilen
kategorilerin kökten reddedildiği bir platform olarak ele alınacaktır.
References
- Andriano, J. (1992-1993). “The Handmaid’s Tale” as Scrabble Game. Essays in Canadian Writing, pp. 89-96.
- Atwood, M. (1985). The Handmaid’s Tale. New York: Fawcett Crest.
- Bergmann, H. F. (1989, December). “Teaching Them to Read”: A Fishing Expedition in “The Handmaid’s Tale”. College English, pp. 847-54.
- Feuer, L. (1997, Winter). The Calculus of Love and Nightmare: “The Handmaid’s Tale” and the Dystopian Tradition. Critique, pp. 83-95.
- Hanson, E. (1994). Selves, Survival and Resistance in “The Handmaid’s Tale”. Utopian Studies, pp. 56-69.
- Hogsette, D. S. (1997, Summer). Margaret Atwood’s Rhetorical Epilogue in “The Handmaid’s Tale”. Utopian Studies, pp. 262-278.
- Huizinga, J. (1944). Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture. London: Routledge.
- Ketterer, D. (1989. July). Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale”: A Contextual Dystopia. Science Fiction Studies, pp. 209-217.
- Laflen, A. (2009). “There’s a Shock in Seeing”: The Problem of the Image in “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Oryx and Crake”. Amerikastudien / American Studies [Appropriating Vision(s): Visual Practices in American Women’s Writing], pp. 99-120.
- Parker, E. (1995, Autumn). You are What You Eat: The Politics of Eating in the Novels of Margaret Atwood. Twentieth Century Literature, pp. 349-68.
- Staels, H. (1995). Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale”: Resistance Through Narrating. English Studies, pp. 455-67.
- Stillman, P. G., and Johnson, A. (1994). Identity, Complicity and Resistance in “The Handmaid’s Tale”. Utopian Studies, pp. 56-69.
- Veblen, T. (1899, 1944). The Theory of the Leisure Class. Mineola, NY: Dover Thrift.
Details
| Primary Language | tr;en |
|---|---|
| Journal Section | Makaleler |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | October 31, 2014 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2014 Volume: 18 Issue: 2 |
