J 2019

Truthiness, Collectivity, and Overlapping Subjectivities: Margaret Atwood’s Take on Current Metamodern Trends in The Heart Goes Last

WEISS, Michaela

Basic information

Original name

Truthiness, Collectivity, and Overlapping Subjectivities: Margaret Atwood’s Take on Current Metamodern Trends in The Heart Goes Last

Authors

WEISS, Michaela (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution)

Edition

SKASE Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies, 2019, 2644-5506

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Článek v odborném periodiku

Field of Study

60206 Specific literatures

Country of publisher

Slovakia

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

References:

http://www.skase.sk/Volumes/SJLCS02/pdf_doc/02.pdf

RIV identification code

RIV/47813059:19240/19:A0000472

Organization unit

Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava

Keywords in English

Margaret Atwood; metamodern sensibility; modern collectivity; dystopia

Tags

SGS42018, ÚCJ

Tags

International impact, Reviewed
Změněno: 21/4/2020 11:08, Ing. Petra Skoumalová

Abstract

V originále

The paper analyses the metamodern concepts of truthiness, collectivity and multiple identities in Margaret Atwood’s novel The Heart Goes Last (2015). The novel opens with a sweeping economic crisis that leaves most Americans without a job, home, and income. Academics and corporations have come up with a Positron Project that is designed to eliminate crime and unemployment by house and facilities sharing by two alternating families who spend one month in their home and the other as inmates in prison. The initially utopian project soon turns into a closely monitored dystopia, securing its income from selective euthanasia or illegal organ harvesting. The seeming safety and comfort of both the prison and the artificial community turn out to be fatal for interhuman relationships and the identity of the protagonists. Atwood, once again, voices her concern over the political and social manipulation that often stands behind communal utopian projects, especially the readiness of individuals to give up their freedom in exchange for a false security and their willingness to believe in the propaganda presented to them by those in power. The novel, similarly to other Atwood’s works, reflects current social, political and ecological issues, and with her sense of humor and irony, uncovers human motivations (which are not always pleasant) behind the optimistic call for collectivity, truth, and responsibility. Without resorting to sarcasm or mockery, her novels are a reminder of human failings, which she presents as natural and unavoidable.
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