The Dystopian Novel as a Reflection of Societal Anxiety: A Comparative Study of George Orwell’s 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale under the Lens of Postmodernism

Vidisha Gupta

dystopian literature, postmodernism, reflection of social anxieties, The Handmaid's Tale, 1984, totalitarianism, intertextuality

The present research paper aims to contribute to the existing scholarship on the dystopian novel as a mirror of societal anxieties. Through a comparative analysis of George Orwell’s classic masterpiece 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s critically acclaimed The Handmaid’s Tale, the study endeavours to explicate the recurring themes of oppression, totalitarianism, and surveillance as reflections of the existential fears and uncertainties of the postmodern era. Drawing upon the theoretical framework of postmodernism, the paper elucidates how the two novels offer alternative narratives that contest and subvert the dominant discourses of power and control and provide a nuanced understanding of the complex interplay between the individual and the state in the dystopian world.

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"The Dystopian Novel as a Reflection of Societal Anxiety: A Comparative Study of George Orwell’s 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale under the Lens of Postmodernism", IJNRD - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NOVEL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (www.IJNRD.org), ISSN:2456-4184, Vol.8, Issue 3, page no.b103-b106, March-2023, Available :https://ijnrd.org/papers/IJNRD2303116.pdf

Volume 8 Issue 3, March-2023

Pages : b103-b106

Paper Reg. ID: IJNRD_188565

Published Paper Id: IJNRD2303116

Downloads: 000118884

Research Area: Arts

Country: Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

Published Paper PDF: https://ijnrd.org/papers/IJNRD2303116

Published Paper URL: https://ijnrd.org/viewpaperforall?paper=IJNRD2303116

ISSN: 2456-4184 | IMPACT FACTOR: 8.76 Calculated By Google Scholar | ESTD YEAR: 2016

An International Scholarly Open Access Journal, Peer-Reviewed, Refereed Journal Impact Factor 8.76 Calculate by Google Scholar and Semantic Scholar | AI-Powered Research Tool, Multidisciplinary, Monthly, Multilanguage Journal Indexing in All Major Database & Metadata, Citation Generator

Publisher: IJNRD (IJ Publication) Janvi Wave

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License and The Open Definition