Linguistic Manipulation of Political Myth in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale

Abstract

This paper investigates the linguistic manipulation of political myth in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. More specifically, the paper discusses the myth of the good of the nation which is linguistically manipulated verbally and nonverbally throughout the novel. Atwood’s novel is one of the distinguished dystopian narratives in the twentieth century. This type of fiction has always been a reflection of the irrationalities committed against people by those in power. This paper exposes the strategies of linguistic manipulation used by those in power to propagate for the good of the nation myth, which in turn strengthens their position, justifies their actions, and guarantees their continuation in power. In doing so, the paper uses Political Discourse Analysis to be the approach of analyzing the selected data. Lexical choices, didactic indoctrination, religionization and dehumanization are among the strategies used in the analysis of data. The main objective of this paper is to elaborate the extent to which the good of the nation myth is used by some regimes to oppress and dominate the public into complete submission to their goals. It is also an attempt to provide the public with some sort of linguistic enlightenment so as to be aware of the use and abuse of language in shaping and/or misshaping the public’s attitudes. The conclusion drawn from this paper shows that politicians rhetorically manipulate myths to normalize their practices and legitimize their irrationalities.