Margaret Atwood’s “Oryx and Crake” as a Critique of Technological Utopianism
While there are major works tracing the themes of belonging and longing for home in contemporary fiction, there is no current study adequately addressing the connection between dystopian novel and nostalgia. This paper aims to illustrate how the Canadian writer Margaret Atwood uses nostalgia as a fr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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New Bulgarian University
2021-06-01
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| Series: | English Studies at NBU |
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| Online Access: | https://esnbu.org/data/files/2021/esnbu.20.1.3.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818734450192678912 |
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| author | Murat Kabak |
| author_facet | Murat Kabak |
| author_sort | Murat Kabak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | While there are major works tracing the themes of belonging and longing for home in contemporary fiction, there is no current study adequately addressing the connection between dystopian novel and nostalgia. This paper aims to illustrate how the Canadian writer Margaret Atwood uses nostalgia as a framework to level a critique against technological utopianism in her dystopian novel Oryx and Crake (2003). The first novel in Atwood’s “MaddAddam Trilogy” problematizes utopian thought by focusing on the tension between two utopian projects: the elimination of all suffering and the perfection of human beings by discarding their weaknesses. Despite the claims of scientific objectivity and environmentalism, the novel exposes the religious and human-centered origins of Crake’s technological utopian project. Atwood’s Oryx and Crake is an ambiguous work of science fiction that combines utopian and dystopian elements into its narrative to criticize utopian thought. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T00:05:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bdbdbe305fad4430bdafc4123d91a622 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2367-5705 2367-8704 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T00:05:33Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | New Bulgarian University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | English Studies at NBU |
| spelling | doaj.art-bdbdbe305fad4430bdafc4123d91a6222022-12-21T21:27:48ZengNew Bulgarian UniversityEnglish Studies at NBU2367-57052367-87042021-06-01713750https://doi.org/10.33919/esnbu.21.1.3Margaret Atwood’s “Oryx and Crake” as a Critique of Technological UtopianismMurat Kabak0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4878-9808Department of English Language and Literature, Istanbul Kültür University, Istanbul, TurkeyWhile there are major works tracing the themes of belonging and longing for home in contemporary fiction, there is no current study adequately addressing the connection between dystopian novel and nostalgia. This paper aims to illustrate how the Canadian writer Margaret Atwood uses nostalgia as a framework to level a critique against technological utopianism in her dystopian novel Oryx and Crake (2003). The first novel in Atwood’s “MaddAddam Trilogy” problematizes utopian thought by focusing on the tension between two utopian projects: the elimination of all suffering and the perfection of human beings by discarding their weaknesses. Despite the claims of scientific objectivity and environmentalism, the novel exposes the religious and human-centered origins of Crake’s technological utopian project. Atwood’s Oryx and Crake is an ambiguous work of science fiction that combines utopian and dystopian elements into its narrative to criticize utopian thought.https://esnbu.org/data/files/2021/esnbu.20.1.3.pdfdystopian fictionmargaret atwoodnostalgiaoryx and craketechnological utopianism |
| spellingShingle | Murat Kabak Margaret Atwood’s “Oryx and Crake” as a Critique of Technological Utopianism English Studies at NBU dystopian fiction margaret atwood nostalgia oryx and crake technological utopianism |
| title | Margaret Atwood’s “Oryx and Crake” as a Critique of Technological Utopianism |
| title_full | Margaret Atwood’s “Oryx and Crake” as a Critique of Technological Utopianism |
| title_fullStr | Margaret Atwood’s “Oryx and Crake” as a Critique of Technological Utopianism |
| title_full_unstemmed | Margaret Atwood’s “Oryx and Crake” as a Critique of Technological Utopianism |
| title_short | Margaret Atwood’s “Oryx and Crake” as a Critique of Technological Utopianism |
| title_sort | margaret atwood s oryx and crake as a critique of technological utopianism |
| topic | dystopian fiction margaret atwood nostalgia oryx and crake technological utopianism |
| url | https://esnbu.org/data/files/2021/esnbu.20.1.3.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT muratkabak margaretatwoodsoryxandcrakeasacritiqueoftechnologicalutopianism |