Gender in Science-Fiction The representation of gender roles and gender performativity in The Left Hand of Darkness and The Handmaid’s Tale.

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2017-08-30
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en
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The aim of this thesis is to examine the representation of gender roles and gender performance in the science-fiction novels The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) by Ursula K. Le Guin and The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood. By conducting analyses through close-reading the selected case studies, this thesis will be structured as follows. In the first chapter, the thesis will introduce Judith Butler’s gender performativity theory and Sandra Bem’s enculturated lens theory. After that, the second chapter will be dedicated to analysing The Left Hand of Darkness, looking especially at the concept of androgyny and how this juxtaposes gender performance theory. The third chapter will focus on The Handmaid’s Tale, paying close attention to the subdivision of gender and how gender is performed within the society. In conclusion, this thesis claims that in The Left Hand of Darkness gender does not exist and that therefore gender performance theory cannot be applied and that in The Handmaid’s Tale the categorising gender on the basis of fertility enforces gender roles.
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Faculteit der Letteren