The Cambridge Companion to Margaret Atwood (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

Margaret Atwood's international celebrity has given a new visibility to Canadian literature in English. This Companion provides a comprehensive critical account of Atwood's writing across the wide range of genres within which she has worked for the past forty years, while paying attention to her Canadian cultural context and the multiple dimensions of her celebrity. The main concern is with Atwood the writer, but there is also Atwood the media star and public performer, cultural critic, environmentalist and human rights spokeswoman, social and political satirist, and mythmaker. This immensely varied profile is addressed in a series of chapters which cover biographical, textual, and contextual issues. The Introduction contains an analysis of dominant trends in Atwood criticism since the 1970s, while the essays by twelve leading international Atwood critics represent the wide range of different perspectives in current Atwood scholarship. Contents......Page 6 Notes on contributors......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 11 Note on editions used......Page 12 List of abbreviations......Page 13 Margaret Atwood chronology......Page 14 Introduction......Page 18 1 Margaret Atwood in her Canadian context......Page 29 2 Biography/ autobiography......Page 45 3 Power politics: power and identity......Page 60 4 Margaret Atwood’s female bodies......Page 75 5 Margaret Atwood and environmentalism......Page 89 6 Margaret Atwood and history......Page 103 7 Home and nation in Margaret Atwood’s later fiction......Page 117 8 Margaret Atwood’s humor......Page 131 9 Margaret Atwood’s poetry and poetics......Page 147 10 Margaret Atwood’s short stories and shorter fictions......Page 162 11 Margaret Atwood’s dystopian visions: The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake......Page 178 12 Blindness and survival in Margaret Atwood’s major novels......Page 193 Further reading......Page 208 Index......Page 213 Margaret Atwood In Her Canadian Context / David Staines -- Biography/autobiography / Lorraine York -- Power Politics : Power And Identity / Pilar Somacarrera -- Margaret Atwood's Female Bodies / Madeleine Davies -- Margaret Atwood And Environmentalism / Shannon Hengen -- Margaret Atwood And History / Coomi S. Vevaina -- Home And Nation In Margaret Atwood's Later Fiction / Eleanora Rao -- Margaret Atwood's Humor / Marta Dvorak -- Margaret Atwood's Poetry And Poetics / Branko Gorjup -- Margaret Atwood's Short Stories And Shorter Fictions / Reingard M. Nischik -- Margaret Atwood's Dystopian Visions : The Handmaid's Tale And Oryx And Crake / Coral Ann Howells -- Blindness And Survival In Margaret Atwood's Major Novels / Sharon R. Wilson. Edited By Coral Ann Howells. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Atwood's celebrity has given a new visibility to Canadian literature and this companion provides a comprehensive critical account of her writing across the wide range of genres she has worked in, while paying attention to her Canadian cultural context and the multiple dimensions of her celebrity