Re-constructing identity through language and vision in Margaret Atwood's Surfacing and Cat's Eye

• Main Author: Fortuin, Sariska
• Other Authors: Fincham, Gail
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2014
• Subjects: English Literature and Modernity
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8240

Includes abstract. === Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-103). === Margaret Atwood's work examines the individual's struggle for identity within a prescriptive Western society that tends to divide the world into binary categories. One side of the binary is considered powerful, while the other side is less powerful. Often, those on the weaker end of the spectrum are victimised. Because the fundamental principles for these binary categories are based on patriarchal ideologies, women are the victims. The rules that govern men's and women's actions within this patriarchal system are conveyed through language and vision. Women learn social rules through communication, and these rules are reinforced through vision.