The Discursive Construction of Subjectivity in The Handmaid's Tale

Shenavi, Ali; Rajabi, Erfan

doi:10.22034/jls.2025.143816.1257

The Discursive Construction of Subjectivity in The Handmaid's Tale

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نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی

نویسندگان

Ali Shenavi ¹
Erfan Rajabi ²

¹ M.A. degree, Department of English and Linguistics, Faculty of Language and Literature, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Department of English and Linguistics, Faculty of Language and Literature, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran

10.22034/jls.2025.143816.1257

چکیده

This paper investigates the discursive and semiotic construction of subjectivity in The Handmaid’s Tale, focusing on how language and non-verbal signs function within the discursive institutions of Gilead. Drawing on Foucault’s theory of discourse, Gee’s concepts of Discourse and subjectivity, Laclau and Mouffe’s theory of articulation and hegemonic discourse, and semiotic frameworks, the study analyzes how subjectivity is produced and articulated through ritualized speeches, formulaic dialogues, re-naming practices, gestures, postures, clothing, and color symbolism. It argues that language and non-verbal signs in Gilead are not descriptive but performative—constitutive forces embedded in institutional structures which discursively articulate subjectivity. The findings demonstrate that each social role—Handmaids, Aunts, Wives, Commanders, Guardians, and Eyes—is constructed through distinct discursive registers that regulate subjectivity in alignment with hegemonic articulations. At the same time, the paper identifies moments of rupture, irony, and subversive re-signification—particularly in Offred’s narration and memory—which reveal the contingency and instability of these articulations.

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