The Cambridge Introduction to Margaret Atwood

by Heidi Slettedahl Macpherson

• ISBN13: 9780521694636
• ISBN10: 0521694639
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-10-11
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Margaret Atwood offers an immensely influential voice in contemporary literature. Her novels have been translated into over 22 languages and are widely studied, taught and enjoyed. Her style is defined by her comic wit and willingness to experiment. Her work has ranged across several genres, from poetry to literary and cultural criticism, novels, short stories and art. This Introduction summarizes Atwood's canon, from her earliest poetry and her first novel, The Edible Woman, through The Handmaid's Tale to The Year of the Flood. Covering the full range of her work, it guides students through multiple readings of her oeuvre. It features chapters on her life and career, her literary, Canadian and feminist contexts, and how her work has been received and debated over the course of her career. With a guide to further reading and a clear, well organised structure, this book presents an engaging overview for students and readers.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
List of abbreviations and note on references	p. xi
Life	p. 1
Contexts	p. 11
English-Canadian literature and the development of the canon	p. 12
Atwood's criticism: amateur plumbing	p. 16
On being a woman writer, writing about women	p. 22
Works	p. 25
Novels	p. 25
Short stories	p. 86
Poetry	p. 104
Critical reception	p. 111
1970s and 1980s	p. 111
1990s	p. 114
Atwood criticism in the twenty-first century	p. 118
Notes	p. 121
Further reading	p. 123
Index	p. 133
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