Language as a contested site Margaret Atwood's Wilderness Tips

Abstract

This thesis studies Margaret Atwood's Wilderness Tips in the light of dialogic discourse. Through the female main characters, the stories speak the voices of minor people and women of Canada. It describes the socio-political and economic conditions, and other contemporary social aspects of the twentieth century Canadian societies. The dialogic tensions between the main characters and their roles in the stories are too descriptive. Atwood focuses on a cultural, social, and gender differences, which challenge singular national identity of Canada. The complex structures of the stories are parallel to the complex social reality of Canada that is diverse. The language carries the social conflict between males and females where the latter is trying to subvert the monologic hierarchy of the former. Therefore, it is not only the study of text but also the study of the society where the text shows the continuous struggle between various groups. The language of the text makes it as a democratic text that gives the idea of equality, plurality, heterogeneity among the characters and the readers. Atwood is successful in showing the diverse contemporary realities of Canadian society through the deployment of different social voices.