THE DYSTOPIAN FORMULA IN MARGARET ATWOOD'S NOVEL THE HANDMAID'S TALE - INTERLACEMENT OF TRADITIONS AND NOVATION

Sep 11, 2026

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The text analyzes Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale as a dystopian formula genre, focusing on how traditional anti-utopian patterns and newer authorial innovations interlace. It traces the genre’s relevance in world literature and reviews scholarly definitions of anti-utopia as a negative image that contests utopian perfection. Drawing on ideas about “formula stories,” stereotyped plot moves, and archetypal symbols, it argues that Atwood’s structuring of Gilead preserves classical features while transforming the dystopian model through novel approaches to narration and genre patterning.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Anti-utopia and utopia: scholarly definitions

Formula literature and genre predictability

The classical anti-utopia scheme

Atwood’s transformation of anti-utopian tradition

THE DYSTOPIAN FORMULA IN MARGARET ATWOOD'S NOVEL THE HANDMAID'S TALE: INTERLACEMENT OF TRADITIONS AND NOVATION Olena Kotsiuba 1 DOI: [https://doi.org/10.30525/978-9934-26-050-6-57](https://doi.org/10.30525/978-9934-26-050-6-57) With the birth of humanism in Renaissance society mankind has obtained many significant discoveries, one of which is utopia (firstly described by Thomas More in the A little, true book, not less beneficial than enjoyable, about how things should be in a state and about the new island Utopia, 1516) . The idealized image of existence in the last century is replaced by anti-utopia (or dystopia) – the story about the «future without a future», a dead mechanized society, where man is assigned the role of a simple social unit. Presently, it is one of the most relevant and widespread genres of world literature, which is constantly replenished with new original samples (Suzanne Collins, Stephen King, John Christopher, Margaret Atwood, Veronica Roth, Lauren DeStefano, etc.) . No wonder, that nowadays there are already a lot of researches where scholars view current issues of dystopian literature. Priority 1 Kryvyi Rih State Pedagogical University, Ukraine in them is given to such considerable items as the definition, origin, genre specificity, etc. In modern literary studies, however, there are many issues, focusing on various genre characteristics of anti-utopia, namely, versatile changes of the dystopian model in modern works, new approaches to the correlation between utopia and anti-utopia. For example, I. Samorukov formulates the following definition of this concept: «Anti-utopia, dystopia, negative utopia are images (usually in fiction) of dangerous, destructive and unpredictable consequences associated with creating a society that corresponds to a certain social ideal» [3] . Besides defining, the scholar here pays special attention to the fact that the genre of anti-utopia represents not only a negatively coloured description of a potentially possible future, but it disputes with utopia – an image of a society claiming perfection, but with the so-called value-negative paradigm. It is necessary to remark that scholars’ interest to anti-utopia has in much increased since the second half of the XX th century. Here one can’t help mentioning the problem of «formality», which was firstly viewed by John G. Cawelti in his book Adventure, Mystery, and Romance: Formula Stories as Art and Popular Culture (1976) . The author distinguishes two types of formulae: cultural stereotypes and plot formulae. The formula can be called any culturally determined stereotype: «stupid Americans», «brunette bitches», eccentric detectives with remarkable analytical skills. But J. Gawelti points out that these are traditional constructs that are conditioned by a particular culture of a particular time, which beyond of this specific context may have a different meaning: «Such common plot schemes are story lines (fables) that are popular if not everywhere, but at least in many cultures for a long time. Infact, they can be seen as an example of what some researchers call archetypes, or patterns» [1] . Formula literature is consequently characterized by sticking to the certain models (patterns), which gives the writer the opportunity to quickly and efficiently create popular texts and simultaneously brings the reader a sense of comfort and predictability. Novelty is approved only if it reinforces the expected emotions and does not change them radically. Due to Gawelti’s assumption, each of the formula genres is built according to certain laws, uses standard plot moves, operates with well-known symbols and archetypes, as well as cultural stereotypes of the society in which a particular piece of fiction is created. To J. Gawelti’s mind, therefore, anti-utopia may be identified as formula genre. Having analyzed several XX century iconic novels of the of this genre (We by E. Zamyatin, Brave New World by A. Huxley, 1984 and

FAQs

What core idea connects anti-utopia with formula literature in the text?

Anti-utopia is treated as a formula genre built from culturally determined stereotypes, standard plot moves, familiar symbols, and archetypes that guide predictable reader expectations.

How does the article characterize anti-utopia relative to utopia?

Anti-utopia is described as disputing with utopia’s supposed perfection, using a value-negative paradigm to present dangerous and destructive consequences of idealized social projects.

What is the article’s stated goal regarding The Handmaid’s Tale?

To present the traditional and new elements in Atwood’s structuring of a fictional anti-utopian world, highlighting how classical rules are used alongside transformation of the dystopian genre pattern.

Sep 11, 2026

Upload by Jake