O teor testemunhal nas distopias O Conto Da Aia e Os Testamentos, de Margaret Atwood

Abstract

In this research, I analyze the novels The Handmaid’s Tale (1984) and The Testaments (2019) by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, interpreting and emphasizing the characteristics that place these works within the dystopian tradition of literary production through the lens of gender studies and testimony. To this end, I investigate the testimonial dimension present in these dystopias, examining how fictional narratives articulate discursive strategies associated with testimony in contexts of authoritarian regimes, challenging the boundary between fiction and fact, and highlighting the mutual influence between history and literary writing. The essay is based on the hypothesis that, although situated within the realm of dystopian fiction, these works incorporate structural elements of testimony, revealing a tension between individual memory, truth, and narrative. To ground the discussion, I draw on theoretical references concerning testimony, history, and dystopia, such as Tom Moylan (2000), Lyman Tower Sargent (1994), Ildney Cavalcanti (2003), and Raffaella Baccolini (2003), among others who study utopian/dystopian narratives, as well as scholars such as Shoshana Felman and Dori Laub (1992), Fredric Jameson (2019), Sarmento-Pantoja, and Márcio Seligmann-Silva (2003), who examine memory and testimony. This research, of bibliographical nature, presents an interpretative analysis of the works, considering both form and content and investigating the construction of narrative voices, emphasizing fragmentation, subjectivity, and the absence of guarantees of authenticity as central features of testimonial discourse in fiction. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred’s narrative exposes the experience of violence and the deprivation of rights through a voice that seeks, in the act of narration, to resist erasure and the annulment of her subjectivity. In The Testaments, testimony unfolds through multiple perspectives, problematizing the relationship between truth, fiction, and memory in the historical reconstruction of Gilead. Thus, I argue that by incorporating elements of testimonial literature, Atwood’s dystopias not only represent extreme experiences but also question the limits of narrative in the face of violence and oppression, establishing a critical space for reflecting on the ethical responsibilities of literature and memory.