The Politics Of Food In Margaret Atwood's Novels: An Ecofeminist Study

Margaret Eleanor Atwood (1939-) is a contemporary Canadian novelist as well as an environmental activist. Her novels display strong concern for women's plight and ecological crisis. Atwood's novels feature detailed description and deep exploration on the subject of food and eating. This subject bears close relation with women and nature—two major themes threading through her fiction-writing career, as nature provides food and women usually serve it. Besides, the consumption of food plays an important role in shaping the female figure, a concept rendered oppressive by patriarchal culture.Preceding researches on Atwood's culinary writings, to a large extend, erase the materiality of food in their anthropocentric interpretation of the cooking materials, animals in particular, as metaphors for social phenomena, losing sight of possible ecological significance conveyed in these writings. As a thorough investigation of Atwood's food politics can't afford to expel ecological issues from consideration, this thesis approaches the subject from the ecofeminist perspective, adopting Val Plumwood's analysis of dualism and domination as theoretical basis.In her novels, Atwood politicizes the culinary aspect of life in support of women and nature against dominative forces that oppress both. Atwoodian culinary writings reveal multiple women-nature connections, serve as critique against oppressive elements of mainstream culture, and experiment with strategies of release and resistance. The author elevates food from the level of mundane routine, transforming culinary writings into profound anti-dominationist discourse.As food plays essential roles in The Edible Woman (1969) and Surfacing (1972), the analysis centers around these two earliest works of Atwood. At some points, the thesis also brings in typical scenes from other novels of the author so as to present a more comprehensive discussion of Atwood's food politics.Positioned in the context of the heated ecofeminist debate on nature-women relation, the thesis puts forward three women-nature connections revealed through Atwoodian culinary writings. First, running a parallel between predatory man-woman relationship in patriarchal society and human hunting animals, Atwood uses food as a proper metaphor for "victim" status shared by women and nature; second, culinary experience avails women to witness more animal suffering and become more aware of the unbreakable tie between human and nature; third, women are historically, socially and culturally shaped to live in a more eco-friendly way.With the discussion of women-nature relation as analytical basis, the thesis progresses towards analyzing social/cultural critique in Atwood's culinary writings, locating patriarchy, consumerism, science, Americanism and language as oppressive aspects of cultural/social reality.Through writing about food and eating, Atwood not only launches social/cultural criticism, but also experiments with strategies of resistance. After discussing Atwoodian food-related critique, the thesis goes on to analyze food-related strategies of release and resistance adopted by Atwoodian heroines, who fight against domination through non-eating, surfeiting, eating specific food and adjusting table manners. The thesis assesses the effect of each strategy and discusses their applicability in reality. Atwood's culinary writings reveal cultural, social, psychological and ecological significance of food, displaying prowess and profundity of a seemingly trivial subject. Her writings suggest new ways of feminist and ecological narration and provide valuable insight for ecomfeminists.