Article:
The Restrictions of Genre: The Television Series THE HANDMAID’S TALE as a Classic Dystopia

Simple item page
dc.creatorSpiegel, Simon
dc.date.accessioned2024-05-27T11:39:58Z
dc.date.available2024-05-27T11:39:58Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.abstractWhile there is a long tradition of literary utopias, there are hardly any positive utopias in film. Cinematic dystopias, by contrast, abound. The typical dystopia usually features a protagonist who is in opposition to the ruling regime, a built-in dramatic conflict that makes dystopias particularly well-suited for films. Although the huge success of Hulu’s THE HANDMAID'S TALE seems to confirm the affinity between film and dystopias, the show also highlights that a series spanning multiple seasons has very different dramaturgical demands than a feature film. Those demands are at odds with the narrative structure of a typical dystopia. While the standard rebellion plot provides the needed tension, it cannot be prolonged endlessly. Sooner or later the rebellion either succeeds or fails, at which point literary dystopias normally end. A series like The Handmaid’s Tale needs to be able to continue that plot, which is the primary reason why the protagonist Offred never leaves Gilead despite having several opportunities to do so.en
dc.identifier.doi10.25364/05.10:2024.1.5
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/22117
dc.identifier.urihttps://www.jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_jrfm/article/view/408
dc.identifier.urihttps://mediarep.org/handle/doc/23508
dc.languageeng
dc.publisherSchüren
dc.publisher.placeMarburg
dc.relation.isPartOfissn:2617-3697
dc.relation.ispartofseriesJournal for Religion, Film and Media
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 4.0 Generic
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
dc.subjectUtopiaen
dc.subjectDystopiaen
dc.subjectGenreen
dc.subjectScience Fictionen
dc.subject.ddcddc:791
dc.subject.personMargaret Atwood
dc.subject.workTHE HANDMAID’S TALE
dc.titleThe Restrictions of Genre: The Television Series THE HANDMAID’S TALE as a Classic Dystopiaen
dc.typearticle
dc.type.statuspublishedVersion
dspace.entity.typeArticle
local.coverpage2024-05-28T02:35:00
local.identifier.firstpublishedhttps://www.jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_jrfm/article/view/408
local.source.epage106
local.source.issue1
local.source.spage89
local.source.volume10
local.subject.gndhttps://d-nb.info/gnd/118646168
local.subject.wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q183492
local.subject.wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25207350

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
JRFM_10_01_2024_89-106_Spiegel_Restrictions-of-Genre_.pdf
Size:
396.48 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Original PDF with additional cover page.
Download

Collections

2024 | 1