Join us for a friendly online taster lecture to support your current studies and find out what it might be like to study English literature at university.
Session time: Thursday 23 April, 9.10-9.55am
In this English Literature session, Dr Clare Connors, Associate Professor in the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing at University of East Anglia, will run an interactive talk for students on The Handmaid’s Tale.
The Handmaid’s Tale is a novel about power. Most obviously, it offers a bleak, dystopian picture of the power of patriarchy and of totalitarian regimes. But it is also a – rather more joyful – celebration of another kind of power: the power of language, writing and literature.
That is what this talk will explore. We’ll crowd-source a list of the many different kinds of language and communication the novel represents, from the lip-reading mentioned in the very first chapter onwards. We’ll tease out what the novel says about language, relate this to what it does with language and then connect all this to its criticisms of totalitarian power.
Finally (and turning to the epilogue) we’ll think about what the ideal reader of the language of, and in, this novel would be like.
Suitable for: 16+ pre-university students studying, or with a possible interest in studying, English Literature and related disciplines. Student groups as well as students and teachers joining individually are very welcome.
For details and to book your place, visit:
https://www.channeltalent.co.uk/event/english-literature-the-handmaids-tale-the-power-of-language-and-communication-with-dr-clare-connors-from-university-of-east-anglia/