04 PilarCuderDomínguez.pmd ‘consume’ theirloved ones. becomes anactof(psychologicalversusphysical)possession,whereby theyappropriateand keep thelistenerenthralled,butaudienceisfarfrompowerless,sinceforthemlistening passion inclosedroomswhiletheytelleachothertales. hastheabilityto The storyteller implications inthecontextofAtwood’s own production.Inthem,twolovers liveouttheir aim ofthispaperistodescribethewritingtriangleinherlatestnovels andtodiscussits andsingularityofthereadermunion,” andshestressestheimportance intheprocess. The ing triangle(i.e.theinterconnectionbetweenwriter, thereader, andthetext)as“com- ABSTRACT Crake. PALABRAS lo en procedeadescribir dichotriángu- público juegaunpapelfundamental.Elpresente artículo entre quienescribe yleemedianteeltextoliterario,comouna“comunión” enlaqueel Negotiating withtheDead cientes deMargaret Atwood,queenfatizanladimensiónmetanarrativa. En suensayo mienta paraexplorargranvariedaddetemas.Asípuedeapreciarse enlasnovelas másre- La narrativacontemporáneacanadiensecontinúahaciendodelametaficciónunaherra- RESUMEN KEY telling.In dynamics ofstory explore avarietyofissues.’s latestnovels continueherexplorationofthe Canadianauthorsappeartofindself-reflective fictionapowerful toolto Contemporary y portantode“consumirlos.” posee lacapacidaddeapropiarsedeltextoysutrasmisor, bienpsicológicafísicamente, cuentan relatos.Si biennarrarconstituye unactodeseducciónenambasobras,elpúblico cerradamientrasse desupasiónapuerta Atwood. Enlasdos,unosamantesdisfrutan

WORDS The BlindAssassin

CLAVE : Metafiction, Margaret Atwood, storytelling, MARGARET ATWOOD’S METAFICTIONAL ACTS: : Metaficción, narración,Margaret Atwood, COLLABORATIVE STORYTELLING IN BLIND ASSASSIN R EVISTA y 57 C (2002),Atwooddefineeltriánguloliterario,esdecir, lainterrelación Oryx andCrakeOryx ANARIA Negotiating withtheDead Pilar Cuder Domínguez

DE Universidad deHuelva E STUDIOS AND , contextualizándoloenlaampliaproducciónde I NGLESES ORYX ANDCRAKE , 56;April 2008,pp. 57-68 (2002),Atwood discussesthewrit- , Oryx andCrake.The BlindAssassin,Oryx The BlindAssassin, 16/04/2008, 13:53 THE O ryx and ryx

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PILAR CUDER DOMÍNGUEZ 58 production. To thatpurpose,IwillbedrawinginsightsfromBakhtin’s theoriesof tionships andnovels andtodiscussitsimplicationsinthecontextofAtwood’s own highlights theself-reflectivenature ofbothnovels. possessing someoneisextremely unlikelyinAtwood’s fictional ‘possess’ eachother. Even thoughtheattemptitselfiscondemnedtofail,because intimate. Bothare of anactcommunionby to part meansofwhichthelovers try ence, share theirbodiesaswelltales.Bothactsare shown tobeequally to listento)eachother’s stories. Writer andreader, orrather, andaudi- storyteller limited time,buttheirfranticlovemaking isonlyequalledbytheirneedtotell(or and Jimmy in andOryx tales, variously labelledas“real” or“fantastic.” AlexandIris in them, twolovers liveouttheirpassioninclosedroomswhiletheytelleachother number ofscenesembeddedinthemainplotherlatestworks offiction.In contend thattheonequotedabove situationenactedina thevery isnevertheless seem tosubscribetheBarthian notionof“the deathoftheauthor,” Iwould catch youintheact” ( the writeris extent instance, thattoacertain againafterawhile.Onemightargue,for andsciencefictionhassurfaced technique. In bothofthem,Atwood’s sustainedinterestinthegenericformsof Crake answer thefollowing questions: book asgo-between” ( Nobody” eternaltriangle:thewriter, andwiththesubtitle“The the reader, andthe singularity ofthereader intheprocess.Under thetitle“Communion:Nobody to and has discussedthewritingtriangleinachapterthatstresses theimportance in hercriticalwriting,mostrecently has engagedwiththeseissuesonseveraloccasions,notonlyinherfictionbutalso act.Atwood andtheliterary relentless explorationofthedynamicsstorytelling holds itsown ground. inthelatterfuture past (Ontariointhefirsthalfoftwentiethcentury), theflightoffancyshared narrative spacewithaframingtalethatrevisitedthe cities, sacrificialvictims,childslaves,andeverlastinglove. Whereas intheformer Blind Assassin,”afantasytaleoffaraway “The derives fromtheembeddedstory (2003), displayastrikingnumberofcommonalitiesinsubjectmatterand The aimofthispaperistodescribethewritingtriangle inthesetworela- Atwood answers thethird question straightaway:“when you are reading, Negotiating withtheDead from theothertwo:where isthewriterwhenreader isreading?(Atwood, it tobedoing,intheopinionofitswriter?Andfinally, athird questionarising tion—or duty, ifyoulike—initspositionbetweenwriterandreader? What ought First, forwhomdoesthewriterwrite?And,secondly:whatisbook’s func- Margaret Atwood’s latestnovels, Furthermore, acloserreading reveals thatbothworkscontinueAtwood’s not inthesameroom 58 Negotiating withtheDead Negotiating withthe Dead Oryx andCrakeOryx 126) . Ifhewere, eitheryou’d betalkingtogether, orhe’d Oryx and Oryx Negotiating withtheDead enjoy theirclandestinerelationshipsfora The Blind Assassin

Crake ’s visionofthefuture ofhumanity 123-51),thischaptersetsoutto 126).AlthoughAtwood would 16/04/2008, 13:53 (2000)and ethos The BlindAssassin (2002). There she , thetropeitself Oryx and Oryx 04 PilarCuderDomínguez.pmd cific temporalandspatialcoordinates. chronotope inBakhtinian terms,sinceitfunctionsasarecurrent devicewithspe- manifestationofthewritingtriangleinbothAtwoodian novelsstructural asa tools provided byBakhtinian thought.In particular, Iwouldliketodefinethe endows thetextwithamulti-voicednessthatcanbebestanalysedsomeof me thatAtwood’s inthesescenes peculiarblendingofconversationandstorytelling the dichotomy truth/lie. In atalltale,wild the dichotomytruth/lie. them,amanandwomanconstruct Blind Assassin”tive. In contrast,inthechaptersentitled“The wefindareversal of ofthenarrator’spapers, strengthen thetrustworthiness intheframingnarra- story together withinterspersedpseudo-factualtextssuchasextractsfrom Canadiannews- tion thatfeedsfictionwithfact” (60). The familiarity ofthosehistoricalevents, structure” (65)andthatmakesuseof“thestory-within-a-story deviceofhybridisa- with ‘domestic’ inanovel history that has“a profoundlymetatextualRussian doll different narrativelevelsare established.In There isnosuchthingasequallinguisticexchange. ofthegreatits: oneonlyhastoutterbecomepart democraticdialogue” (7). of theOppressed dominating discourse.AsPeter Hitchcock hasconvincinglyreminded usin fororagainsta into accountthedifferentauthorityofvoicesandtheirstruggle Very importantly, theanalysisofchronotopelovers’ roomshouldtake tuting bothachallengetoandanamplificationofthosepositedbythemainwork. ideological negotiationsbetweencompetingvoicesandworldviews,thusconsti- place fromtherest oftheunfoldingnarrative, andbecomesthesiteofcomplex lovers’ room”, establishesadialogicalsituationincompletelyseparatetimeand postmodernist accountsoftheself-reflexivity ofthegenre. dialogism, fromnarratologicaltaxonomies ofnarrativelevelsinfiction,andfrom story involves herself( story fused intoonecarefully thought-out,concretewhole” ( theoretical systems” (153). allows andofheteroglossia(Bakhtinian forarich dialoguebetweenthetwo theory)— nist theory) nist politicsofreading. In Shumway’s words, the“celebration ofdiversity—ofheterogeneity(femi- she describes. ity ofthisintradiegetic-homodiegeticnarrator, asdoesthehistoricityofevents acter thatissoontodiereinforces forreaders —perhapsdeceptively—thereliabil- pings interspersedhere andthere inthenovel. The confessionaldiscourse ofachar- shocking, andtochallengethepublicrecord, clip- ascollectedinthenewspaper straight. It ismeantto disclosethesecrets ofthepast,somethemshamefuland istoldbyIris tosettherecord Chaseinheroldage, alasteffort framing story standatoppositeextremesonascaleofreliability andrealism. embedded story The However, tonotetoothatintheseAtwoodiannovels itisimportant two 1 3 2 In Genette’s terminology, thisdefinesanarratorthatischaracterinthenovel andwhose Bakhtin definedthechronotopeasoneinwhich “spatial andtemporalindicatorsare Likeotherfeminists,IbelieveBakhtinian deployed theoriescanbefruitfully forafemi- 3 Marta Dvorak hasexaminedtheoverlapping ofgeopoliticalevents , “without dialogicdiscourseisheteroglossiawithoutlim- struggle Narrative Discourse 59 227-262). 2 Such achronotope,whichIwillcall“the The Blind Assassin The DialogicImagination 1 First ofall,itseemsto 16/04/2008, 13:53 , theframingand 84). Dialogics

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PILAR CUDER DOMÍNGUEZ 60 Iris, andtodrawherintoamagiccircle: tobe,forreality creeps inwhentheyleastexpectit. they try naked. they standtruly They are Everyman andEverywoman, Adam andEve. Or ronto, theyleave outsidethedoortheirfamily, socialrespectability, wealth,etc,and ing to“nobody.” aslovers Likewise, secretly meetinginseedyroomsacross To- embodied beings. —toechoAtwood’sThey are truly titleabove— “nobody” talk- their corporeality, intermsofnarrativestructure andrhetoric theyfunctionasdis- done (150-51).In away, muchrepresentedin thoughascharacterstheyare very provided intheseepisodeswiththeeventsIris’s confessionalframe,asStaels has fact wecanonlyinferthembyconnectingthedots,collatinginformation sections simplyby thepronouns“he” and“she.” Their namesare notused,andin from thereal. lie thatmayhelpthemescapefromthesordidness oftheirsituationandmove away world surface fromworld surface timetoandmakeripplesintheirstory. Narrative control is literature, canonlyhappenwhiletheotheriswillingto partakeoftheexperience. “a maleScheherazade” (150). Thus theact ofcommunion,whetheritislove or out ofhishands” (Atwood, won’t beabletoholdonher, notforlong.She’ll melt,she’ll driftaway, she’ll slide like Wonderland(Atwood, of thetale,thussignallingshiftfromfacttofiction, “real” timetoan hold ofherwristandcovers thefaceofherwatchbefore offeringanewinstalment lover andtokeepthereal worldatbay. For instance,inalaterrendezvous, hetakes term, “a trickster” (169-70).Alexwieldsamagicwandthatallows himtoretain his usually perceives andexperiencesonlyas chaos” ( vision, perhapsakindof‘vital’ consolationforlivinginaworldwhoseorder one tic narratives.”Fantasy “provides thefreedom —orthe‘escape’— ofanordered according toHutcheon, one of thefourrecurrent modelsinternalizedin“narcissis- escape fromreality andtohideawayinafarawaylandofmake-believe. This is, The taleisoriginallymeantbythewriter, Alex,tocapture hisaudience, I say“a manandawoman” becausetheyare consistentlyidentifiedinthese However, thetensionsarisingfrom the situationofthelovers inthereal The tellerconsistentlybehavesasamagician,anillusionist,or, inStein’s Once thelisteneracceptsnarrativepact,thisbecomestheirjointwayto keeps hisvoice casual. Too muchurgencymightputheroff. (Atwood, Space itis,then,hesays....Agreed? ...Good,hesays.Now Ihavetothink.He invisible. tent; asifthere’s alinedrawnaroundthemwithchalk.Inside thisline,they’re two ofthemare alone;asiftheappletree they’re sittingunderisnotatree buta There are otherpeoplearound...It’s proper. allvery Nevertheless shefeelsthatthe Don’t scoff. It’s ausefuladdress. Anythingyoulikecanhappenthere. ... Another dimensionofspace?Oh really! another dimensionofspace—that’s whatI’m bestat. barren coast? You canhaveyourpick:jungles,tropicalislands,mountains.Or What willitbe,then?He says.Dinnerjacketsandromance,orshipwrecks ona 60 BA BA 120),anattitudethatStaels hasdescribedasthatof 112).But equallyconsistentishisfearthat“he Narcissistic Narrative 16/04/2008, 13:53 76). BA 9-10) Alice - 04 PilarCuderDomínguez.pmd the symbolismandpower ofthenovel asawhole: events describedinIris’s intradiegeticstory, andtherefore theparallelismamplifies metadiegetic taleofthekingdomSakiel-Norn bearsastrikingresemblanceto of the story havebecomeassassins,heretaliates withhalf-disguisedaccusations. of thestory of someaspectsthetale.For instance,whenshecomplainsthattheslavechildren tor, oreventemporarilytakingover fromhim. then foughtover, withthenarrateechallengingpower ofthehypodiegeticnarra- levels bringstheeffectfairlyclosetoa narrative levelsisthematic,andnotactionalorexplicative. writer’s politicsthatare anditsimpact. shown here toshapethestory Thus, thoughnotunaware ofthedemandsanaudience,itisultimately ated— —the happyendingshewouldliketobelieveinandtheunhappyonehecre- he has beentellingher.alternative endingforthestory These different endings we finda a thematicfunctionrelies onanalogy, i.e. similarityandcontrast. When analogybecomesidentity, tive andthematic(227-62). aptlysummarisedbyThey are Rimmon-Kenan, very whoexplainsthat by 91),thatis,theone intheembeddedtale. Genette(Rimmon-Kenan highlight theirdiverse ideology, expectations,andeven reading experiences. The stronganalogicalrelationship thusestablishedbetweenbothnarrative matization ofwomen.(Bouson251) women, showing thelinkbetweeninstitutionalizedmisogynyandsexualtrau- zation, probesthecultural—andhistorical—repetition ofsexualviolenceagainst ofwomen’stale, Atwood,throughrepetitiveretellings ofthestory sexualvictimi- Blind Assassin”Laura Chase,tothesacrificeofvirginin“The sciencefiction In pointedlyconnectingthetraumaticsexualsacrificeoftwosisters,Iris and Moreover, thattherelationship thishelpsusascertain established byboth Later on,herchallengewillreach the point ofattemptingtoprovide an BA Now he’s gonetoofar. He’s lethisangershow. Shedrawsawayfrom him.(Atwood, whichwouldyou do?Orscrewcut throatsorstarve, foraliving,there’s alwaysthat. didn’t invent theworld.Anyway, I’m onthesideofthroat-cutters.If youhadto He says.Andhow necessary? muchofit?ReadWhen iscruelty thenewspapers,I That’s shesayscoldly. unnecessarilycruel, Nor mineeither. Let’s saywe’re stuckwiththesinsoffathers. Don’t, shesays.It’s notmyfault. work. had totakethedirty Tough luckfor them. chants themselves,orthebrothel-owners. They didn’t havethecapital.So they They didn’t havemuchchoice,didthey? They couldn’t becomethecarpet-mer- 5 4 mise-en-abyme Genetteascribesthree mainfunctionstoasubordinate narrativelevel: actional,explica- By “hypodiegetic” Irefer toasecond-degree narrator, alsocalledametadiegeticnarrator 23) effect(92-93). 61 mise-en-abyme 4 They tendtoargueaboutthepolitics . In The Blind Assassin 5 16/04/2008, 13:53 Astoldby Alex,the , Atwood

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PILAR CUDER DOMÍNGUEZ 62 novel, tive processes, asexperiencedandcreated bythereader’s responses” ( oftheexperiencewriting itself.that partakes These fictionsare abouttheirown reflective novel inwhich“the actofreadingbecomesacreative, interpretative one andraptlistener.storyteller In Hutcheon’s words, this wouldbethekindofself- process bywhichthetextemergesfrominteractionofwriterandaudience, lays bare the“bones” andextradiegeticreaders canwatchthevery ofstorytelling pin herdown andretreats intoambiguity: into akindofEveryman Robinson Crusoe. too,oratwenty-first-century double nature asJimmy andSnowman, before andafterthegenocide,turnshim Tale a distancefrom ourempathy. But Oryx’s name,likeOffred’s true in processes. In thisresults from part thefactthatdystopianframeplacesthemat room, theyare free-floating characters,signifiersforlarger andmore abstract forming bodilyfunctions.Even thoughtheyare enclosedbythewalls ofabed- ingly neutralvoiceswhileatthesametimetheyare obviouslydiscussingandper- trope theylosecorporeality andreality andbecomefairlydisembodiedseem- that never failstolurethereader (224-25). fession, asNathalie Cookehasrightlypointedout,isapowerful rhetorical strategy credibility simplybyvirtueoftheform.But Atwood’s handlingofthefictivecon- thatsoundedsounlikelyin ofchildslavery of story ofherpast.It shamefulparts isalsostrikingthatthiskind tance todisclosecertain previous novel. LikeIris, seemstobeareliable narratordespitesomereluc- Oryx inwaysthatresemble Iris’s tellsherlifestory hypodiegetic sectionsOryx taleinthe orfar-fetched,whileinthe and thusisunderstoodasbasicallyuntruthful ded talein to raiseeven more paradoxicalquestionsaboutthewritingtriangle. that its truthfulness canbecheckedandverified:that itstruthfulness Assassin ismore thanin fordetails,andhisparticipation intrusive presses Oryx muchlarger.volvement andinvestmentinthetaleisproportionally He continually Hisone whofeelsanurgentneedtoknow aboutOryx. personalin- everything Crake out asacharmerandmagicianluringhisaudienceintomagiccircle,in 144).But thatwasnotAtwood’s lastword onwritingorreading. Her next , remains unknown, and her life story isatbestextremelyvague,, remains whereasJimmy’s unknown, andherlifestory itisthereader’s rolethatbecomes more prominent.Jimmy appearstobethe Oryx andCrakeOryx , perhapsbecausetherealistic toneofthetaledeceiveshimintobelieving Generally, herselfskilfullyfendsoffthiskindofattemptto thestoryteller made herunhappy. (Atwood, to trackdown and personallyinjure anyonewhohadever doneharmtoheror aboutanywhereever itwaspossibletoknow she’d aboutOryx, been.He’d wanted him aclueastowhichcityithadbeen.In thosedayshe’d wantedtoknowwhat- were‘There canalsinthiscity?’Jimmy asked.He thoughtmaybethatwouldgive While Jimmy resembleIris andOryx ofthemetafictional andAlexinthataspart andCrakeOryx The BlindAssassin The BlindAssassin 62 , usesoncemore thechronotopeoflovers’ room inorder reverses therelationship betweenframingtextandembed- . Here thediegeticlevelconsistsofafuturistictale, put the storyteller inthespotlight,andhestood putthestoryteller O &C 135) The Blind Assassin 16/04/2008, 13:53 Narcissistic Narra- The Handmaid’s acquires here The Blind Oryx and Oryx 04 PilarCuderDomínguez.pmd becomes... anactofpossession,control” ( seducesandlures, whereascissistic texts,inwhichtheactofstorytelling “[r]eading appears toactualizetheeroticorsexualmetaphordescribed byHutcheon fornar- withhersmallripplinglaugh”death?’ saidOryx, (Atwood, come assassins:“‘Oh Jimmy, youwouldlikeitbettermaybeifweto allstarved much asAlexdidtoIris whensheexpressed herdistress that children shouldbe- Assassin demanding narratee,butatothertimessheretaliates inasimilarvein to and thenarrative actofcommunionlesssuccessful here thanintheprevious novel later on) is structured astheempoweredlater on)isstructured “male gaze” definedbyLauraMulvey: body (practisingsexintheearlyimagesandnakedamongChildren ofCrake teaching sessionswiththem.His ofOxyx’s obsessive surveillance explicitlysexualized her throughthecameraassheinteractswithChildren ofCrake duringher at firstasunreachablehismother. Later, whenhefinallymeetsher, hewatches himonanendless butultimatelyelusivesearchforher,this started proved forOryx ontheweb, whilesurfing and spied theimageofpersonheidentifiesasOryx the postcards heoccasionally receives clipshegetstowatch.He orinthenews first family, Jimmy’s motherremains elusively butstubbornlyaliveinimages,either from thelossofhismotherthathesuffered asachild.Althoughsheabandonedher narcissistic willtodiscursivelyandvisually“possess” canbereadasderiving Oryx andintheattitudeof thevoyeur.shown intheactofsurveillance In fact,Jimmy’s goes farbeyondtherealm ofdiscourseandthewallsroom.He istypically transmit. one whohasknowledge andinsights, andperhapsevenatouchofcynicism,to isthemore experiencedandmundaneofthepair, (Oryx) well thestoryteller the . She accusesJimmy ofnaivetéconcerningtheissuesexualslavery, very ‘None ofwhat,Jimmy?’ (Atwood, her, strokingherhair. ‘None ofitwasyourfault.’ He thoughtheunderstoodhervagueness,evasiveness.‘It’s allright,’he’d told them? Why doyouthinktheyare picturesofme?’ she’d said,‘You havealotofpictures inyourhead,Jimmy. Where did youget want totellyouthat.’Or, ‘Jimmy, you So hewouldask,andthenshemightsay, ‘Idon’t know. I’ve forgotten.’ Or, ‘Idon’t ‘Ask meaquestion,’she’d reply. ‘Tell mejustonething,’he’d say, backwhenhewasstillJimmy. Consequently, the hypodiegeticorsecondnarrative level ofAtwood’s novel looked-at-ness coded forstrongvisualanderoticimpactsothattheycanbesaidtoconnote ist rolewomenare simultaneouslylookedatanddisplayed,withtheirappearance onto thefemalefigure,whichisstyledaccordingly. In theirtraditionalexhibition- active/male andpassive/female. The In aworldordered bysexualimbalance,pleasure inlookinghasbeensplitbetween Oryx’s againsther evasiveness helpsherretain somecontrolofthestory Bound byJimmy’s obsessive desire,Oryx’s voiceislesspowerful thanAlex’s, Yet, Jimmy/Snowman broadlyexerts awilltodominateandcontrol that . (19) 63 O &C determining malegazeprojectsitsfantasy Narcissistic Narrative are sobad,it’s notyourbusiness.’ Once 114) 16/04/2008, 13:53 O &C 85). 119).Here as The Blind to-be-

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PILAR CUDER DOMÍNGUEZ 64 Postmodern it isyetanotherexampleofherpostmoderntreatment offiction.In The forpower.deprived oftensionsorstruggles act,thoughneitheris of thesoulandbodythatmirrorsliterary nature ofnarrative. Thus theinteractionoflovers entailsakindofcommunion its verisimilitude, andintheprocesstheyhighlightconstructedpolyphonic andsometimesredirectcan promptthenarrators,interrupt thestory, orchallenge physical) possession,whereby theyappropriateand‘consume’ theirloved ones. They less, sinceforthem(Iris, Jimmy) listeningbecomesanactof(psychological versus has theabilitytokeepnarrateeenthralled,butaudienceisfarfrompower- lovers’ roominboth hasattemptedtoshow (Alex,Oryx) how thestoryteller the reader ofmeaning. asinterpreter ofthetextandasultimaterepository room inthisnovel isJimmy’s room, suggeststhestronger whichfurther power of denies herthewilfulsuspensionofhisdisbelief. It isalsosignificantthatthelovers’ cerning narrativedynamics,Jimmy thereader resists Oryx’s and tellingofherstory contrasting waysofseeingwithoutseeing” (“Blindness andSurvival” 187).Con- or symbolicblindness,andthat“[b]othCrakeJimmy aremonstersintheir that inthislaterphaseAtwoodhasturnedtowards therelated problemofphysical what isseen.Althoughtheobjectifyinggaze remains anissue, Wilson hasargued andwaysofseeingaswellrecordingexplore issuesofdistortion andtransmitting her writing. Typically, mirrorsandcamerasinearlierAtwood’s textsallowed herto is watchingyou.”Atwood’s interestinvisualtechnologyhasbeenlongapparent in behave very muchlikethe behave very TV screens inOrwell’s dystopianfashion,they ity ofitsbeingusedforviolenceagainstthem.In true beingcarriedoutovering feelingofsecret surveillance individualsandthepossibil- izing theirlivesandworries.However, in a successionofrented orborrowed rooms,andcolludedinawilfulactoffictional- on therunandavictimizedwifemanagedtocometogetherinneutralspaceof were similarlyplaced inapositionofrelative disempowerment. Asubversive writer voyeurism, in kind ofpower onthefemaleobject/narrator, asvoyeur and asnarratee.Concerning is livingthrough.Asdescribedabove, hard heexerts toexert) (ortriesvery adouble Snowman attemptstoimposephallocentricorder inthemidstofutterchaoshe with thestatusofademi-godorhighpriestamongChildrenCrake,Jimmy/ toaglobalholocaust andasolesurvivor female objectofhisobsessiontoscrutiny from thecombinationofvisualandauralcontrol. Amalevoyeur thatsubjectsthe comparatively more empowered bothasreader andascharacter, perhapsstemming cally. In actlesscollaborativelyandmore hierarchi- theliterary because theyare performing This initselfisnotsomuchanovelty inthecontext ofAtwood’s writingas This briefanalysisofthewritingtriangleascastinchronotope ofthe inevitably afixed andfinalproduct.Andthistensionremainsunresolved. There is kinetic process(itswritingand,again,itsreading) andthefinalresult—‘Art’— as Her novels as are thematicallyandformallyobsessedwiththetensionbetweenart The Blind Assassin , LindaHutcheon pointedoutthat: Oryx andCrakeOryx 64 AlexandIris, aswriterandreader butalsoascharacters, thecomputerand TV screenenhancetheterrify- Oryx andCrakeOryx 1984 andtheslogan“Big Brother 16/04/2008, 13:53 Jimmy/Snowman is Canadian 04 PilarCuderDomínguez.pmd revelations he so fervently expects.AsIngersollrevelations hasremarked, hesofervently to drawintotellingherown story, butheconsistentlyfailstoobtainfromherthe in asecludedroomwiththeconvictedmurderess Grace Marks, whomheattempts However, ing, particularly regardinging, particularly thetreatment ofrace. andgivethelietoeachother.nested talesbuildadialogueofsorts, Rather, theparadoxbecomes enhancedbythewayinwhichframingand correctness onliteratureandneitherisshetieddown events. bytheweightoftrue goals, sinceinthemAtwoodisnotovertly concernedwiththeimpactofpolitical tive structure thanthosetwoearlierworksaswelltheirown distinctive scopeand the ChildrenofCrake. Yet, herhandlingofthistopicislessthansatisfactory. It is andinthecreation ofanewhumanspecies, of race,bothinthecharacterOryx Chase” (251).In Bouson hascalled“the traumaticsexualsacrificeofthetwosisters,Iris andLaura torical victimizationofwhitemiddle-classheterosexualwomenbymeanswhat thehis- ofaliberalfeministpositionthatportrays strategies are puttotheservice of the discovery of“truth”of thediscovery inSimon Jordan, anearlierdraftforJimmy/Snowman. narrate andhow itcanbere-negotiated, anditconveys oncemoretheimpossibility (394). Moreover, asacloseantecedentofthetwonovels underdiscussionhere, reveal herown craftinchoosingtotellornotwhatsheispresumed toknow” thor, standinginforhercreator. Time andagain,thenarrative licensesGrace to metafictional novel becauseof“itsforegrounding ofGrace asastoryteller, orau- novel the collaborationofreader forliterature toexistatall. a time” (259).In thestory, atpainstoshow of Atwoodiscertainly theimportance andcorrected thatisbeinginterrupted oneword at onwithastory ties ofcarrying as “a taleonnarrativemethod,whichdemonstratesthedifficul- metafictionalfairy the flow ofthetaleandtriestomodifyit.Patricia Merivale hasdescribedthisstory andanopinionatednarrateewhodisrupts friction between abedtimestoryteller Once”, where thetensionbetweenprocess andresult isembodiedbythedialogical “There Was story perhaps theclosestonetothoseunderanalysistodayisshort spheres speakingin“‘Iamtellingthistonoonebutyou.’” ofpublicandprivate power imbalancebetweenthem.Lovelady inturnhasconnectednarrative issuestothegendered strategies ofcontrol deployed byGrace inherconversations withSimon inorder toredress the Alias Grace Nevertheless, Atwood’s prob- agendaintheserecent further works deserves Canadian Postmodern no dialecticorevenreal dichotomy, justpostmodernparadox.(Hutcheon, One mightarguethatthisissuefeatures prominently aswellinthe1996 Among themanyprevious instancesofthisparadox inAtwood’s writing, 6 In her article “’ThatiswhatItoldDr In herarticle Jordan,’” Siddall hasdescribedinsomelengththe The Blind Assassin displaysearlyinsightsintothepower differentialbetweennarratorand . There aneageryoung doctor, Simon Jordan, haslonginterviews Oryx andCrakeOryx 65 138) and Oryx andCrakeOryx , Atwood’s metafiction ushersintheproblematics haveamuchmore complexnarra- The Blind Assassin 16/04/2008, 13:53 Alias Grace ’s self-reflective isa The 6

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PILAR CUDER DOMÍNGUEZ 66 do too. The textthuscreatedsurelybecomes ashared actoflove. and liesneedeachother, justasthetwolovers do,justasthewriterandreader thathighlightsheterogeneityanddialogue,whereile andcomplexstructure truth yond thescriptofliberalfeminism,Atwood hascreated inherrecent novels afrag- act.Asdescribedabove,in theliterary anddespiteacertaininabilitytomove be- tool toexplore avarietyofissues,butmostremarkably theroleofauthorandreader Yet, Canadianauthorsappeartocontinuefindself-reflective fictionapowerful in academiccirclesofthe1980sthathaslostmostitsfashionableappealbynow. to valueinher. two clichésoftheAsianwoman’s stereotype, are thefeatures thatSnowman seems the pliablesexobjectofheterosexualmalefantasies.Pliability andmystery, those and lickingwhippedcream offanakedadultmale,thisAsianchildispositionedas image astheywere browsing asexwebsite.Alittlegirlofaroundeight,onherknees manyyears before theiractualmeeting,asheandCrakecameuponher with Oryx oftheCaucasiannorm.Snowman/Jimmyfore implicitlypart becamefascinated ones shemostlyinteractswith,Jimmy/Snowman andCrake,areraceless,there- to. She isisolatedfromsiblingsorfriends. The twoothermaincharacters,andthe istheonlypersonwhoseraceeven obliquelyalluded tonotethatOryx important in Canada’s literature. contemporary outthattheymightnotdeveloplateron. rule Moreover, thefactthathierarchical stratificationisnon-extantatpresent doesnot springs notmerely fromcolour, butfrom itsconnectiontosocial(dis)advantages. to theabsenceof‘race’ whilemaintainingarangeofskincolours.Afterall,racism much but fromthegeneticallyengineered choiceofsameness,whichamountsvery of racismdoesnotresult fromahigheramountofhumantoleranceover difference, inequalities isinfactonlyanerasure ofdifference.It thattheabsence isnoteworthy which noracismexists.But thisutopianresolution ofdifference anditsensuing engineered nottoregister skincolouratall. Thus, weare ledtoimagineasocietyin Crake Atwoodimaginesanewracethatcomesinallskincolours,andhasbeen in thelastfifteenyears. AcaseinpointisHiromi Goto’s firstwork, narrative, Atwood isendowing himwithauthorityandsimultaneouslydenyingOryx’s. Eurocentric, masculinistmemoriesofSnowman intheframe.By choosingSnowman tocontrol the established betweenbothnarrative levels,thatis,between hervoice inthenestedtalesand of thepower differential establishedwithinthenestedtales(asdescribedabove) aswell astheone (154). multilayered perspective,whichhastheeffectinnovel ofwhatMikhail Bakhtin calls‘heteroglossia’” nently. Thus, Ty hasremarked that“[t]hemultiplenarratorsand thefictionaldocumentscreate a novel alsofeature inwhichdialogism,genre promi- hybridizationandcollaborativestorytelling These twonovels attesttothestrong currency ofmetafictionalapproaches 8 7 Indeed, otherinteresting examplesofself-reflexive fictionhavebeenpublished inCanada istheresult ofOryx One andcontendthattheorientalistportrayal mightevengofurther 7 In contrast to this orientalist portrayal of Oryx, intheChildren In of ofOryx, contrasttothis orientalistportrayal 66 8 “Metafiction” wasanever-present buzzword 16/04/2008, 13:53 Chorus ofMushroomsChorus (1994),a 04 PilarCuderDomínguez.pmd B —— “There Was Once.” —— S C S H S S A —— —— H T M M L I —— G R D B NGERSOLL TEIN TAELS IDDALL HUMWAY OVELADY OUSON AKHTIN TWOOD IMMON Y OOKE ENETTE VORAK UTCHEON ITCHCOCK ERIVALE ULVEY , Eleanor. , Karen F. “Talking Back toBluebeard: Atwood’s Fictional Storytellers.” Oryx andCrakeOryx Negotiating withtheDead The Blind Assassin The Canadian Postmodern , Hilde. “Margaret Atwood’s Specular Narrative: , Nathalie. Politics “The of Ventriloquism: Margaret Atwood’s Fictive Confessions.” , Gillian. iswhatItoldDr. “That Jordan...”: Public andPrivate Constructions Disruptions , Laura. , J.Brooks. “‘A Commemorationof Wounds Endured andResented’: Margaret Atwood’s , Marta. “The RightHand “The , Marta. Writing andtheLeftHandErasinginMargaret Atwood’s -K , M.M. , Margaret. , Gerard. , Suzanne Rosenthal. “The ChronotopeoftheAssylum: , Suzanne Rosenthal.“The , Patricia. “From ‘Bad News’ to‘’: Margaret Atwood’s Gendering and ofArt 147-60. Helen Wussow. Minneapolis: UofMinnesota P, 1994.152-70. Theory.” The Blind Assassin in Margaret Atwood’s 2004. State UP, 2003.154-71. Textual Assassinations:Recent Poetry andFiction Elegy.” 35-52. American Review ofCanadianStudies 1980. Blind Assassin Sphere inMargaret Atwood’s Atwoods 1981. , Stephanie. “‘Iamtellingthistonoonebutyou’: Private voice,Passing, andthePrivate , Earl.“Engendering Metafiction: Textuality andClosure inMargaret Atwood’s ENAN , Linda. , Peter. The Politics ofthe Visible North inAsian American Narratives , Shlomith. Visual andOtherPleasures The DialogicImagination. Four Essays Various Atwoods . Ed. LorraineM. York. Toronto: Anansi,1995.207-28. Narrative Discourse:anEssay inMethod A Dialogueof Voices: Feminist Literary andBakhtin Theory Dialogics oftheOppressed Narcissistic Narrative: The Metafictional Paradox Alias Grace . London:Bloomsbury, 2003. .” . London:Bloomsbury, 2000. Commonwealth 67 Good Bones asFeminist Memoir.” Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics . Cambridge:CambridgeUP, 2002. . Toronto: McClelland andStewart, 1996. . Toronto:UP,Oxford 1988. Alias Grace . Ed. LorraineM. York. Toronto: Anansi,1995.253-70. . Toronto: CoachHouse, 1992.19-25. WORKS CITED Alias Grace 25.1(2002):59-68. . London:Macmillan, 1989. .” . Minneapolis: UofMinnesota P, 1993. Essays onCanadian Writing 31.3(2001):385-403. Critique .” The BlindAssassin . Ed. Michael Holquist. Austin: Uof Texas P, Studies inCanadian Literature . Ed. Sharon Rose Wilson. Columbus:Ohio . Ithaca: CornellUP, 1980. 44.3(2003):251-69. Jane Eyre . London:Routledge, 1983. . Waterloo: Wilfrid LaurierUP, .” , Feminism, andBakhtinian English Studies 16/04/2008, 13:53 . Toronto: Uof Toronto P, 81 (2004):84-103. . Ed. Karen Hohne and Margaret Atwood’s 24.2(1999): 85.2(2004): Alias Grace Various The .”

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PILAR CUDER DOMÍNGUEZ 68 W ILSON , Sharon R.“Blindness andSurvival inMargaret Atwood’s Major Novels.” 176-90. Companion toMargaret Atwood 68 . Ed.CoralAnnHowells. Cambridge:CambridgeUP, 2006. 16/04/2008, 13:53 The Cambridge