The Political in Margaret Atwood's Fiction ─ The Writing on the Wall of the Tent

The author of this book, Theodore F. Sheckels (English and Communication Studies, Randolph-Macon College) is the founding editor of Margaret Atwood Studies. Here, he looks at Atwood specifically as a political theorist whose primary concern was analyzing and theorizing on issues of oppression. However, this picture of Atwood is produced by a literature scholar looking at the work of a novelist. Sheckels writes with an eye on the practical issues: Atwood's status as both an iconic literary and political figure, and the divide between academics who specialize in cultural politics and those who specialize in literature. The book's language is that of a professor with a modernist literary interest in good prose, who cares about academic postmodernism. For readers with a strong interest in Atwood the writer, this book may provide a more accessible look at critical theory, and for readers whose interest in Atwood is strongly theoretical, this book may provide a more accessible look at traditional literary scholarship. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Theodore F. Sheckels is Professor of English and Communication Studies at Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia, USA. The founding editor of Margaret Atwood Studies and the current President of the Margaret Atwood Society, he is the author of several studies of Commonwealth literatures and U.S. and Commonwealth political communication.