Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
10th INTERNATIONAL KTUDELL CONFERENCE LANGUAGE, LITERATURE & TRANSLATION, Trabzon, Türkiye, 29 - 30 Mayıs 2025, (Yayınlanmadı)
Abstract First coined by Jean Baudrillard, hyperreality refers to the state in which people cannot distinguish between reality and its representation in simulation, especially in highly technological postmodern societies. Hyperreality is one of the major themes of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," in which the boundaries between simulation and reality appear to become increasingly blurred. In Atwood's dystopian world, there are underlying political and ideological structures to the characters' interpretations, reflecting and distorting present societal concerns. In Gilead's regime, such ruling policies distort individual actual experiences into a hyperreal state that erodes the genuineness of personal identity and human relationships through diverse strategies of propaganda and ritualistic practices. The distortion of reality strengthens the repressive structures of power, where the characters move within an atmosphere in which their perceptions are coloured by the fictions created by the state. This eventually leads to a reflection on what constitutes truth and how community control affects individual freedom. Atwood urges the reader to examine the impacts of hyperreality in their lives and to be aware of how ideology and media can distort our view of reality. The study concludes that Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is a narrative that explores the relationship between individuals and a dystopian society that combines the real with the fake, making it more believable than reality itself. Keywords: Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, reality, hyperreality