Enthymema (Jul 2023)

Post-apocalyptic Subjectivity and Nature/Culture Duality in Lois Lowry’s The Giver

  • Younes Poorghorban,
  • Bakhtiar Sadjadi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.54103/2037-2426/18620
Journal volume & issue
no. 32

Abstract

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The present inquiry endeavors to scrutinize the process of identity formation with regard to the Culture/Nature dichotomy within the milieu of Lois Lowry's post-apocalyptic dystopian narrative, The Giver. The antipodal forces of Culture and Nature are instrumental in shaping the social subjectivities of individuals. Lowry's post-apocalyptic dystopia portrays a society in which these antitheses are comprehensively epitomized. Our objective is to explicate the genesis of post-apocalyptic identities and to elucidate the representation of Nature/Culture within the social context of the aforementioned literary work. Furthermore, the polarity between power and resistance, which is of notable import to cultural studies, is nonexistent within this post-apocalyptic dystopia. Consequently, the establishment of identities transpires not at the site of contention between power and resistance, but exclusively through the ascendency of the imperializing power. As a corollary, the elimination of the recollections of those individuals who are unable to oppose the imperializing power is integral to the construction of homogeneous identities.

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