The Handmaid's Tales in Gileadverse

In an innovative approach to the world-famous novelist Margaret Atwood and her oeuvre, this book traces the development of the transmedia universe built around Gilead, spanning over two novels, a serial, fan fiction, and social media. It offers a new perspective on 'The Handmaid's Tale' and by extension on the dynamics of world building that is difficult, if not altogether impossible, to analyze on the example of larger universes and media franchises. Each chapter offers insight into a different part of the Gilead universe, or a different point of entry, tracing character development, world expansion, the incongruities, and the intricate web of connections between particular elements. The loose threads are tied in 'The Testaments', which is both the grand finale and a springboard for new growth. This book will enable graduate students and scholars of transmedia or Atwood studies to discover new aspects of this storyworld, and to better understand other, larger and more complex ones.

Autorentext
Katarzyna Machala, PhD, is a lecturer of English at the Jagiellonian University, and a researcher in the field of transmedia studies, adaptation studies, and new media. She is author of numerous articles, i.e. on Margaret Atwood, and on the methods of teaching English as a foreign language. In her recent research, she focuses on interdisciplinary research encompassing literature and new media, with a special focus on transmedia studies.