Número 19 - Disinformation and public representations of identity. A feminist close reading of Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace
Sara Calvo de Mora Mármol – Universidad de Granada - ORCID
Adelina Sánchez-Espinosa – Universidad de Granada - ORCID
Abstract
While it may be thought that disinformation and ‘fake news’ are concepts related to contemporary mass media, they are, indeed, much older concerns that have always been part of our society, tracing a media craze path and noticeably blooming nowadays due to the power of the media. This is why it is essential to cultivate critical thinking when approaching journalistic discourses. In this contribution we will employ feminist close reading methods (Lukić and Sánchez, 2011) to examine examples of how newspapers and public opinion can influence and deform a story. We will take Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace (1996) as a case study in order to approach to what an extent its main character is influenced by conflictive opinions which finally determine the performance of her identity. Is being aware of public opinion enough to grant this character control over the self-construction of her image? The conclusions of this paper will include some considerations regarding the use of critical tools such as feminist close reading in the classroom. The case of Alias Grace exemplifies the negative effects of disinformation and ultimately illustrates the transformative potential of critical rewritings of official "HIStories ”.
Keywords: Canadian Fiction, Feminist Close Reading
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