語言是人們用以思考與表達思想的媒介。長久以來，人們相信語言為溝通的工具，可以傳達個人思想。但是由後現代的角度看來，語言一旦被使用，就具有自己的生命。一段文字的意義不再固定於創作出該段文字的人原本所要表達的意思，而在於聽者與讀者對於該段文字所產生出的不同的解碼。

本論文旨在討論艾德伍德《女僕的故事》中的語言力量。藉由探討小說中不同立場對語言的使用，希望能夠印證話語/語言絕不可能中立的看法，話語總是含有價值判斷的。而且，話語本身就是不同立場角逐的領域；只有權力最大的一方，才能輕易掌握發言權，並得以以最顯著的音量發聲。而這也是為何發聲是如何重要的事，只有發聲，才能表達自己的立場，也才能替自己爭取權益。

本論文分為六個部份：除了導論和結論外，第一章、第二章和第三章分別討論小說中三種不同的聲音，它們亦代表三種不同的思考模式；第四章討論小說作者艾德伍德本人的加拿大經驗對她的思考與寫作 (皆為使用語言的過程) 所產生的影響。話語在小說中不僅是被用以壓迫人的工具，但亦為受壓迫者得以反壓迫的方法，因為話語是具有強大力量的。

Table of Contents

Acknowledgement………………………………………………………iii

Chinese Abstract…………………………………………………………v

English Abstract…………………………………………………………vi

Chapter

Introduction………………………………………………………1

Chapter One: Discourses of the Republic of Gilead…………………17

Discourses of Sexuality in Gilead ……………………………… 18

Althusser's Ideology and Language of Gilead ……………………26

Chapter Two: Offred's Story: A History of Wome …………………42

Offred's Language and Her Subjectivity …………………………45

A History of Women……………………………………………56

Chapter Three: The History Notes: Pieixoto's Story…………………62

Pieixoto's Appropriation of Offred's Tale…………………………64

A History of the Dominant Males ………………………………66

Chapter Four: The Canadianness in the Novel………………………73

Conclusion ………………………………………………………82

Bibliography………………………………………………………88

Language is a medium by which people think and express themselves. For a long time, language was seen as a tool used by people to communicate and reveal thoughts. In postmodern time, language is viewed as having its own life. Once a speech or a statement is produced, it is beyond the control of the producer. It is, instead, in the hand of the listener or the reader. My thesis aims to discuss the language power in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. By analyzing the novel's three different language systems, I hope to demonstrate that language is never value-free and that it is always by someone and for someone. Moreover, language is itself a place where different positions struggle with each other. Only the most powerful people can dominate language as they wish and express themselves loudly.

This thesis will be divided into six parts: introduction, three chapters dealing with three kinds of language systems underpinned by different thinking, a chapter dealing with the influence of Atwood's Canadian experience on her thought and language, and the conclusion. In the novel, language is not only used as a tool to oppress people, it is also used as a weapon to resist and subvert the oppression. This is all because there is power in language.

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