Under His Eye: Gender, Law and Theonomy in The Handmaid’s Tale
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Our first meeting of the year went very well. Thanks to Richard Hil and to all who attended, for a convivial and informative sharing of reflections on the problems of dealing with the combined issues of Climate Change Action and current political events. Our next meeting, scheduled for Thursday 21 May, will be something completely different. Professor William MacNeil will take us into the dystopic world of Margaret Atwood’s novel and the TV series, A Handmaid’s Tale, to look at the underlying psychoanalytical workings of its themes of power and control, religion and misogyny. He has titled his talk Under His Eye: Gender, Law and Theonomy in The Handmaid’s Tale; and because his paper is quite abstract and ‘technical’, he has asked that we provide it before the talk to give people a chance to read it at leisure and become familiar with the Freudian concepts. You can download the paper here: MacNeil: Under His Eye Paper. Then on the night of the presentation, he will ‘talk to’ the paper in a less formal and more explanatory way, delineating the text’s representation of women; its idea(s) of law; its understanding of faith; its reconception of gender roles. He will screen clips from the series and will frame the talk with some context about the series and the text – its plot, author, sources. This ‘broad brush’ approach will help the discussion ‘flow’ comfortably for the audience. |
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Dr William MacNeil is an Honorary Professor of Law at the TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland and an Adjunct Professor of Law, Faculty of Law and Society, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs QLD. He also holds positions at Birkbeck University of London, University of Westminster (London) and Victoria University (Melbourne). Currently, he is completing a book entitled Speculative Legalism: Law in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. |
In order to manage numbers this time we are asking you to indicate your interest by replying to byronphilocafe@gmail.com by Friday the 15th May. We will then email you the bank transfer details. Should you then decide to attend the event we ask you to make the bank transfer of $10 per person by Monday the 18th May. You must provide your name in the bank transfer details.Food is available at the club along with drinks of course. Many people come early to eat and socialise before the meeting. You are allowed to take meals and drinks into the Anzac Room.Christine, Peter & Roger |
