Aleph
Volume 7, Numéro 3, Pages 67-86
2020-09-30

The Utopian Promise And The Dystopian Premise: Body Transgressions In Gather The Daughters.

Authors : Kohil Mouna . Bouregbi Salah .

Abstract

The present paper attempts to establish a comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms of female domination in patriarchal communities. The paper takes Gather the Daughters (2017) by Jennie Melamed as its corpus of study. The aims of this work are three folds: First, to delineate the utopian ‘dream’ that stimulated the quest for a distinct premise, or a sanctuary from unfavourable social or political trends that perpetuate the imaginary society. Second, to locate, analyze and illuminate circumstances that lead to the drift towards the dystopian nightmare which is characterized by excessive control, depravation, isolation, manipulation of history, perverse sexual relations and female exploitation. Third, to unravel the causes and the consequences of incestuous relationships that pervade the narrative. The present work has shown that writers of feminist dystopias succeed in communicating the atrocities imposed upon women which are sanctified by the patriarchal rules that govern the dystopian communities.

Keywords

Dystopia ; Utopia ; Isolation ; Patriarchy ; Sexual abuse ; Melamed