Iranian Journal of Educational Research

en Language as Fixed Destiny or Chosen Destination in Margaret Atwood's The Testaments: Testimony and Surveillance through Judith Butler and bell hooks Educational Studies پژوهشي Original <div style="text-align: justify;">Objective: This study examines the role of testimony in Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments and investigates how voice and language function both as tools of self‑fashioning and mechanisms of surveillance within the post‑Gileadean narrative. Methods: The analysis draws on Judith Butler’s theory of performativity and bell hooks’ intersectional critique of power and voice. Through a close reading of the testimonies of Aunt Lydia, Agnes, and Daisy, the study explores how language constructs authority, identity, and moral legitimacy while reflecting unequal access to expression. Results: The analysis demonstrates that testimony in The Testaments is not neutral but shaped by social and political systems that enable some narratives while marginalizing others. Butler’s framework reveals how authority and legitimacy are produced through the repetition and recognition of language, while hooks’ perspective highlights how power operates through unequal access to voice, even among women. Across the three perspectives, language emerges neither as a space of absolute freedom nor total restriction but as a constrained field of possibility. Conclusions: The findings suggest that The Testaments shifts the focus of control in Gilead from silencing individuals to regulating how they speak. Through its use of voice, memory, and survival narratives, the novel raises ethical questions about expression, authority, and the preservation of memory under systems of power.</div> Language and Power, Performativity, Surveillance, Intersectionality, Voice and Authority 0 0 http://ijer.hormozgan.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-525-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Maryam Moslehi maryam.moslehei@iau.ac.ir 10031947532846004894 0009-0001-4559-8259 No Department of English language, Ar.C., Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran Hojatollah Borzabadi Farahani 053225375222@iau.ac.ir 10031947532846004895 0009-0000-4097-8028 Yes Department of English Language, Ar.C., Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran Fatemeh Azizmohammadi Fa.Azizmohamadi@iau.ac.ir 10031947532846004896 10031947532846004896 No Department of English Language, Ar.C., Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran Masoomeh Khodadad Ma.Khodadadi@iau.aac.ir 10031947532846004897 0009-0003-5022-8150 No Department of English Language, Ar.C., Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran