Editing Margaret Atwood (section)

===Theory of Canadian identity===
Atwood's contributions to the theorizing of Canadian identity have garnered attention both in Canada and internationally. Her principal work of literary criticism, ''[[Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature]]'', is considered somewhat outdated, but remains a standard introduction to [[Canadian literature]] in [[Canadian studies]] programs internationally.<ref name="Moss20062">{{cite book|title="Margaret Atwood: Branding an Icon Abroad" in Margaret Atwood: The Open Eye|last=Moss|first=Laura|publisher=University of Ottawa Press|year=2006|editor=John Moss|location=Ottawa|page=28|author-link=|editor2=Tobi Kozakewich}}</ref><ref>Chambers, C. M. (1999). A topography for canadian curriculum theory. ''Canadian Journal of Education, 24''(2), 137.</ref><ref>Atwood, M. (July 1, 1999). "Survival, then and now." ''Maclean's, 112'', 54.</ref> Writer and academic [[Joseph Pivato]] has criticised the continued reprinting of ''Survival'' by Anansi Press as a view-narrowing disservice to students of Canadian literature.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pivato|first=Joseph|author-link=Joseph Pivato|date=October 6, 2020|orig-year=April 26, 2016|title=Atwood's ''Survival'': A Critique|url=https://canadian-writers.athabascau.ca/english/writers/matwood/survival.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412082134/http://canadian-writers.athabascau.ca/english/writers/matwood/survival.php|archive-date=April 12, 2018|url-status=live|department=Canadian Writers|publisher=Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, Athabasca University|access-date=April 11, 2018}}</ref>

In ''Survival'', Atwood postulates that Canadian literature, and by extension Canadian identity, is characterized by the symbol of survival.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Atwood|first=Margaret|year=1972|title=Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature|url=https://archive.org/details/survivalthematic0000atwo|url-access=registration|location=Toronto|publisher=Anansi|page=[https://archive.org/details/survivalthematic0000atwo/page/32 32]}}</ref> This symbol is expressed in the omnipresent use of "victim positions" in Canadian literature. These positions represent a scale of self-consciousness and self-actualization for the victim in the "victor/victim" relationship.<ref name="Atwood, M. 1972, 36-422">Atwood, M. (1972), 36–42.</ref> The "victor" in these scenarios may be other humans, nature, the wilderness or other external and internal factors which oppress the victim.<ref name="Atwood, M. 1972, 36-422" /> Atwood's ''Survival'' bears the influence of [[Northrop Frye]]'s theory of [[garrison mentality]]; Atwood uses Frye's concept of Canada's desire to wall itself off from outside influence as a critical tool to analyze Canadian literature.<ref name="Pache20022">{{Cite book|last=Pache|first=Walter|year=2002|chapter=A Certain Frivolity: Margaret Atwood's Literary Criticism|editor-last=Nischik|editor-first=Reingard M.|editor-link=Reingard M. Nischik|title=Margaret Atwood: Works and Impact|location=Toronto|publisher=House of Anansi Press|page=122|isbn=978-1-57113-269-7|oclc=53823716}}</ref> According to her theories in works such as ''Survival'' and her exploration of similar themes in her fiction, Atwood considers Canadian literature as the expression of Canadian identity. According to this literature, Canadian identity has been defined by a fear of nature, by settler history, and by unquestioned adherence to the community.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Survival : a thematic guide to Canadian literature|author=Atwood Margaret|date=1996|publisher=M & S|isbn=978-0771008320|edition= 1st McClelland & Stewart|location=Toronto, Ontario|oclc=35930298|orig-year=1972}}</ref> In an interview with the [[Scottish national identity|Scottish]] critic Bill Findlay in 1979, Atwood discussed the relationship of Canadian writers and writing to the 'Imperial Cultures' of America and Britain.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Findlay|first=Bill|author-link=Bill Findlay (writer)|date=Autumn 1979|title=Interview with Margaret Atwood|editor-last=Bold|editor-first=Christine|journal=Cencrastus|issue=1|pages=2–6|issn=0264-0856}}</ref>

Atwood's contribution to the theorizing of Canada is not limited to her non-fiction works. Several of her works, including ''[[The Journals of Susanna Moodie]]'', ''[[Alias Grace]]'', ''[[The Blind Assassin]]'' and ''[[Surfacing (novel)|Surfacing]]'', are examples of what postmodern literary theorist [[Linda Hutcheon]] calls "[[historiographic metafiction]]".<ref name="Howells20062">{{cite book|title="Writing History from The Journals of Susanna Moodie to The Blind Assassin" in Margaret Atwood: The Open Eye|last=Howells|first=Coral Ann|publisher=University of Ottawa Press|year=2006|editor=John Moss|location=Ottawa|page=111|editor2=Tobi Kozakewich}}</ref> In such works, Atwood explicitly explores the relation of history and narrative and the processes of creating history.<ref>{{cite web|title=Structuralist analysis of Margaret Atwood's novels The Handmaid's Tale, Cat's Eye, and The Robber Bride|url=http://darhiv.ffzg.unizg.hr/id/eprint/10641/1/2014%20Zeljezic%20diplomski%20-ANG.pdf|access-date=October 17, 2019|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112211722/http://darhiv.ffzg.unizg.hr/id/eprint/10641/1/2014%20Zeljezic%20diplomski%20-ANG.pdf|url-status=live }}</ref>

Among her contributions to Canadian literature, Atwood is a founding trustee of the [[Griffin Poetry Prize]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.griffinpoetryprize.com/about/trustees/|title=Griffin Poetry Prize: The Griffin Trust: Trustees|access-date=June 8, 2014|archive-date=September 28, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928162651/http://www.griffinpoetryprize.com/about/trustees/|url-status=live}}</ref> as well as a founder of the [[Writers' Trust of Canada]], a non-profit literary organization that seeks to encourage Canada's writing community.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.writerstrust.com/About.aspx|title=About Us: The Writers' Trust of Canada|access-date=February 18, 2014|archive-date=February 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209150438/http://www.writerstrust.com/About.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> She has called [[Mona Awad]], a Canadian novelist and short-story writer, her "literary heir apparent".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Guadagnino|first1=Kate|title=Margaret Atwood and Mona Awad on Writing Outside the Lines|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/20/t-magazine/margaret-atwood-mona-awad.html|access-date=May 8, 2023|work=[[T: The New York Times Style Magazine]]|date=April 20, 2023}}</ref>