Utopian and dystopian fiction
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Utopian and dystopian fiction are
More than 400 utopian works in the English language were published prior to the year 1900, with more than a thousand others appearing during the 20th century.
Subgenres
Utopian fiction
The word utopia was first used in direct context by
An earlier example of a Utopian work from
One example of the utopian genre's meaning and purpose is described in Fredric Jameson's Archeologies of the Future (2005), which addresses many utopian varieties defined by their program or impulse.[6]
Dystopian fiction
A dystopia is a society characterized by a focus on that which is contrary to the author's ethos, such as mass poverty, public mistrust and suspicion, a police state or oppression.[1] Most authors of dystopian fiction explore at least one reason why things are that way, often as an analogy for similar issues in the real world. Dystopian literature serves to "provide fresh perspectives on problematic social and political practices that might otherwise be taken for granted or considered natural and inevitable".[7] Some dystopias claim to be
Dystopias usually extrapolate elements of contemporary society, and thus can be read as political warnings.
Examples
The 1921 novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin portrays a post-apocalyptic future in which society is entirely based on logic and modeled after mechanical systems.[9] George Orwell was influenced by We when he wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four (published in 1949), a novel about Oceania, a state at perpetual war, its population controlled through propaganda.[10] Big Brother and the daily Two Minutes Hate set the tone for an all-pervasive self-censorship. Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel Brave New World started as a parody of utopian fiction, and projected into the year 2540 industrial and social changes he perceived in 1931, leading to industrial success by a coercively persuaded population divided into five castes; the World State kills everyone 60 years old or older.[9] Karin Boye's 1940 novel Kallocain is set in a totalitarian world state where a drug is used to control the individual's thoughts.[11]
History of dystopian fiction
The history of dystopian literature can be traced back to the reaction to the French Revolution of 1789 and the prospect that mob rule would produce dictatorship. Until the late 20th century, it was usually anti-collectivist. Dystopian fiction emerged as a response to the utopian. Its early history is traced in Gregory Claeys' Dystopia: A Natural History (Oxford University Press, 2017).
The beginning of technological dystopian fiction can be traced back to E. M. Forster's (1879–1970) "The Machine Stops."[13] [14] M Keith Booker states that "The Machine Stops," We and Brave New World are "the great defining texts of the genre of dystopian fiction, both in [the] vividness of their engagement with real-world social and political issues and in the scope of their critique of the societies on which they focus."[15]
Another important figure in dystopian literature is
Modern dystopian fiction draws not only on topics such as totalitarian governments and anarchism, but also pollution, global warming, climate change, health, the economy and technology. Modern dystopian themes are common in the young adult (YA) genre of literature.[17][18]
Combinations
Many works combine elements of both utopias and dystopias. Typically, an observer from our world will journey to another place or time and see one society the author considers ideal and another representing the worst possible outcome. Usually, the point is that our choices may lead to a better or worse potential future world. Ursula K. Le Guin's Always Coming Home fulfills this model, as does Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time. In Starhawk's The Fifth Sacred Thing there is no time-travelling observer. However, her ideal society is invaded by a neighbouring power embodying evil repression. In Aldous Huxley's Island, in many ways a counterpoint to his better-known Brave New World, the fusion of the best parts of Buddhist philosophy and Western technology is threatened by the "invasion" of oil companies. As another example, in the "Unwanteds" series by Lisa McMann, a paradox occurs where the outcasts from a complete dystopia are treated to absolute utopia. They believe that those who were privileged in said dystopia were the unlucky ones.
In another literary model, the imagined society journeys between elements of utopia and dystopia over the course of the novel or film. At the beginning of The Giver by Lois Lowry, the world is described as a utopia. However, as the book progresses, the world's dystopian aspects are revealed.
Ecotopian fiction
In ecotopian fiction, the author posits either a utopian or dystopian world revolving around environmental conservation or destruction. Danny Bloom coined the term "cli-fi" in 2006, with a Twitter boost from
While eco-dystopias are more common, a small number of works depicting what might be called eco-utopia, or eco-utopian trends, have also been influential. These include
There are a few dystopias that have an "anti-ecological" theme. These are often characterized by a government that is overprotective of nature or a society that has lost most modern technology and struggles for survival. A fine example of this is the novel Riddley Walker.
Feminist utopias
Another subgenre is feminist utopias and the overlapping category of feminist science fiction. According to the author Sally Miller Gearhart, "A feminist utopian novel is one which a. contrasts the present with an envisioned idealized society (separated from the present by time or space), b. offers a comprehensive critique of present values/conditions, c. sees men or male institutions as a major cause of present social ills, d. presents women as not only at least the equals of men but also as the sole arbiters of their reproductive functions."[21][22]
Utopias have explored the ramification of gender being either a societal construct or a hard-wired imperative.[23] In Mary Gentle's Golden Witchbreed, gender is not chosen until maturity, and gender has no bearing on social roles. In contrast, Doris Lessing's The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five (1980) suggests that men's and women's values are inherent to the sexes and cannot be changed, making a compromise between them essential. In My Own Utopia (1961) by Elisabeth Mann Borgese, gender exists but is dependent upon age rather than sex — genderless children mature into women, some of whom eventually become men.[23] Marge Piercy's novel Woman on the Edge of Time keeps human biology, but removes pregnancy and childbirth from the gender equation by resorting to assisted reproductive technology while allowing both women and men the nurturing experience of breastfeeding.
Utopic single-gender worlds or single-sex societies have long been one of the primary ways to explore implications of gender and gender-differences.[24] One solution to gender oppression or social issues in feminist utopian fiction is to remove men, either showing isolated all-female societies as in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Herland, or societies where men have died out or been replaced, as in Joanna Russ's A Few Things I Know About Whileaway, where "the poisonous binary gender" has died off. In speculative fiction, female-only worlds have been imagined to come about by the action of disease that wipes out men, along with the development of a technological or mystical method that allows female parthenogenetic reproduction. The resulting society is often shown to be utopian by feminist writers. Many influential feminist utopias of this sort were written in the 1970s;[24][25][26] the most often studied examples include Joanna Russ's The Female Man and Suzy McKee Charnas's The Holdfast Chronicles.[26] Such worlds have been portrayed most often by lesbian or feminist authors; their use of female-only worlds allows the exploration of female independence and freedom from patriarchy. The societies may not necessarily be lesbian, or sexual at all — Herland (1915) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a famous early example of a sexless society.[25] Charlene Ball writes in Women's Studies Encyclopedia that use of speculative fiction to explore gender roles has been more common in the United States than in Europe and elsewhere.[23]
Utopias imagined by male authors have generally included equality between sexes rather than separation.[27]
Cultural impact
Among the first decades of the 20th century in Russia, utopian science fiction literature popularity rose extremely due to the fact that the citizens wanted to fantasize about the future instead of just the fact that it was a new, up and coming genre of literature.[29] During the Cold War, however, utopian science fiction became exceptionally prominent among Soviet leaders. Many citizens of the Soviet Russia became dependent on this type of literature because it represented an escape from the real world which was not ideal at the time. Utopian science fiction allowed them to fantasize about how satisfactory it would be to live in a "perfect" world.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Apocalyptic Literature". Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd. 1993.
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(help) - ^ a b c Sargent, Lyman Tower (November 1976). "Themes in Utopian Fiction in English Before Wells". Science Fiction Studies. 3 (3): 275–82, see p. 275–6.
- )
- ISBN 978-1-775410-51-5.
- ^ )
- ISBN 1-84467-033-3.
- ISBN 9780313290923.
- ^
Sinclair, George R. (8 July 2020). "World Without End?". Look Around: A Christian Faith for the Twenty-First Century. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers (published 2020). p. 153. ISBN 9781725266681. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
Dystopian escapism sells. [...] Appealing to dark instincts, gnawing insecurities, and socio-political disturbance, dystopian eschatology appeals to fear.
- ^ a b c d e "100 Great Works of Dystopian Fiction". Vulture. 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
- ^ Davidson, Bengt Framtidsromanen Kallocain Karin Boye-sällskapet (in Swedish)
- ^ Garcia, Antero (19 November 2013). Critical foundations in young adult literature : challenging genres. Rotterdam, The Netherlands. p. 71. )
- S2CID 25560513.
- ^ Caporaletti, Silvana. "Science as Nightmare: The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster." Utopian studies 8.2 (1997): 32-47.
- ^ Booker, M Keith (1994). The Dystopian Impulse in Modern Literature: Fiction as Social Criticism. Greenwood Press.
- ^ Marcus, Laura. "The Time Machine". Britannica. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
- S2CID 145131295.
- S2CID 190000042.
- ^ "Margaret Atwood - Twitter
- ISBN 0805239006.
- ^ Napikoski, Linda. "A Look at Feminist Utopia and Dystopia Literature". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-31073-7.
- ^ )
- ^ ISBN 1-57958-441-1
- ^ ISBN 0-313-31635-X
- ^ Martha A. Bartter, The Utopian Fantastic, "Momutes", Robin Anne Reid, p.102 ISBN
- ^ "Travels In Icaria Utopianism And Communitarianism Paperback" (PDF). tyboomakbook.org. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
- JSTOR 4239917– via JSTOR.
Bibliography
- Applebaum, Robert. Literature and Utopian Politics in Seventeenth-Century England. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2002.
- Bartkowski, Frances. Feminist Utopias. Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1991.
- Booker, M. Keith. The Dystopian Impulse in Modern Literature. Westport, CT, Greenwood Press, 1994.
- Booker, M. Keith. Dystopian Literature: A Theory and Research Guide. Westport, CT, Greenwood Press, 1994.
- Claeys, Gregory. Dystopia: A Natural History. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2017.
- Ferns, Chris. Narrating Utopia: Ideology, Gender, Form in Utopian Literature. Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 1999.
- Gerber, Richard. Utopian Fantasy. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1955.
- Gottlieb, Erika. Dystopian Fiction East and West: Universe of Terror and Trial. Montreal, McGill-Queen's Press, 2001.
- Haschak, Paul G. Utopian/Dystopian Literature. Metuchen, NJ, Scarecrow Press, 1994.
- Jameson, Fredric. Archaeologies of the future: the Desire Called Utopia and Other Science Fictions. London, Verso, 2005.
- Kessler, Carol Farley. Daring to Dream: Utopian Fiction by United States Women Before 1950. Syracuse, NY, Syracuse University Press, 1995.
- Mohr, Dunja M. Worlds Apart: Dualism and Transgression in Contemporary Female Dystopias. Jefferson, NC, McFarland, 2005.
- Tod, Ian, and Michael Wheeler. Utopia. London, Orbis, 1978.
- Sargent, Lyman Tower (November 1976). "Themes in Utopian Fiction in English Before Wells". Science Fiction Studies. 3 (3): 275–82.
- Szweykowski, Zygmunt. Twórczość Bolesława Prusa [The Art of Bolesław Prus], 2nd ed., Warsaw, Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1972.
External links
- Dystopias and Utopias, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
- The Society for Utopian Studies Archived 2014-05-30 at the Wayback Machine
- Portal for Dystopian related Media
- Dystopia Tracker
- Modernist Utopias, BBC Radio 4 discussion with John Carey, Steve Connor & Laura Marcus (In Our Time, Mar. 10, 2005)
- The Dystopia genre, discusses current popularity of the dystopian genre.