Utopia and dystopia

Terms: Utopia, Dystopia

Utopia:

• (Greek: no-place, good-place)

• a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions

• an impractical scheme for social improvement

Dystopia: (anti-utopia)

• an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives

Common features of a utopia / dystopia

Utopia:

• Contemporary concerns completely resolved (poverty, war, famine, racism, overpopulation, pollution, etc.)

• Individual needs fulfilled

• Social conflicts do not exist or are easily resolved

Dystopia

• Contemporary concerns are exaggerated (loss of privancy, greater inequality, overpopulation, pollution, starvation, etc.)

• Oppression of the individual (by a ruling elite)

• Fear of technological developments

• Regimentation of society (strict rules, lack of freedoms, privacy, etc.)

• Basic fears exaggerated (distrust of others, disease, contaminated environment, etc.)

The role of technology in a dystopia

• technology as cause of exaggerated contemporary problems (powers of artificial intelligence)

• technology as a tool used to sustain a dystopian society (technologies of surveillance, control, etc.)

• technology was supposed to be a solution - turns into problem

Examples of dystopian literature

• "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

• "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury

• "1984" by George Orwell

• "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

• "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood

• "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

• "Station Eleven" by Emily St. John Mandel

Functions of dystopian literature

• encourage individuals to question their society

• portray worst possible outcomes of current trends

• consider moral and ethical implications of current developments/technologies