| Feb. 2nd, 2008 @ 08:38 pm Origins of the dystopian impulse in literature |
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Pelwell sent me a message with a question, and we've been discussing these issues. We decided it would be better to post it here so that everyone else may participate as well. Feel free to reply with your own ideas.
Pelwell wrote:
It seems as if most dystopian literature, as Booker points out in his introduction, is less about the question of whether utopia CAN exist and more about whether it SHOULD exist. This leads directly to the nearly impossible question of, "What is Utopia?" I claim it is unanswerable due to the fact that ever person will have a different definition and most, if asked, will admit that they do not know what they would truly call utopia.
amclanton wrote:
There are other writers who argue that utopian fiction can promote positive change in society without advocating a totalitarian approach.
I think the key is that both utopia and dystopia indicate genres of literature, not actual societies. The goal of authors of both types of literature is generally to call attention to characteristics in their own societies-- either positive or negative. In a way, both utopian and dystopian fictions have the same goal: to critique the society in which the author lives.
Pelwell wrote:
I understand the idea that many authors approach the idea of utopia in a positive light, but the idea that utopia is a negative, that it is undesirable, seems to be the prevalent idea in our culture today. From movies like _The Matrix_ through to writings by authors like William Gibson, Timothy Zahn, George Alec Effinger, and Robert Heinlein, all of these showcase the idea that the tools exist to create a utopic society. They all point out, though, that the idea of utopia is so individual, so deeply personal, that there is no true manner in which to approach it as a universal concept unless you accept the idea of "world as fiction" or "perception = reality".
In terms of literary genre, what do you think makes most SF present dystopia as a background theme for their stories. Dick, Sterling, Wells, Bradbury, Heinlein, Gibson, Williams, all of these authors present their thoughts on what our not-too-distant future is going to be like and all of them seem of the opinion that it will not be a pleasant place for most people. What do you think causes this leaning?
amclanton wrote:
Even though some of the things that have been described in these works have come to pass, I don't think that they are trying to predict the future as much as critique the present. Both utopian and dystopian literature functions this way. Utopian fiction shows how good a future (or simply distant) society might be, and thus, by implication, what current society lacks. Dystopian fiction does the same by describing the worst possible society, thus highlighting the worst aspects of current society. And yes, as Booker points out, dystopian literature also critiques the utopian impulse, and often argues that the drive to create a "perfect" world results in precisely the opposite.
The reasons authors have turned to this sort of critique are various, but as we've discussed in class, the events of the 19th and (especially) 20th centuries seemed to betray the idea of "progress."
However, I also think it's important to point out that dystopian works, when read as warnings, can be used to show the way to a better society as much as utopian works.
Pelwell wrote:
I am not claiming that these works are predictive or that they are absolute on what it is that will come, but with the authors I've mentioned they tend toward the extremely pessimistic when it comes to the direction our society is headed. The ideas that each of them puts forth as "what will come about if..." seem to be holding up a very large, red sign that says STOP! Heinlein has his theocracy, Gibson, Effinger, Sterling, Dick and others all present a bleak, dismal future that has - in many ways - already come to pass.
I realize that part of the Cyberpunk genre, along with its dystopian roots, is to present a view of what dangers society is in based on what is happening at the time the work was written and the direction that seems to lead. What I cannot help but wonder, though, is what sort of impact these writings have had in causing parts of their visions to come true merely by writing about them? |
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