Critical theory and dystopia

ILCEA Revue de l’Institut des langues et cultures d'Europe, Amérique, Afrique, Asie et Australie, 2018

The 20th century demonstrated that the realization of utopian plans often fosters totalitarianism. Fantastic, speculative literature mirrored this by turning from utopia to dystopia. In the hopeful 1970s, critical utopian texts revived the hope for a better world in a more complex fashion that replaced perfectionism with ambiguity and self-reflection. But neo- liberalism prevailed and other utopian hopes declined again. But a new kind of utopian text emerged in the 1980s and 1990s: the critical dystopia. Novels like Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Gold Coast (1988), Marge Piercy’s He, She and It (1991), and Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower (1993) depict horrible capitalist dystopian societies that almost crush the emancipatory hopes of resistance groups. But their utopian desire is not completely futile. This glimpse of hope also characterizes ambiguously utopian science fiction texts of the new millennium, e.g. Chris Carlsson’s After the Deluge(2004), Neal Stephenson’s Anathem(2008), and Margaret Killjoy’s A Country of Ghosts (2014). Le XXe siècle a montré que la réalisation des programmes utopiques nourrit fréquemment le totalitarisme. La littérature fantastique et spéculative a reflété cette tendance en passant de l’utopie à la dystopie. Dans l’enthousiasme caractéristique des années 1970, des textes utopiques critiques ranimèrent l’espoir d’un monde meilleur dans le cadre d’une approche plus complexe qui substituait l’ambiguïté et l’introspection au perfectionnisme utopique. Mais la domination du néo-libéralisme a emporté les espoirs renouvelés de l’utopie. Cependant, une nouvelle variété utopique vit le jour dans les années 1980 et 1990 : la dystopie critique. Des romans comme The Gold Coast (1988) de Kim Stanley Robinson, He, She and It de Marge Piercy (1991) ou encore The Parable of the Sower d’Octavia E. Butler décrivent d’horribles sociétés capitalistes dystopiques qui anéantissent presque les espoirs d’émancipation des groupes de résistants. Mais leur désir d’utopie n’est pas réduit à la futilité. C’est cette lueur d’espoir qui caractérise aussi de façon ambiguë des textes de science fiction utopique du nouveau millénaire comme After the Deluge de Chris Carlsson (2004), Anathem de Neal Stevenson (2008) et A Country of Ghosts de Margaret Killjoy (2014).

Routledge Companion to Literature and Class , 2021

A chapter on dystopian fiction and class relations, in Gloria McMillan (ed.) Routledge Companion to Literature and Class. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003008354

Harf-o-Sukhan, 2023

In the twenty-first century, dystopian literature has developed into a potent prism that helps understand social concerns and political intricacies. The evolution of the genre is examined in this study, which also considers the profound social criticism found in contemporary stories, as well as new and repeating themes. In the introduction, the historical background of dystopian literature is discussed, along with its significance for understanding and pondering the complex dynamics of the modern world. A comprehensive analysis of dystopian literature is part of the research technique, with an emphasis on qualitative analysis to look for reoccurring themes and shifting narrative patterns. This study highlights the subtle variations in dystopian representations across countries and ideologies by synthesizing ideas from various literary settings. The method emphasizes how multifaceted the research is and recognizes how literature and social reality can benefit from one another. When combined, the findings show how the genre may be utilized to both reflect and critique contemporary social issues. Dystopian fiction offers readers a reflective environment in which to grapple with the complexities of the contemporary human experience because of its powerful commentary on subjects like authoritarianism, environmental harm, and technological advancement. This study promotes critical debate of societal concerns, expands our knowledge of how dystopian literature affects discourse, and suggests potential avenues for further research.

The objective of the present study is to identify and analyse the common themes of dystopian fiction in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, and to trace the transformation of these themes, as well as the development of new thematic realizations, in contemporary British speculative fiction. The analysis involves prominent recent authors including Iain Banks, Ken MacLeod, Adam Roberts, Charles Stross, and Chris Beckett; and through the selected works of these authors it aims to explore the recent trends in science fiction and its utopian subgenres. Besides these goals, the study aims to provide the reader with a thorough definition of dystopianism and a concise overview of the historical development of this genre and its manifestations in the works of the above-mentioned authors. As the most prominent and recurring themes in dystopian literature, both traditional and contemporary, the thesis recognizes concepts such as the manipulation through language and media, the loss of individual freedom and privacy, and the abuse of power by elites, all of which are of special importance for the present-day social thinking and politics. Structurally, the study is divided into three chapters, the first of them assuming the role of theoretical introduction, whereas the latter two represent the practical analysis. With the help of prominent critics such as Tom Moylan, L. T. Sargent, or Adam Roberts, the first chapter attempts to define the characteristics of dystopian writing and those of the related genres, descending from the general terms of “speculative fiction” and “science fiction” to the more specific ones concerning utopian literature and all of its variants, with a clear distinction between utopianism, dystopianism, and anti-utopianism. Following is a brief summary of the historical transformation of these genres, primarily throughout the twentieth century, which was especially rich in the various literary trends and styles as an answer to the frequently changing political opinions of that era. Second chapter focuses on the classical authors and the depiction of the traditional themes in their influential novels, taking into account their non-fictional works as well, which include Orwell’s famous essay on politics and language and Huxley’s critical rediscovery of his own famous novel. For the purposes of this analysis, the depicted alternative societies are observed through three different perspectives: their use of language, the attitude they perform towards social relations and sexuality, and the solutions they employ to the issue of incompatibility of communal values with individual freedom. The last chapter provides a close examination of the contemporary fiction through the works of the recent authors listed above. Even though these works are to be discussed separately, an identification of common themes among them takes place as well, and these findings are used in the following speculation about the further development of British fiction. As for the choice of the primary texts, the selection provided is meant to represent both the traditional and highly celebrated works, as well as those that have not yet received such extensive critical acclaim. Whereas Orwell and Huxley are generally acknowledged as the founding fathers of the dystopian genre, some of the recent authors will yet have to prove their worth in order to secure their rightful places on the contemporary literary scene; a process to which this thesis contributes by analysing the following works: Iain M. Banks’ The Player of Games, Ken MacLeod’s Intrusion, Adam Roberts’ New Model Army, Charles Stross’ Halting State, and Chris Beckett’s Dark Eden. These novels represent the contemporary British speculative fiction in all of its diversity, providing a spectrum of different alternative societies located all over the universe.

The Palgrave Handbook of Utopian and Dystopian Literatures, 2022

From its initial elaborations in the 1980s to the more systematic critical attention of the early 2000s and still echoing in the present, the concept of the critical dystopia 1 has emerged and been explored in relation to a shift in the structural elements noticeable in dystopian narratives-more specifically of (but not limited to) the literary type-thus providing a useful framework to work through specific issues related to poststructuralist trends and reading positions in a context of escalating social, economic, and environmental pressures. Although the term dystopia was coined in the eighteenth century, 2 its usage became widespread after the publication of the classical dystopian novels by Yevgeny Zamyatin (We, 1924), Aldous Huxley (Brave New World, 1932), Katherine Burdekin (Swastika Night, 1937), and George Orwell (Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1949), which accompanied the gradual dwindling of the utopian ideals of modernity and progress resulting from the harshly violent and authoritarian political events (at times, reaching peaks of genocidal dictatorships and totalitarian states), the devastating wars, and the environmental disasters which punctuated the last century. After the utopian resurgence of the human rights, anti-racist, feminist, and ecological activism of the 1960s and 1970s, and following the logic of worldwide hegemonic neoliberal capitalist and increasingly transnational tendencies that have characterized the decades since then, economic, social, and ecological crises have erupted at an alarming

Gragoatá, 2021

The rise of dystopian fiction in the past forty years is revealing of sociopolitical anxieties of the present, many of which can be interpreted as consequences of a capitalist form of organization. Through those narratives, literature has the power to make explicit such tensions, especially those now brought together by the contemporary perception of the Capitalocene. The objective of this paper, thus, is twofold: to discuss the possibilities of acknowledging dystopian fiction as an autonomous genre, and to examine how it exposes the ever-dynamic machinations of capitalism. To that end, several examples from modern and contemporary dystopian novels in English are presented and discussed.

Science Fiction Studies, 2024

Review of Patricia McManus's Critical Theory and Dystopia. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2022. 211 pp. £81.00 hc.

This essay aims to explore the concept of dystopia from its etymological origins in order to analyse two of the most well-known stories of dystopian fiction: A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury and Here Comes the Wub by Philip K. Dick.

The end of the Cold War and the global triumph of neoliberalism were accompanied by the evolution of certain themes in dystopian fiction. According to some of its advocates, such as Francis Fukuyama, neoliberalism’s success signified the “end of history,” understood as ideological evolution, since the decline of communism left Western liberal democracies without any major opposition in terms of global governing and discursive practices. This thesis critically compares neoliberal rhetoric concerning invisible power, the end of history, technology, freedom of consumption and the commodification of human relationships with the ideologies represented in four neoliberal dystopian works of fiction, namely Black Mirror, Feed, The Circle, and The Fat Years. These examples create a “one-dimensional” dystopian subject who is rendered incapable of possessing the utopian imagination necessary to organize political resistance, precisely as a result of the governance and discourse of neoliberalism.

2018

The aim of this thesis is to describe, analyze and explain major influences on the development of dystopian literature of the 21st century written in English. Those influences are described and illustrated on selected literary works, specifically on Oryx and Crake (2003) by Margaret Atwood, Never Let Me Go (2005) by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Hunger Games (2008) by Suzanne Collins, Matched (2010) by Ally Condie, and The Bone Season (2013) by Samantha Shannon. The theoretical part aims to explain the term dystopia, to define dystopia as a genre, and to describe its history. This part also deals with the influences on the development of dystopia, focused especially on the 20 century, and with the summaries of the books selected for the use in the practical part. The practical part focuses on the major influences on the development of dystopian literature of the 21 century written in English. Those are influences relating to methods of social control, scientific and technological advancements...