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Sullivan, Emily. "Dystopia." [Kent, Ohio] : Kent State University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=kent1272398862.
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Thesis (M.F.A.)--Kent State University, 2010.Title from PDF t.p. (viewed May 26, 2010). Advisor: Loderstedt Michael. Keywords: printmaking; screen printing; photography; installation Includes bibliographical references (p. 21).
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Cojocaru, Daniel. "Violence and dystopia : mimesis and sacrifice in contemporary Western dystopian narratives." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:f3f2848d-d349-4dcd-8bff-810010a2e8e3.
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Violence and Dystopia is a critical examination of imitative desire, scapegoating and sacrifice in selected contemporary Western dystopian narratives through the lens of René Girard’s mimetic theory. The first chapter offers an overview of the history of Western utopia/dystopia with a special emphasis on the problem of conflictive mimesis and scapegoating violence, and a critical introduction to Girard’s theory. The second chapter is devoted to J.G. Ballard’s seminal novel Crash (1973). It is argued that the car crash functions as a metaphor for conflictive mimetic desire and leads to a quasi-sacrificial crisis as defined by Girard for archaic religion. The attempt of the medieval propheta-figure to resolve the crisis through violence fails and leads to potential violence without end. The third chapter focuses on the psychogeographical writings of Iain Sinclair. Walking the streets of London he represents the excluded underside of the world of Ballardian speed. The walking subject is portrayed in terms of the expelled victim of Girardian theory. The fourth chapter considers violent crowds as portrayed by Ballard’s late fiction, the writings of Stewart Home and David Peace’s GB84 (2004). In accordance with Girard’s hypothesis, the discussed narratives reveal the failure of scapegoat expulsion to restore peace to the potentially self-destructive violent crowds. The fifth chapter examines the post-apocalyptic environments resulting from failed scapegoat expulsion and mimetic conflict out of control, as portrayed in Sinclair’s Radon Daughters (1994), Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) and Oryx and Crake (2003) and Will Self’s The Book of Dave (2006). In conclusion it will become evident that Girard’s theory forms an indispensable analytical tool uncovering the pivotal themes of imitation and scapegoating in the discussed narratives: themes largely ignored in current scholarship on dystopia and secondary literature on the focussed authors.
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Christogiannopoulou, Klappenbach Anastasia. "Utopia - dystopia : documentation of the thesis Utopia/dystopia." Thesis, Konstfack, Inredningsarkitektur & Möbeldesign, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:konstfack:diva-2738.
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I will start my thesis project with an analyse of current innovations in technology and new materials to find out what possible potential they may offer for new design solutions. The focus will be on inventions of disruptive technologies of the past and the present and how they change our way of life. An interesting point is to draw conclusions from how the consequences of these technological milestones impact our everyday life. An example is the influence of the internet (in the bigger and the smaller scale): it changed our way to purchase goods, to find a partner and to get e-services. In an experimental way I will build up scenarios of a possible future based on this technological knowledge. The hypothetical utopias and dystopias will evoke new questions and theories. In the research phase I will among others illustrate classical and modern utopias and dystopias. I will try to capture the spirit and the trends of both, visionary scientists and designer/architects/ar-tists to describe fears and hopes of the future.Master / InSpace 2009
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Carnes, Erin Kay. "Digesting dystopia." Thesis, University of Iowa, 2011. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/1127.
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Digesting Dystopia
There is a discrepancy between where our food comes from and where we believe it comes from. Our understanding of the origins of our consumable food is often distorted. The relationship between consumers and the ingredients keeping us alive is characterized by an overwhelming amount of contradictory information. The decisions that we make regarding these products have a profound effect on every facet of our existence.
I use the contentious climate of the food industry as the background for making surreal images that open up conversations about the politics of eating. These compositions are fabricated representations of our relationship with food and the industry that surrounds it. The images exaggerate the realities that exist within our culture and illuminate our desensitization and disconnect to the consequences of what we chose to consume.
What does our food culture look like, and what will it lead to in the near future?
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Dror, Stephanie. "The ecology of dystopia : an ecocritical analysis of young adult dystopian texts." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/46535.
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Using the lens of ecocriticism combined with theories of the utopia and dystopia, this thesis focuses on the literary portrayal of nature and technology in three contemporary young adult dystopian texts: Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, The Hunger Games by Susanne Collins, and The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. This research takes a cultural studies approach and draws upon sources of environmentalist criticism and literary studies to investigate the ways in which the three primary texts represent the natural world and technology and then endeavours to uncover the relationship between the adolescent, nature and technology. This study is a part of a larger critical discussion about how the literary relationships between nature, technology and youth might influence readers’ attitudes toward the contemporary anxieties surrounding impending climate change. The study interrogates the ways that the young adult protagonist is framed in relation to the non-human world, providing insights into the young adult's indeterminate and ambiguous relationship to both nature and technology and the future of human survival.
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Koval, Ju. "Dystopia as a cinematography direction." Thesis, Сумський державний університет, 2013. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/31122.
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Dystopia is a direction of the artistic literature and the cinematography direction, in narrow sense, it is a description of the totalitarian state, in wide sense, it is a description of any society, in which there are prevailed negative progress trends. Dystopia is a complete opposition of utopia. Utopia is a genre of the artistic literature, which is close to science fiction and describing a model of an ideal society from the author’s point. Unlike dystopia, it is characterize by the author’s faith in the blamelessness of a model.
When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/31122
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Dreher, Matthew David. "A Crypt within a Dystopia." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32607.
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This project is about our social denial of death, the questioning of rationality and utopian ideals, and our fears of modernity.
The intimate connection once associated with death has been hidden. In this project the remains of the dead are sacred. Death is brought to the forefront. By acknowledging a finite existence and exposing our fear of death, life can be given meaning. The activities of daily life are integrally linked to the crypt.Master of Architecture
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Welstead, Adam. "Dystopia and the divided kingdom : twenty-first century British dystopian fiction and the politics of dissensus." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/17104.
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This doctoral thesis examines the ways in which contemporary writers have adopted the critical dystopian mode in order to radically deconstruct the socio-political conditions that preclude equality, inclusion and collective political appearance in twenty-first century Britain. The thesis performs theoretically-informed close readings of contemporary novels from authors J.G. Ballard, Maggie Gee, Sarah Hall and Rupert Thomson in its analysis, and argues that the speculative visions of Kingdom Come (2006), The Flood (2004), The Carhullan Army (2007) and Divided Kingdom (2005) are engaged with a wave of contemporary dystopian writing in which the destructive and divisive forms of consensus that are to be found within Britain's contemporary socio-political moment are identified and challenged. The thesis proposes that, in their politically-engaged extrapolations, contemporary British writers are engaged with specifically dystopian expressions of dissensus. Reflecting key theoretical and political nuances found in Jacques Rancière's concept of 'dissensus', I argue that the novels illustrate dissensual interventions within the imagined political space of British societies in which inequalities, oppressions and exclusions are endemic - often proceeding to present modest, 'minor' utopian arguments for more equal, heterogeneous and democratic possibilities in the process. Contributing new, theoretically-inflected analysis of key speculative fictions from twenty-first century British writers, and locating their critiques within the literary, socio-political and theoretical contexts they are meaningfully engaged with, the thesis ultimately argues that in interrogating and reimagining the socio-political spaces of twenty-first century Britain, contemporary writers of dystopian fiction demonstrate literature working in its most dissensual, political and transformative mode.
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Holt, Macon Ashford Bannon. "A sonic fiction of boring dystopia." Thesis, Goldsmiths College (University of London), 2017. http://research.gold.ac.uk/22026/.
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This thesis attempts to re-engage the practice of Sonic Fiction devised by Kodwo Eshun, within the historical context that Mark Fisher termed, boring dystopia, and produce A Sonic Fiction of Boring Dystopia. This also shows how the practice of sonic fiction might intercede to overcome an impasse between a traditional critical theory (Adorno) and Deleuzian approaches to the analysis of popular music. The thesis is in two parts; the first provides an overview of the concept of boring dystopia and the practice of sonic fiction. The second is A Sonic Fiction of Boring Dystopia, that performs an experimental exploration of the practice sonic fiction set across five concepts; Attention, Complicity, Catharsis, Home and Conjunction, three chapters that reconceptualize the works of David Foster Wallace, Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari, and Theodor Adorno as theory-fictions and sonic fictions, and 6 experiential fictionalized accounts of musical experience. This is followed by the conclusion of the thesis. By developing these tools it is argued that we can chart a ‘line of flight’ (Deleuze and Guattari 2013b: 13) to overcome the impasse that inhibits our thinking about the emancipatory potential of popular music. To help us move beyond the rigid pessimism of critical theory and the sometimes apolitical optimism of the Deleuzian approach. Thus allowing us to discover new territory, which the present paradigm may also afford.
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Hasan, Arwa. "Readers and text worlds of dystopia." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2017. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45084/.
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This thesis is an exploration of reading styles and stylistic patterning in relation to dystopian fiction. Situated within an empirical cognitive poetics, the study draws upon naturalistic reader-response data, with specific reference to Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Vonnegut’s ‘Harrison Bergeron’, as case studies of dystopian texts that produce a spectrum of readings. The notions of preferred and dispreferred responses are defined in cognitive linguistic and pragmatic terms, and non-normative readings of these dystopian texts are investigated. The thesis adopts a text-world theoretical description, and provides both naturalistic reader-community data as well as focused interviews and reading protocols. It was found that some readers insist on producing dispreferred readings even in the face of lack of textually-driven evidence. Such readers allow their own emotions, outlooks and dispositions to over-ride the textual patterning, in producing dispreferred and non-evidential readings. These readings are nevertheless genuinely held. This study raises questions for all text-driven models of literary reading and analysis.
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Jackson, Sarah Anne. "Utopia and dystopia in futuristic nonfiction television." Thesis, Montana State University, 2010. http://etd.lib.montana.edu/etd/2010/jackson/JacksonS0510.pdf.
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Fiction often represents the future in either a utopian or dystopian light. Utopian fiction presents worlds where life is perfection. Dystopian fiction's conflict comes directly from the characters' interactions with the problems in their world. When nonfiction television enters into speculation by making programs about the future, they also enter into these two categories of fiction. Some programs show a world returning to a perfect Eden, but they begin with the dystopian ending of the human race on earth. Other shows promise technological utopias, but avoid obvious problems with their technologically dependent tomorrows. These shows all take tropes from dystopian science fiction, but use their status as science documentaries to deny that any of the critiques of fiction belong in their programs.
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Mahoney, Elizabeth. "Writing so to speak : the feminist dystopia." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.388181.
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Wesche, Gretchen M. "Control and Creativity: The Languages of Dystopia." Miami University Honors Theses / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=muhonors1304482313.
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Stråle, Petra. "”Fuck society” : - Mr. Robot som samtida dystopi." Thesis, Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-55119.
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TITLE: ”Fuck society” SUB-HEADING: Mr. Robot som samtida dystopi. AUTHOR: Petra Stråle. EXAMINER: Johan Nilsson. LEVEL: BA Thesis.SUBJECT: Media and communication science. INSTITUTE: Department of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences University of Örebro.PURPOSE: The thesis purpose is to examine how the television series Mr. Robot can be viewed as an dystopian work of fiction that depicts our present society. METHOD: Content analysis. RESULT: The results indicates that the television series Mr. Robot can not be categorized as a classical dystopia, but does, however, contain dystopian elements and is connected to different forms of dystopia, like the critical dystopia and the proto-dystopia.
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Malone, Travis B. "Crafting Utopia and Dystopia: Film Musicals 1970-2002." Connect to this title online, 2006. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=bgsu1162486037.
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Schrock, Lauren. "Organisational dystopia : surrealist paintings for critical management studies." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2017. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/102821/.
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This thesis responds to a call to bring humanities into organisation studies. The researcher analyses and interprets contemporary Surrealist paintings for understanding organisational dystopia. While organisational dystopia is not new to the field of Critical Management Studies (CMS), it is a concept enriched by a variety of imaginative stances addressing marginalised or silenced experiences of work life. One such area of imagination is painting. Paintings have historically examined work as a subject of art, yet art has been missed in organisation studies. To address this issue, as well as contribute further to an understanding of organisational dystopia, this thesis presents a case for expanding the field of culture studies in CMS by looking into Surrealism and paintings. This thesis is one of the first of its kind to analyse and interpret paintings in the discipline of organisation studies. The researcher formulates an original framework for examining the contemporary Surrealist paintings by the artist Tetsuya Ishida, who represents the dark, gloomy dystopia of Japanese salarymen. The framework is a system to analyse form (material) and content (meaning), and to interpret paintings. Through this devised framework, paintings are analysed and interpreted in response to two research questions: What are qualities of organisational dystopia? and What are themes of organisational dystopia? The researcher elaborates on organisational dystopia in two ways. First, in the identification of qualities of organisational dystopia, including objectification of labour. Second, in the recognition of themes of organisational dystopia, such as a totalitarian control of private space and complexities of escaping or enduring a dystopia. By addressing organisational dystopia, the researcher presents a warning about the darkness of progress. This research contributes in the two main ways: adding to knowledge on organisational dystopia and arguing that paintings are a valuable method to research design. Thus, this thesis presents a way forward for organisation studies to investigate concepts and criticisms via imagination and art.
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Saunders, Victoria M. "Designing Depth: creating dystopia through architecture and film." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1337265588.
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Heath, Clare Charlotte Olivia. "Eduardo Paolozzi : from utopia to dystopia 1928-1958." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/15738.
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This thesis explores the early career of Eduardo Paolozzi (1924 – 2005), focusing in particular on his artworks of the 1940s and 1950s. Predominantly known for his post-World War Two activity as an eclectic artist, designer and pedagogue, Paolozzi emerged as an experimental alternative to the modernist formalism of Henry Moore’s generation and remains one of the acknowledged leaders of an artistic movement that helped invigorate the British art scene. The sheer volume and diversity of his creative output, however, its wide-ranging use of descriptive materials and profuse interests, has legitimised the now standard reception of his work as one of wilful, perhaps even whimsical, eclecticism. Thus, he has become simultaneously codified as British artist, child of Surrealism, and ‘father of Pop.’ The thesis presented here intends to offset the standard historiography of Paolozzi’s artistic development, employing instead an interpretation grounded in the artist’s Italian roots and which takes into consideration his exposure to wider avant-garde movements and trends. Such a re-evaluation enables sense to be made of the imagery and ideas present in his work, and gives shape to the superficial incoherence of the ‘fragmentary’ phases apparently marking his output. What emerges is an alternative trajectory, one that moves from the early collages, full of L'Esprit Nouveau and Futuristic enthusiasm for the New World, through his use of Greco-Roman art, mechanisation and Uomo Novo during the years of Fascism, to the more concerted reassessment of the modern post-War world that is embodied in his satirical brutalist sculptures and proto-Pop demythologies, these last works mapping an emergence out of totalitarianism and the rediscovery of ‘democratic and international values.’ In this new analysis, Paolozzi stands as one of the few international figures who consistently developed a mature and idiosyncratic rationale through which a new, non-Fascist modernism was reformulated.
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Yates, Stephen. "[1+[infinity]=¿] Eden, Dystopia, and a theistic humanism /." Tallahassee, Fla. : Florida State University, 2008. http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/lib/digcoll/undergraduate/honors-theses/341778.
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Thesis (Honors paper)--Florida State University, 2008.Advisor: Barry Faulk, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of English. On t.p. "infinity" is represented by the infinity symbol. Includes bibliographical references.
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Berglund, Anna-Karin, and Malin Nguyen. "P3 Dystopia: När havet kommer : en retorisk analys." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Media- och kommunikationsvetenskap, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-30345.
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According to the IPCC sea levels can rise by up to one meter in the next century and maybe even more depending on both individual lifestyle choices and policy making on a societal level. An episode from the Swedish Rafio P3's podcast series, P3 Dystopia, has been investigated as a communication effort to spread knoowledge about the climate issue and its consequences. The episode chosen for this study deals with the sea level rise and its threat on civilizations across the globe. The podcast is part of the Swedish public serive campaign prior to the election to parliament in September of 2018. Because of this, the episode has been examined using classical rhetorical theories to identify what strategies it utilizes to promote sustainable behavior. One of the key purposes of this study is to investigate how the producers describe and dramatize the sea level rise and its aftermath. Due to this the episode was examined through a storytelling perspective considering what basic story design structures it uses. This study is based on research on risk communication about climate change and how they should be communicated to achieve the best possible effect. The research considers emotion regulation straetgies as the missing link in effective communication about climate change. Since early 21st century most of the research conducted on this area has been focused on using fear as a motivator for behavioral change, but in recent years some scientists say that fear is not enough. This study aims to investigate what sort of emotions the podcast episode uses to capture and influence its listeners and in what way these emotions are conveyed.
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Bakker, Barbara. "Arabic dystopias in the 21st century : A study on 21st century Arabic dystopian fictionthrough the analysis of four works of Arabic dystopian narrative." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Arabiska, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-28495.
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Dystopian fiction as intended in the Western literary tradition is a 20 th century phenomenon on the Arabic literary scene. This relatively new genre has been experiencing an uplift since the beginning of the 21 st century and many works that have been defined dystopias have been published and translated into English in the last 10 – 15 years. In order to find out their main features, Claeys’s categorization of literary dystopias is applied and a thematic analysis is carried out on four Arabic dystopian works of narrative, written by authors from different parts of the Arabic world. The analysis shows that 21 st century Arabic dystopias are political dystopias, with totalitarianism as their main variation. Rather than on society, their focus is on the individual, and more specifically on personal freedom. The totalitarian constraints are mainly caused by religious fundamentalism and bureaucratic procedures. Surveillance and control over population are implemented by means of religious precepts and bureaucratic constructions, together with, in some instances, control over language and technological devices. Political totalitarianism regardless of a specific political ideology is identified as main theme. The thesis suggests that a Western-based classification framework is only partially suitable for Arabic dystopian fiction of the 21 st century and that further research, including but not limited to a specific classification theory for Arabic dystopian fiction, is necessary to properly investigate this new literary trend in Arabic literature.
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Johnson, Bryan W. "Dystopian Literature and the Novella Form as Illustrated Through Side Effects, an Original Novella." DigitalCommons@USU, 2012. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/1413.
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This master’s degree thesis exists in two parts: a critical introduction and an original novella entitled Side Effects. The critical introduction introduces and explains the theories on, literature surrounding, and literary uses of dystopian fiction, the novella format, and drug-based psychotherapy. Current opinion on dystopian fiction sees it characterized by a seemingly perfect societal setting that ultimately contains hidden or suppressed moral flaws. The ultimate purpose of dystopian fiction is commentary on contemporary society through a defamiliarized setting. The novella format is shown to exist in a middle-ground state between the short story and the novel, yet the format manages to maintain positive literary elements of both. Finally, a discussion on drug-based psychotherapy illustrates the use of chemical compounds to treat or cure psychological conditions, a topic of much debate amongst current psychology practitioners. The section on drug-based psychotherapy focuses largely on memoirs for purposes of first-hand experience and character creation for the original novella.
The novella, entitled Side Effects, follows the character Edward, a middle-aged man who creates and tests serums that suppress by mandate the emotions that his society deems toxic to the human condition. Edward remains ignorant of any life outside the symmetry and order of the Company, the corporation responsible for the maintenance of the society. That is, until a chance encounter with a young woman named Gabrielle causes Edward to explore a world outside the confines of his carefully crafted city and lifestyle. She introduces him to a community of people who reject the mandates of the Company and exist as the extreme opposition to its ideals. As Edward spends more time with this group, known as Splicers, he must confront his long-held standards and finally choose for himself what life he will live.
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Bakker, Barbara. "Arabic dystopias in the 21st century : A study on 21st century Arabic dystopian fiction through the analysis of four works of Arabic dystopian narrative." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Arabiska, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-27968.
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Dystopian fiction as intended in the Western literary tradition is a 20 th century phenomenon on the Arabic literary scene. This relatively new genre has been experiencing an uplift since the beginning of the 21st century and many works that have been defined dystopias have been published and translated into English in the last 10 – 15 years. In order to find out their main features, Claeys’s categorization of literary dystopias is applied and a thematic analysis is carried out on four Arabic dystopian works of narrative, written by authors from different parts of the Arabic world. The analysis shows that 21st century Arabic dystopias are political dystopias, with totalitarianism as their main variation. Rather than on society, their focus is on the individual, and more specifically on personal freedom. The totalitarian constraints are mainly caused by religious fundamentalism and bureaucratic procedures. Surveillance and control over population are implemented by means of religious precepts and bureaucratic constructions, together with, in some instances, control over language and technological devices. Political totalitarianism regardless of a specific political ideology is identified as main theme. The thesis suggests that a Western-based classification framework is only partially suitable for Arabic dystopian fiction of the 21st century and that further research, including but not limited to a specific classification theory for Arabic dystopian fiction, is necessary to properly investigate this new literary trend in Arabic literature.
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Cheong, Weng Lam. "Beyond a feminist dystopia : Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale." Thesis, University of Macau, 2009. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b2456330.
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Huang, Huai-Hsuan. "Distinguishing Patterns of Utopia and Dystopia, East and West." Scholar Commons, 2017. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7038.
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Before Sir Thomas More published Utopia and defined his ideal world with this fictional land, humans had been looking for their ideal society for centuries based on various religions and cultures. Yet, there are a few studies focusing on Utopia and Dystopia in cross-cultural contexts. This thesis will explore the two main questions: 1) can Utopia and Dystopia be separated? and 2) how does the utopian concept in the West involve in Eastern culture during the postwar period in postcolonial perspective?
Phoenix in Japan and THX 1138 in U.S. are two well-known works during the post-World War II period via their popular media: manga in Japan and film in U.S. Phoenix, a renowned Japanese manga created by Osamu Tezuka. Phoenix the manga not only reveals the rise and fall of human civilization but also shows the reincarnation of life with Buddhist ideas, which means one living being starts its new life in different physical form after it dies. This reincarnation of life also points out how utopian-dystopian system functions in the East. THX 1138, a famous American film directed by George Lucas, starts with a robot-dominated world. More's definition of Utopia reveals several features of ideal society: an isolated society, well-trained and well-ordered citizens, a democratic government, universal education, and loose religious limits. According to More's utopian features, the society in THX 1138 is quite familiar with the so-called utopian world. However, the method of dehumanization in this film brings the concept and features of Dystopia.
After the 16th century, the term Utopia, as a Western ideology, entered East Asian cultures. In Eastern perspective, Utopia and Dystopia are the continuous states of one society like a circulation system. In the West, utopian-dystopian works tend to focus on the specific period. By discussing Phoenix and THX 1138, I want to show this continuous social pattern in different cultural contexts.
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Paz, Mariano. "Ideology and dystopia : political discourse in contemporary fiction cinema." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.529922.
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The present thesis consists of a discussion of contemporary Western science fiction cinema from a cultural studies perspective. In particular, this work is focused on the analysis of political ideology and its discourses as they are conveyed in the visual, aural, and narrative dimensions of a selected corpus of films from three different countries: Argentina, Britain and the United States. The selection of this range of cinema industries is informed by the intention of widening the spectrum of science fiction criticism, which is mostly focused on American cinema, and also on the cross comparative purpose of examining three central forms in which Western films are produced and distributed: the hegemonic American blockbuster, the independent peripheral cinema of Latin America, and the mid-level position exemplified by a European film industry such as Britain's. The analysis of the selected corpus is approached from an interdisciplinary perspective that draws on several theoretical frameworks from cultural studies and social philosophy, such as Lacanian psychoanalysis, postcolonial theory, post-structuralism, and critical theory. The underlying premise of this thesis is that, through the representation of imaginary, dystopian worlds and societies, science fiction films are in fact engaging with the critique of contemporary reality and articulating collective concerns and anxieties about the present. In consequence, films are examined here in a hermeneutic manner, with the objective of identifying and revealing the complex set of critiques of contemporary institutions, practices and discourses that are conveyed in the texts. The discussion is organised in three chapters, each covering three case studies that are representative of the selected cinema industries. Films studied in detail include the Star Wars prequels (1999-2005), La Sonämbula (1998), Adios Querida Luna (2005), La Antena (2007), Code 46 (2004), Children of Men (2006), and 28 Weeks Later (2007). Each chapter is organised according to certain theoretical parameters that allow for a critical reading of the texts, establishing connections between the films' subtexts and the social contexts in which they were produced. This work aims to demonstrate that the analysis of popular culture is essential for the understanding of how political concerns, anxieties and traumas can be expressed and articulated, whether in avowed or disavowed forms, not only in hegemonic texts but across the entire field of Western cultural production. Additionally, this thesis argues for the need to approach the study of cinema from the point of view of critical theory, as an appropriate way to uncover the ideological dimensions, represented in the films, that are critical of dominant discourses and institutions.
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Lynch, Shaylynn. "Furyous Female Just-Warriors of Post-Apocalypse and Dystopia." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2017. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1062883/.
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The intention of this thesis is to identify and analyze the precise shift from an exploitative archetype to an empowered representation of women warriors, to identify the arena in which male and female characters are given equal agency in the context of war, and finally explore the key characteristics that make up an empowered female hero. This thesis also addresses the sociocultural nature of the warrior woman archetype as it pertains to the current role of women in the military. The films analyzed in this thesis are all post 9/11 films; a fact that links them culturally to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In recent years, numerous milestones have been reached for women in the armed services, especially for those women in combat positions. For the first time in American history women are being recognized for their active role as soldiers in combat. Therefore, it is valid to consider the correlation between seeing women as military professionals, fighting alongside male soldiers in these films, and the cultural impact of female combat soldiers. This aspect of the thesis also imbues the female just-warrior archetype with a legitimate history, mythology, and current cultural reference; which is essential to the visibility of female combat soldiers of the 21st century.
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Leth, Corina. "What is the Meaning of Meaningless sex in Dystopia?" Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Akademin för utbildning och ekonomi, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-16223.
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The aim of this essay is to provide an answer to the question "What is the Meaning of Meaningless sex in Dystopia?". It will show that meaningful concepts such as sexual satisfaction, pleassure, passion, love, bonding, procreation and family are handled as threats in dystopian societies described in well-known novels as We, Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four . It will explain how the conflict between the collective and the individual influences peoples' sexuality. It will also show how leading powers in the three dystopian societies use different methods to remove the significanse and functions of sex. It will suggest meaningless sex is a means to control the masses in a collective and that meaningful sex is an act of rebelion against the state..
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Edgren, Justin. "ANIMATING DYSTOPIA: AN ANALYSIS OF MY ANIMATED FILM, P19." OpenSIUC, 2013. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/1099.
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In this paper, I discuss the modern socio-technological state of global social control and its representation in my stop motion animated film P19. I will compare the ways in which social control has changed and remained the same from September 11, 2001 to the present. I will discuss the surveillance and control grids permeating all communication networks and how humans are interacting with them. I will conclude with an analysis of some of my techniques and processes in stop motion animation.
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Glises, de la Rivière Orlane. "Le discours totalitaire du Grand Inquisiteur dans la littérature dystopique : de ses réécritures à sa réappropriation." Thesis, Strasbourg, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019STRAC012/document.
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Cette étude analyse le discours totalitaire à travers le prisme du personnage du Grand Inquisiteur dans quatre romans dystopiques : "Le Zéro et l’infini" d’Arthur Koestler, "1984" de George Orwell, "La Zone du Dehors" d’Alain Damasio et "2084" de Boualem Sansal. Il s’agira non seulement de comprendre la structure du discours totalitaire mais également la façon dont il interagit dans l’univers dystopique et avec les autres personnages. La méthode de recherche aborde ces questions de façon pluridisciplinaire afin de mieux analyser les aspects linguistiques, historiques et philosophiques au sein de la littérature dystopique. La thèse se découpe en trois grandes parties, elles-mêmes divisées en trois chapitres. Il s’agit d’étudier en premier lieu la parole hérétique qui s’oppose au dogme totalitaire, pour ensuite comprendre la manière dont le discours du Grand Inquisiteur impose son joug sur chaque individu. Enfin, la recherche aborde la dimension salvatrice de chacune des œuvres du corpus. A travers elles, les auteurs ne souhaitent pas uniquement tendre un miroir désespérant du monde mais aussi ouvrir des possibilités pour faire face aux dérives totalitaires qui peuvent être engendréeThis research analyses totalitarian’s speech from the Grand Inquisitor in four dystopia’s books: "Darkness at Noon" from Arthur Koestler, "1984" from George Orwell, "La Zone du Dehors" from Alain Damasio and "2084" from Boualem Sansal. This work studies the structure of the totalitarian’s speech and how he interacts with dystopia’s universe and their characters. Questioning will be treated through dystopia’s literature and from linguistical, historical and philosophical viewpoints. Thesis is divided in three parts, each one divided in three chapters. First part analyses heretic’s speech in opposition to totalitarian’s dogma. Second part studies how the Grand Inquisitor dominates everyone in the dystopia’s society. In fine, third part tries to find the saving dimension in corpus. In fact, writers don’t want to show only a dark future. Their books are maybe a message to fight against totalitarian’s excesses
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Danson, Nina. "Dystopi som social fantasi : En analys av dystopins potential som spekulativ sociologi." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för hälsa, vård och välfärd, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-47493.
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Utopin har sedan århundranden tillbaka figurerat som tankemodell för det goda samhället. Tidigare som moderna sociologer har hävdat nyttan med ett utopiskt tankegods, särskilt som kritisk social teori med syfte att förändra människans sociala villkor. Senare forskning har visat på att element i science-fiction har ett praktiskt värde för flera aspekter av sociologiskt intresse, exempelvis inom organisationsutveckling, praktiskt lärande och modeller för hållbarhet. Men trots påvisad nytta har varken utopiska idéer eller modern forskning inom science-fiction fångat den sociologiska akademins intresse. I föreliggande studie utforskas anti-utopia eller dystopins potential som spekulativ sociologi, - en dystopisk social fantasi, i förhoppningen att nå nya insikter och perspektiv. Genom en tematisk analys av dystopisk litteratur påvisas att element i dystopiska narrativ kan användas inom sociologiska intressen i utvecklande syften, som avancerande analysmodeller eller som vägledning vid formulerandet av kritiska sociala teorier eller hypoteser. Vidare hävdas att analysmodeller innehållande både utopi och dystopi blir mer nyskapande, flexibla och progressiva, samt att de kan avancera den sociala fantasin genom att tillföra en alternativ form av riskbedömning.
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Moore, Belinda S. "Young adult dystopian fiction in the postnatural age." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2016. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/101535/1/Belinda_Moore_Thesis.pdf.
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This creative works thesis comprises an exegesis and a novel. Both explore the ways that a postnatural perspective can shape the reading and writing of young adult dystopian fiction. Approaching literature from a postnatural perspective can highlight a connection between shifts in a novel's key terms and the development of the protagonist towards understanding their world as an interconnected ecosystem. Through its grounding in ecocriticism and children's literature criticism, this research investigates the contributions a postnatural perspective offers young adult dystopian fiction generally, and specifically, in the development of the novel When the Cloud Hit the Kellys.
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Stjernström, Elsa, and Jenny Emanuelsson. "Dystopi och jordens undergång : En genreanalys av dystopiska inslag i fiktiv film." Thesis, Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-21167.
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This study is a research on how dystopian features are expressed within different genres. The purpose is to discuss films that contain dystopian features in relation to genre and to examine if there are shared conventions in the films that can make dystopia a film genre on its own. The theoretical base includes genre theory and Rick Altman’s semantic/syntactic approach to film genre. Five films from different genres, all produced within the time period of 2000-2010, are analyzed with a semantic/syntactic approach to genre and then discussed in relation to dystopia and prior research. By using a semantic/syntactic approach to film genre it is possible to identify shared conventions. Only by using a co-ordinate semantic/syntactic approach is it possible to fully understand the interaction between conventions within a genre. The result shows that there are conventions that are characteristic for dystopia and dystopia can thus be considered a subgenre. The films analyzed in this essay share conventions characteristic for dystopia but also offer variation in form of, for example, theme. The subgenre dystopia therefore offers something familiar but also variation which is central in film genre. The analysis also shows that there are symbols that carry meaning within these films which implies that they have a common iconography.
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Relf, Jan. "Rehearsing the future : utopia and dystopia in women's writing, 1960-1990." Thesis, University of Exeter, 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.303370.
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Kisro, Johan. "Finding Dystopia in Utopia : Gender, Power and Politics in The Carhullan Army." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Engelska institutionen, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-104506.
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Sarah Hall’s feminist dystopia The Carhullan Army presents a near-future society by using oppositional binaries traditional to the genre of the literary dystopia; Utopia/Dystopia, Male/Female, and Good/Evil. This essay deconstructs these binaries in order to unveil the inherent complexities in power structures that cannot be captured by such binaries. Previous research on the novel has approached it with feminist theory, and different branches of feminism such as ecofeminism. In this essay, I use feminist theory as a starting point to discuss the Authority’s oppression of women in the novel, but I also show the limits to this approach when considering the apparent post-9/11 context in which the novel is situated, which decisively inflects its treatment of power. Michel Foucault’s theories on power and knowledge are used in order to examine the complex power structures in The Carhullan Army, which relate to—and transcend—borders of gender. I find that the subtle political presence of American imperialism in the novel is vital to understand the power struggles that are apparent in both the patriarchal city of Rith and the matriarchal Carhullan farm. This essay examines the novel both as a critique to the political submissiveness that Great Britain showed when it followed America into war against Iraq in 2003 and as a depiction of what this submission might lead to.
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Sirutis, Lukas. "Utopian thought as an expression of social and political critique." Master's thesis, Lithuanian Academic Libraries Network (LABT), 2013. http://vddb.laba.lt/obj/LT-eLABa-0001:E.02~2013~D_20130605_155436-57816.
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This thesis explores and connects two main elements: the utopian studies and the studies of social and political critique. The big quantity and variety and history of utopian texts raises a simple question: why someone writes utopian texts, why one wishes for a better and different life? And how do these factors operate in the large picture of humanity. It has been observed that utopian literature flourish in the times of human despair. In the times of unhappiness people try to search for decisions inside the dominant order in which they often feel hopeless to change. The utopians might say: “We do not want reforms, we want new forms!”. The main purpose of this thesis is to explore the critical side of utopias. How this critique works and how does it unfolds? What reactions does it create and why? This thesis is also concerned about the ambiguous nature of the concept utopia and its possible connections with human desire. If we agree with Deleuze and Guattari concept of desire as production, we can view utopia totally differently – as a immanent process of becoming, as a direction, not a destination.Šis magistro darbas apžvelgia ir apjungia du pagrindinius šio darbo elementus: utopijų studijos ir socialinė bei politinė kritika. Didelis kiekis įvairiausių utopinių tekstų kelia klausimą: kodėl žmonės rašo utopinius tekstus ir apskritai kodėl svajoja apie geresnį ir kitokį gyvenimą? Istoriškai pastebime, kad utopijų rašymas intensyviausiai atsiskleidžia per negandų ir nelaimių laikus. Neaiškumo ir nelaimės akivaizdoje žmonės ieško būdų radikaliai pakeisti esamą padėtį, bet dažnai susiduria su valstybinio aparato stagnacija. Utopistas sakytų: „Užteks politinių reformų, mes norime naujų formų!”. Pagrindinis šio darbo tikslas orientuojasi į kritinė utopinio mąstymo pusę. Kaip veikia utopinė kritika? kaip ji išsiskleidžia? Kokias reakcijas sukelia utopinis mąstymas ir kodėl? Šis darbas taip pat gilinasi į sąvokos „utopija“ problematiką. Jei mes sutinkame su Deleuze ir Guattari geismo, kaip nepertraukiamos produkcijos sąvoka, mes galime atsakyti daug klausimų dėl utopinio mąstymo įvairoves, taip pat pažiūrėti į ją iš kito kampo – kaip į imanentišką tapsmo procesą, kuris turį krypti, bet ne galutinę atvykimo vietą.
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Melo, Carla Beatriz. "Squatting dystopia performative invasions of real and imagined spaces in contemporary Brazil /." Diss., Restricted to subscribing institutions, 2007. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1467889861&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=1564&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Townsend, Jessica A. "How to save the future anxiety and social criticism in feminist dystopia /." Laramie, Wyo. : University of Wyoming, 2008. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1594494971&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=18949&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Ventrucci, Virginia. "Translating and Analyzing Contemporary Italian Dystopian Fiction: Leonardo Patrignani's "Tu Non Esisti"." Bachelor's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2017.
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As the English-speaking book market is difficult to penetrate for authors who are not native speakers of English, it is important to analyze how writers of different languages can produce notable works. This dissertation sets to translate, analyze, and assess the literary value of "Tu Non Esisti", a short story written by Italian author Leonardo Patrignani, as an example of contemporary Italian dystopian fiction that could be successful abroad.
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Johansson, Ingrid. "Informationsöverflödets dystopi : En intertextuell diskursanalys från Future Shock till The Shallows." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för ABM, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-201846.
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Today it is common to state that we are living in an information overloaded society. But there are many different definitions of what can be said to constitute Information Overload and there is a lack of substantial research on the subject. Conclusions in the available literature on Information Overload are often drawn on anecdotal evidence and carries a dramatized picture of the causes and effects of the phenomenon. With the tools of discursive analysis this two years master’s thesis explores how the phenomenon Information Overload is portrayed in six popular science books that deals with the subject: Alvin Toffler (1970) Future Shock, Orrin Klapp (1986) Overload and Boredom, Richard Wurman (1989) Information Anixety, Andrew Keen (2007) The cult of the amateur, Maggie Jackson (2008), Distracted and Nicholas Carr (2010) The Shallows. The result of the analysis shows that there is a common discourse of how the subject of Information Overload is represented, which stretches in and between the books intertextually. In this study that discourse is called the dystopian discourse of Information Overload. It is structured by a unified use of narratives, concepts, themes, metaphors and statements and by its separation from the opposite utopian discourse of Information Overload. In the final discussion the results of the analysis are compared to postmodern theory, a problematisation of the concept of distraction and to the Swedish government’s 2012 investigation of reading habits of young people in the country. The conclusion of the study is that the two binary discourses discovered in the analysis – the dystopian and the utopian – should be avoided in the debate and research on Information Overload. Instead the discussion should be influenced by pluralism, complexity and awareness.
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Swirski, Peter. "Dystopia or dischtopia : an analysis of the SF paradigms in Thomas M. Disch." Thesis, McGill University, 1990. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=61241.
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On the basis of an ontological analogy between the worlds of myth and dystopia, the present thesis argues the latter's inherently "metaphysical" character. As such, dystopia is regarded as categorically different from Science Fiction which, however grim in its surface presentation, always remains paradigmatically "non-metaphysical," i.e., neutral. This generic distinction is then applied to the analysis of the three most important SF works of Thomas M. Disch, one of the most interesting and accomplished contemporary SF writers. The generic, as well as socio-aesthetic discussion of Camp Concentration, 334, and On Wings of Song, traces Disch's development of a characteristically "Dischtopian" paradigm of social SF.
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Ahlbäck, Pia Maria. "Energy, heterotopia, dystopia : George Orwell, Michel Foucault and the twentieth century environmental imagination /." Åbo : Åbo akademis förlag : Åbo akademi university press, 2001. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb38960660s.
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Jores, Steffan. "Static Dystopia : From Architectural Staticism to free Space: The need for flexible space." Thesis, Konstfack, Inredningsarkitektur & Möbeldesign, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:konstfack:diva-3621.
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STATIC DYSTOPIA One of the greatest transformations of our constructed physical spaces is taking place now and for a long time to come. The buildings we have created do not serve the needs and conditions of our time. They are exhausted of recurrent renovations and inexhaustible attempts to remodify already given forms, which result in expensive contracts. According to new EU-requirements scheduled 2019, no new buildings are allowed to consume more energy than they produce. And more restrictions concerning energy consumption of our existing buildings are raised around the western world to better match our present conditions regarding our decreasing resources. We have overbuilt ourselves with impractical structures that can not be modified for a natural change of our living conditions. They are too static and lack the possibility for rational reprogrammation. Instead of adapting them to future inevitable restruction, we make them even more static through passive housing. Relevant architectural intelligentsia seem to be a thing of the past where we can find numerous examples of buildings that allows adaptability and room for reprogrammation. Meanwhile temporary refugee camps turn into constant growing cities. Whole cities and landscapes are changed during a day due to natural activities. They too lack potential reprogrammability because of its poor and barbarous approach to human living conditions. Our civilization has all the tools for changing this situation by building in a format that calculates the process of reprogrammation of physical environments. This problematic is not as relevant in furniture or interior, but can still be used with great success to improve our homes and working places. Staticism, in contradiction to reprogrammability, have fundamental values that can not be questioned when used for its’ right purpose, and it is not my intention to replace it. With rational solutions containing the combination of them both we can, and will have to, revaluate the way we construct our physical surroundings. In my master degree project I am using my theory about reprogrammability to create a set of furniture that allows change in materiality, use, and function. This example should be considered as an exemplification of the thesis in a minor simplified scale rather than an object for actual use. The mounting of the furniture is based on a grid that allows easy assembly and reassembly of the various parts. The separated grids are shaped by their appurtenant c/c measurements (280 mm, 70 mm etc.), and are overlapping each other to allow construction symbiosis.
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Drage, Eleanor Guistina Prudence <1991>. "Utopia/Dystopia, Race, Gender, and New Forms of Humanism in Women's Science Fiction." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2019. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/8828/1/Eleanor%20Drage%20-%20Thesis%20-Cotutela%20.pdf.
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This thesis aims to uncover new forms of humanism grounded in a critique of systems that produce and reify race and gender by staging a conversation between six contemporary works of science fiction (SF) written by women from Italy, France, Spain, and the UK, and five acclaimed theorists in the fields of gender, queer, postcolonial, humanist, and cultural studies: Judith Butler, Rosi Braidotti, Gayatri Spivak, Paul Gilroy, and Jack Halberstam. As outlined in the second chapter, I focus, in particular, on Butler’s conception of subjects who ‘become’ through affective encounters, Braidotti’s critical posthumanism, Spivak and Gilroy’s respective notions of ‘planetarity,’ and Halberstam’s theory of a ‘queer art of failure.’ In doing so, this thesis asserts the complementarity of academic and science fictional enquiries into what I view as examples of new forms of humanism that arise from historicised interrogations of systems of race and gender. The first chapter introduces the way in which SF appeals to women writers who embrace the genre’s political energy and its anti-racist, anti-sexist, and humanistic potential by tracing a genealogy of European women’s SF from the seventeenth century to the present day. The second half of the thesis reads examples of politically charged SF from my corpus alongside the critical theory outlined in the second chapter, in order to demonstrate how SF engages with new forms of humanism through a critique and reformulation of issues of race and gender. I follow this analysis with an exploration of the way in which SF’s unique spatial attributes can probe the borders of the planetary humanisms or ‘planetarity’ proposed by Gilroy and Spivak. I finally assess, by way of a conclusion, the extent to which SF can reassemble and amplify the achievements of these new forms of anti-racist and anti-sexist humanism.
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Fasola, Fiore Lisa <1994>. "Gender and Genre in Young Adult Dystopia: Collins’s Hunger Games and Oliver’s Delirium." Master's Degree Thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/14702.
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The aim of this paper is to discuss the relationship between gender and genre in two Young Adult (YA) dystopian series, drawing on two key concepts. The first is the assertion (made, among the others, by critics Tom Moylan and Raffaella Baccolini) that critical dystopias, unlike classical dystopias, present a tendency towards the blending of different genre conventions. The second is the opposition, highlighted by Roberta Seelinger Trites, between two literary patterns which characterise YA fiction: depending on the level of maturity that the protagonist reaches by the end of the novel or series, it is possible to define a work as Bildungsroman (coming of age novel) or as Entwicklungsroman (novel of development).
Based on these premises, I first argue that The Hunger Games and Delirium present features thanks to which the former can be considered a Bildungsroman and the latter an Entwicklungsroman, making these dystopian series good examples of the mixture of genres which characterises critical dystopias. Secondly, I show how the identification of the two female protagonists as main characters of a Bildungsroman or of an Entwicklungsroman is strictly linked to their gender, in aspects concerning both their subjectivity and the bonds they create or develop.
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Whyte, Alastair James Murray. "Utopian Intersections in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/15299.
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This thesis argues for a new approach to the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and specifically his "legendarium" of narratives centred around "The Silmarillion" and The Lord of the Rings. It proposes that Tolkien's literary position may be understood productively by exploring distinct and enlightening intersections of his fiction with the modern tradition of utopian literature and with recent utopian theory. The thesis contends that these intersections primarily occur in three ways. The first intersection occurs as a consistent anti-utopian argument in Tolkien's narratives according to the programmatic sense of utopianism which was standard during Tolkien's lifetime. The second intersection reads positive "eutopianism" in Tolkien's fiction through the lens of recent critical work in utopian studies that interprets utopianism as a radical and ontological literary methodology. The third utopian intersection engages with common themes in Tolkien's work and those of his contemporaries and precursors writing in the utopian mode. This approach critically analyses Tolkien in relation to leading recent utopian theorists, including Lyman Tower Sargent's definitions of the different kinds of utopianism, Ruth Levitas's work on utopian ontology and Lucy Sargisson's transgressive utopianism, which collectively offer a broader understanding of utopianism in literature. Tolkien's literary relationship with utopian writing is established through discussing his connections with one of his major influences, William Morris. Morris's authorship of distinctly utopian prose romances, including the canonical utopian text News from Nowhere, links Tolkien to other significant literary utopians from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including Edward Bellamy and H.G. Wells, as well as to his contemporaries in the mid twentieth century, such as Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. Addressing these intersections enables a valuable means of understanding how Tolkien's narratives of a "Secondary World" reflect, interpret and represent the major themes and issues of the twentieth century. By responding to questions of modernity, industry and tyranny, Tolkien's narratives engage with ideas central to the utopian canon. Thus his works may be recognised as a related and associated form of literary discourse. By foregrounding the intersectional nature of utopianism as a means of reading literature in general, this thesis aims to produce an improved and enhanced understanding of Tolkien and his literary position.
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Diop, Babacar. "Esthétique des Ruines et Dystopie dans le roman Anglais postmoderne : une lecture de Riddley Walker, (1980) de Russel Hoban, Cloud Atlas, (2004) de David Mitchell et The Book of Dave (2006) de Will Self." Thesis, Montpellier 3, 2016. http://www.theses.fr/2016MON30080/document.
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Les concepts de dystopie et de postmodernisme ont pris une dimension nouvelle depuis une vingtaine d’années environ.Ces concepts, qui ont fait l’objet d’études multiples tant sur le plan littéraire qu’historique, pour ne citer que ces deuxdomaines-là, ont révélé d’autres perspectives qui, de notre point de vue, n’ont pas encore été abordées. Il s’agit parexemple du rapport entre la dystopie et les ruines. A travers cette thèse, nous avons étudié les concepts de dystopie et deruines tel qu’ils apparaissent dans trois oeuvres (Riddley Walker, (1980) de Russel Hoban, Cloud Atlas, (2004) de DavidMitchell et The Book of Dave (2006) de Will Self) à la lumière des évènements contemporains et en rapport avec lepostmodernisme. Ce corpus a permis de souligner des liens entre dystopie et postmodernisme grâce à la valeuresthétique, éthique, poétique et politique des ruines dont l’ubiquité nous a fait considérer les oeuvres dystopiquescomme un portrait du monde où nous vivons. Cette thèse a par ailleurs permis de souligner le comportementautodestructeur de l’homme, en rapport avec la notion de progrès qui est constamment remise sur le métier, devenantplus une illusion qu’une réalité au moyen de scènes de violence dont les principales illustrations restent les deux conflitsmondiaux avec la Shoah et les bombes atomiques larguées sur Hiroshima et Nagasaki ainsi que l’utilisation des armeschimiques. En plus d’être un trait d’union entre dystopie et postmodernisme, les ruines s’érigent en témoin du passésinistre de l’homme vers lequel elles guident les contemplateurs tout en leur rappelant la vanité de leur vie etl’évanescence de toute existence. L’ubiquité des ruines ne cesse de plonger survivants et contemplateurs dans unemélancolie à laquelle s’ajoute le trauma lié à la perte et la menace de répétition du passé. Les ruines deviennent alorsune forme d’expression, un langage pour les dystopies postmodernes et, à travers elles, les disparus prennent la parole.Les traces de ce qui a été sont ainsi devenues des médias par lesquels le silence des ruines devient la parole de ceux quine sont plus, révélant de manière continue la présence du passéThe concepts of dystopia and postmodernism have taken a new dimension for the past two decades. These conceptshave been explored in multiple studies from both literary and historical viewpoints, to name but these two areas thathave revealed other perspectives, which, to our knowledge, have not yet been addressed. This is the case, for example,of the relationship between dystopia and ruins. The present work explores the concepts of dystopia and ruins as theyappear in the three books (Riddley Walker (1980) by Russell Hoban, Cloud Atlas (2004) by David Mitchell and TheBook of Dave (2006) by Will Self) in the light of contemporary events and in connection with postmodernism. Thiscorpus was used to discover the links between dystopia and postmodernism through the aesthetic, ethical, poetic andpolitical values of ruins, the ubiquity of which brought us to consider the dystopian works as a depiction of the world inwhich we live. The present study has also helped highlight the destructive behavior of Man in relation to the notion ofprogress that is constantly questioned, thus becoming more of an illusion than a reality because of scenes of violencemainly illustrated by the two World Wars with the Shoah and the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,as well as the use of chemical weapons, commonly called mass destruction weapons. Besides being a bridge betweendystopia and postmodernism, ruins stand as witnesses of Man’s sinister past toward which they direct contemplatorswhile reminding them of the vanity of their lives and the evanescence of any existence. The ubiquity of the ruinsrelentlessly plunges survivors and contemplators into a melancholy supplemented by the trauma associated to thefeeling of loss and the threat of a repetition of the past. The ruin thus becomes a form of expression, a language forpostmodern dystopias and through it, the departed speak. The traces of what has been have thus become media through
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Bouet, Elsa Dominique. "Hitting the wall : dystopian metaphors of ideology in science fiction." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/9476.
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This thesis explores the depictions of the relationship between utopia and ideology by looking at metaphors of the wall in of utopian and dystopian science fiction, such as Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and the Strugatsky brothers' Roadside Picnic. The wall is an image symbolising the ambiguity between ideology and utopia: the wall could be perceived to be the barrier protecting utopia while it is in fact the symbol for ideological restrictions and containment which are generating dystopia. The thesis looks at how these novels engage with the theme of the wall: it is used as an image altering history, constricting space and as a linguistic barrier. The characters' presence in and experience of the worlds is restricted by the ideological walls, and an alternate reality is created. The thesis looks at how the novels create such alternate, ideological realities and how the wall becomes the entity altering time, history, space and language. This alternate reality is used as an image of stability, but this takes on negative connotations: it becomes a constrictive force, embodying Fredric Jameson's idea that science fiction creates images of “world reduction”, caging the characters' desires, disabling the utopian impulse. The thesis therefore instigates the possibility of utopia: the wall negates all possibility of change and denies the hopes of the utopian impulse; however the characters' desire to regain humanity by destroying the ideological walls offers hope and opens up utopia, thus concluding that utopia is change and progress.
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Collins, Karen E. "The future is happening already : industrial music, dystopia and the aesthetic of the machine." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.272629.
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Zelenkova-O'Sullivan, Ouliana Alexandrovna. "Fictional language as a postmodernist construct : linguistic defamiliarization in historiographic metafiction and the dystopia." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.366605.
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