Academic literature on the topic 'Dystopian society'
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the lists of relevant articles, books, theses, conference reports, and other scholarly sources on the topic 'Dystopian society.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Journal articles on the topic "Dystopian society"
1
Siham Hattab Hamdan, Dr. "kamaugawar and the creation of a dystopian reality: A study in hassan Blasim's "Crossword" and Ambrose Bierce's "Chi." لارك 3, no. 42 (June 30, 2021): 1206–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.31185/lark.vol3.iss42.1947.
Full textAbstract:
The study shows how war can create a dystopian reality worse than the reality depicted in the dystopian stories. War creates a circular or enclosed world that has no exit where people cannot see the end of the tunnel. The study discusses two short stories, one is for the Iraqi writer Hassan Blasim entitled "Crosswords" and the other for the American writer Ambrose Bierce entitled "Chickamauga". These two short stories fit one of the categories of dystopian fiction where the society witnesses the effects of war and civilians and soldiers become the victims. Though the two stories do not adhere to the futuristic perspective of dystopian fiction, they could express the thought of their writers' that what is going on in the society though it is real but it is at the same time, dystopian.
Key Words: Dystopia, War, Defamiliarization, Hassan Blasim, Ambrose Bierce.
2
Shaheen, Muhammad Mahmood Ahmad, and Sohail Ahmad Saeed. "A Dystopian View of Postmodern Culture and Corporate Hegemony in Max Barry’s Jennifer Government." Global Regional Review IV, no. II (June 30, 2019): 106–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/grr.2019(iv-ii).12.
Full textAbstract:
This paper offers a dystopian view of postmodern culture and corporate hegemony to foreground the effects of late capitalism on human and society. The paper interprets Max Barrys Jennifer Government in the light of Frederic Jameson and Tom Moylans theories of postmodern culture and dystopia, respectively. For Jameson, postmodern culture is characterized by commodification of society, general depthlessness, simulacrum, and death of subjectivity. Similarly, Moylan considers dystopia an index of the systemic ills of late capitalism. The corporate hegemony enacts a socioeconomic hegemonic enclosure and deprives humans of social and individual identity. Barrys novel presents a dystopic view of postmodern culture by foregrounding the commodification of society, corporate hegemony, and intensification of economic growth at the cost of social values, which prompt general depthlessness and social disintegration. The present study offers an explicit understanding of the ills of late capitalism by emphasizing the lived experience of social reality.
3
Ginszt, Katarzyna. "Fincher’s 'Fight Club' as an example of a critical dystopia." Beyond Philology An International Journal of Linguistics, Literary Studies and English Language Teaching, no. 15/3 (December 17, 2018): 67–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.26881/bp.2018.3.03.
Full textAbstract:
This article investigates David Fincher’s film Fight Club as a critical dystopian narrative. The first part of the article provides the definition of critical dystopia as well as it presents characteristic features of the subgenre. It also sets forward the difference between classical and critical dystopias. The following sections are case studies in which different elements of the film in the context of the subgenre are examined. They focus on the construction of a dystopian society and the negative influence of consumerism on the protagonist and therefore on other people. Moreover, this paper attempts to demonstrate how the overall pessimistic tendency of the narrative is realised. Finally, the protagonist’s actions as well as the aftermath of these actions are described and analysed. The final part of the article focuses on the significance of the last scene which introduces a utopian impulse into the narrative.
4
Adil Majidova, Ilaha. "The dystopian genre as one of Ray Bradbury’s creative trends." SCIENTIFIC WORK 61, no. 12 (December 25, 2020): 87–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.36719/2663-4619/61/87-90.
Full textAbstract:
Utopia is a common literary theme, especially in a speculative and science-fiction genre. Authors use utopian genre to explore what a perfect society would look like. Utopian fiction is set in a perfect world, while a dystopian novel drops its main character into a world where everything seems to have gone wrong. Dystopian fiction can challenge readers to think differently about current world. The article is devoted to the etymology of dystopia genre within Ray Bradbury’s creativity. In his short stories he tried to show the depth of his imagination. In Ray Bradbury’s fiction the world is a terrible place. He exposes the destructive side of technological progress and paradoxes of human personality in a grotty society. Key words: science-fiction, utopia, dystopia, prognosis, short story
5
Nguyen, Phuong Khanh. "DYSTOPIAN THEME IN SOUTH KOREAN LITERATURE AND FILM." UED Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities and Education 11, no. 1 (June 21, 2021): 137–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.47393/jshe.v11i1.944.
Full textAbstract:
The theme Dystopia began as a response to Utopian theory, which isrelated to perfect communities. A dystopia is an imaginary community or society that is dehumanized and is therefore terrifying with people who are forced to battle for survivalin a ruined environment with technological control and oppression by the governing authority. Dystopian novels or films can challenge readers to think differently about the current social and political contexts, and can even promptpositive actions for the future of human beings. Recently, not only America and Europe but also South Korea has witnessed the increasing release of a range ofdystopian or post-apocalyptic films and novels. These creations reflect the harsh reality of our modern life in which human beings have to confront disasters, pandemics and problems of the modern industrialized society. Though usually set in a future scene, the dystopian theme can function as an open gate, an objection from the present, or as the “archaeology of the Future”. The success of South Korean literature and film on this topic claims the strong rise of SouthKorean wave in the world’s pop culture. It also shows that sci-fi works with dystopian theme can be seen as an anti-social discourse as well as their possibility of merging with the mainstream works.
6
Muradian, Gaiane, and Anna Karapetyan. "On Some Properties of Science Fiction Dystopian Narrative." Armenian Folia Anglistika 13, no. 1-2 (17) (October 16, 2017): 7–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.46991/afa/2017.13.1-2.007.
Full textAbstract:
Dystopia is a narrative form of fiction in general and of science fiction in particular. Using elements of science fiction discourse like time travel, space flight, advanced technologies, virtual reality, genetic engineering, etc. – dystopian narrative depicts future fictive societies presenting in peculiar prose style a future in which humanity has fallen into destruction, ruin and decline, in which human life and nature are wildly abused, exploited and destroyed, in which a totalitarian, highly centralized, and, therefore, oppressive social organization sacrifices individual expression, freedom of choice and idiosyncrasy of the society and its members. It is such critical and creative reflections of science fiction dystopian narrative that are focused on in the present case study with the aim of bringing out certain properties in terms of narrative types and devices, figurative discourse and cognitive notions through which science fiction dystopia expresses and conveys its overarching message, i.e. the warning to stop before it is too late to the reader.
7
Vieira, Patrícia. "Utopia and dystopia in the age of the Anthropocene." Esboços: histórias em contextos globais 27, no. 46 (January 15, 2021): 350–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-7976.2020.e72386.
Full textAbstract:
A product of Modernity, utopian and dystopian thought has always hinged upon an assessment as to whether humanity would be able to fulfil the promise of socio-economic, political and techno-scientific progress. In this paper, I argue that the predominantly dystopian outlook of the past century or so marked a move away from former views on human progress. Rather than commenting on humanity’s inability to build a better society, current dystopianism betrays the view that the human species as such is an impediment to harmonious life on Earth. I discuss the shift from utopia to dystopia (and back) as a result of regarding humans as a force that does more harm than good, and I consider the possibility of human extinction within the framework of dystopian and utopian visions. The final section of the chapter turns to Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy as a fictional example that plays out the prospect of a world in which humans have all but become extinct.
8
Machado-Jiménez, Almudena. "Sorority without solidarity: Control in the patriarchal utopia of Margaret Atwood’s 'The Handsmaid’s Tale'." Beyond Philology An International Journal of Linguistics, Literary Studies and English Language Teaching, no. 15/3 (December 17, 2018): 43–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.26881/bp.2018.3.02.
Full textAbstract:
Despite all variables, the subjugation of the female figure has always been the constant in the conceptualisation of patriarchal utopias. To ensure that subjugation women must undergo a process of reformation and surrender into normative sororities that are at the mercy of the state. It is argued here that such patriarchal utopias involve the elimination of solidarity with and between members of the sororal collective. This ensures the isolation of women and, consequently, eliminates the emancipation of womanhood from patriarchal idealisations. Sororities without solidarity are subjected to a comparative analysis of various classical utopian/dystopian texts and Atwood’s feminist dystopia The Handmaid’s Tale in order to foreground the problem concerning the construction of normative female beings. Moreover, the figure of (e)merging women in contemporary feminist utopian/dystopian discourses paves the way for female empowerment within patriarchal society by combining sorority and solidarity.
9
Cardoso, André Cabral de Almeida. "Precarious humanity: the double in dystopian science fiction." Gragoatá 23, no. 47 (December 29, 2018): 888–909. http://dx.doi.org/10.22409/gragoata.v23i47.33608.
Full textAbstract:
The double is a common feature in fantastic fiction, and it plays a prominent part in the Gothic revival of the late nineteenth century. It questions the notion of a coherent identity by proposing the idea of a fragmented self that is at the same time familiar and frighteningly other. On the other hand, the double is also a way of representing the tensions of life in large urban centers. Although it is more usually associated with the fantastic, the motif of the double has spread to other fictional genres, including science fiction, a genre also concerned with the investigation of identity and the nature of the human. The aim of this article is to discuss the representation of the double in contemporary science fiction, more particularly in its dystopian mode, where the issue of identity acquires a special relevance, since dystopias focus on the troubled relation between individual and society. Works such as Greg Egan’s short story “Learning to Be Me”; White Christmas, an episode from the television series Black Mirror; Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go; and the film Moon, directed by Duncan Jones, will be briefly examined in order to trace the ways the figure of the double has been rearticulated in dystopian science fiction as a means to address new concerns about personal identity and the position of the individual in society.---Original in English.
10
Steble, Janez. "New Wave Science Fiction and the Exhaustion of the Utopian/Dystopian Dialectic." ELOPE: English Language Overseas Perspectives and Enquiries 8, no. 2 (October 10, 2011): 89–103. http://dx.doi.org/10.4312/elope.8.2.89-103.
Full textAbstract:
The paper explores the development of the utopian and dystopian literature in the experimental and prolific period of New Wave science fiction. The genre literature of the period chiefly expressed the dissolutions of the universe, society, and identity through its formal literary devices and subject-matter, thus making it easy to arrive at the conclusion that the many SF works of J. G. Ballard’s post-apocalyptic narratives, for example, exhausted and bankrupted the utopian/dystopian dialectic. However, the article provides textual evidence from one of the most prominent authors of the New Wave and the theoretical basis to suggest the contrary, namely that the categories of utopia and dystopia had by that time reached a level of transformation unprecedented in the history of the genre. Furthermore, the paper explores the inherent qualities science fiction shares with utopian literature, and suggests that the dialogism of the science fiction novel, especially that of the New Wave, has brought about the revival of utopia and rediscovered its potential.
Dissertations / Theses on the topic "Dystopian society"
1
Uhlenbruch, Frauke. "The Nowhere Bible : the Biblical passage Numbers 13 as a case study of Utopian and Dystopian readings by diachronic audiences." Thesis, University of Derby, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10545/315827.
Full textAbstract:
Applying utopian theory to the Bible reveals a number of issues surrounding the biblical text within academic disciplines such as biblical studies, which study the Bible as an ancient cultural artefact, and among religious readers of the Bible. The biblical passage Numbers 13 was chosen as a case study of a utopian reading of the image of the Promised Land to demonstrate the Bible’s multifaceted potential by externalising the presupposition brought to the text. The underlying method is derived from an ideal type procedure, appropriated from Weber. Instead of comparing phenomena to each other, one compares a phenomenon to a constructed ideal type. This method enables one to compare phenomena independently of exclusive definitions and direct linear influences. It has been suggested by biblical scholars that utopian readings of the Bible can yield insights into socio-political circumstances in the society which produced biblical texts. Using observations by Holquist about utopias’ relationships to reality it is asked if applying the concept of utopia to a biblical passage allows drawing conclusions about the originating society of the Hebrew Bible. The answer is negative. Theory about literary utopias is applied to the case study passage. Numbers 13 is similar to literary utopias in juxtaposing a significantly improved society with a home society, the motif of travellers in an unfamiliar environment, and the feature of a map which is graphically not representable. Noth’s reading of the biblical passage’s toponyms reveals that its map is a utopian map. Numbers 13 is best understood as a literary utopia describing an unrealistic environment and using common utopian techniques and motifs. Despite describing an unrealistic environment, the passage was understood as directly relevant to reality by readers throughout time, for example by Bradford. Following two Puritan readings, it is observed that biblical utopian texts have the potential of being applied in reality by those who see them as a call to action. If a literary utopia is attempted to be brought into reality, it becomes apparent that it marginalises those who are not utopian protagonists; in the case study passage, the non-Israelite tribes, in Bradford’s reading, the Native Nations in New England. The interplay of utopia and dystopia is explored and it is concluded that a definitive trait of literary utopias is their potential to turn into an experienced dystopia if enforced literally. This argument is supported by demonstrating that the utopian traits of the case study passage contain dystopian downsides if read from a different perspective. A contemporary utopian reading of the case study passage is proposed. Today utopian speculation most often appears in works of science fiction (SF). Motifs appearing in the case study passage are read as tropes familiar to a contemporary Bible reader from SF. Following D. Suvin’s SF theory, it is concluded that the Bible in the contemporary world can be understood as a piece of SF. It contains the juxtaposition of an estranged world with a reader’s experienced world as well as a potential utopian and dystopian message.
2
Akkan, Goksu. "Audiovisual representations of Artificial Intelligence in Dystopian Tech Societies: Scaremongering or Reality? The Cases of Black Mirror (Charlie Brooker, 2011), Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2017) and Her (Spike Jonze, 2014)." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Ramon Llull, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/671832.
Full textAbstract:
La intel·ligència artificial ha estat un concepte que captiva la humanitat des de fa mil·lennis. Des de l'antiguitat, els humans estan obsessionats amb la idea de crear un ésser humà artificial perfecte amb diferents objectius, com ara la companyia o l'ajuda domèstica, i han escrit sobre ells en textos antics de diverses cultures. Això va evolucionar cap a la literatura de protofantasia o protociència-ficció a l’alta edat mitjana. Tanmateix, no va ser fins al segle XIX que la influent obra de Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818), va reunir diferents aspectes de la creació artificial de vida humana artificial en el debat d’una comprensió psicològica social més àmplia. Amb l'arribada dels mitjans audiovisuals al segle XX, aquestes representacions dels humanoides creats artificialment o d'altres creacions amb cert grau de consciència han poblat tant la gran pantalla com la televisió. Aquesta tesi se centra en les connexions socials d'aquestes representacions de la Intel·ligència Artificial, a partir de la sèrie de televisió Black Mirror (Charlie Brooker, 2011), així com en les pel·lícules Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2014) i Her (Spike Jonze, 2014), per tal d’analitzar la relació entre la Intel·ligència Artificial i els humans des de perspectives i paradigmes diversos. L’anàlisi audiovisual de les obres seleccionades és seguida d’una exploració de com s’estan produint aquests recents avenços tecnològics en la nostra societat actual, per relacionar-los amb les advertències que proposen les obres seleccionades i que ofereixen una lectura per al futur que requereix la implementació de normatives estrictes sobre la Intel·ligència Artificial per tal d’alleujar les angoixes humanes respecte a la tecnologia. Paraules clau: Intel·ligència artificial, tecnologia, ciència ficció, distopia, estudis cinematogràfics, societat.La inteligencia artificial es un concepto que fascina a la humanidad durante milenios. Desde la antigüedad, los humanos han estado obsesionados con la idea de crear un humano artificial perfecto para diferentes fines, como la compañía o la ayuda doméstica, y han escrito sobre ello en textos fundacionales de diversas culturas. Esto se convirtió progresivamente en literatura de protofantasía o proto-ciencia ficción en la Alta Edad Media. Sin embargo, no fue hasta el siglo XIX cuando la influyente obra Frankenstein (1818) de Mary Shelley reunió diferentes aspectos de la creación de un ser humano artificial, discutidos dentro de una comprensión psicológica y social más amplia. Con la llegada de los medios audiovisuales en el siglo XX, estas representaciones de humanoides creados artificialmente o de otras creaciones con cierto grado de conciencia han poblado tanto la gran pantalla como la televisión. Esta tesis se centra en las conexiones sociales de dichas representaciones de la Inteligencia Artificial, centrándose en la serie de televisión Black Mirror (Charlie Brooker, 2011), así como en las películas Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2014) y Her (Spike Jonze, 2014), analizando las relaciones entre la Inteligencia Artificial y los humanos desde una variedad de perspectivas y paradigmas diferentes. El análisis audiovisual de las obras seleccionadas va seguido de una exploración sobre cómo estos avances tecnológicos recientes se están produciendo en nuestra sociedad actual, vinculándolos con las advertencias que formulan las obras seleccionadas y ofreciendo una lectura de futuro que requiere la implementación de una estricta normativa en torno a la Inteligencia Artificial para aliviar las ansiedades humanas sobre la tecnología. Palabras clave: inteligencia artificial, tecnología, sociedad, ciencia ficción, distopía, estudios cinematográficos.
Artificial Intelligence has been a concept that has infatuated humankind for millennia. Since antiquity, humans have been obsessed with the idea of creating a perfect artificial human for different aims such as companionship or domestic help, and ancient cultures have devoted foundational texts to the artificial human. This literary occupation gradually evolved into proto-fantasy or proto-Science Fiction literature in the early middle ages. However, it wasn’t until the 19th century that Mary Shelley’s influential work Frankenstein (1818) brought together different aspects of creating an artificial human discussed within a broader social and psychological understanding. With the advent of audiovisual media in the 20th century, such representations of artificially created humanoids or other creations with some degree of consciousness have populated both the silver screen and television. This thesis focuses on the societal connections between such representations of Artificial Intelligence, focusing on the TV show Black Mirror (Charlie Brooker, 2011) as well as the films Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2014) and Her (Spike Jonze, 2014) by analyzing the Artificial Intelligence - human relationships from a variety of different perspectives and paradigms. The audiovisual analyses of the selected works are then followed by an examination of how such recent technological developments are taking place in our current society. These texts under examination exhort us to beware the potential dangers of AI technology, which require implementation of strict regulations around the Artificial Intelligence framework in order to alleviate human anxieties about technology. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, technology, technology and society, Science Fiction, dystopia, film studies, society.
3
Vachon, Lauren Marie. "Glow: A Novel." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1374695902.
Full text
4
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.
Full textAbstract:
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.
5
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.
Full textAbstract:
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.
6
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.
Full text
7
Svensson, Hanna. "Divergent; a Society Divided : An analysis of the factions, their similarities with class from a Marxist perspective and classism." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Fakulteten för humaniora och samhällsvetenskap (from 2013), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-83878.
Full textAbstract:
The background to this essay is that I wanted to analyze the factions in Veronica Roth´s novel Divergent and class from a Marxist perspective. I used a Marxist perspective on social class to find details that matched or looked similar to the novel and did an analysis and comparison between them. I found that a lot of details in how the different factions are described and represented can be compared with classism due to significant similarities, such as social behavior and prioritization among different groups.Bakgrunden till denna uppsats är att jag ville analysera falangerna i Veronica Roths bok Divergent samt klass från ett marxistiskt perspektiv. Jag använde ett marxistiskt persspektiv på social klass för att finna detaljer som matchade eller liknade novellen och gjorde en analys och jämförelse mellan dem. Jag fann att en hel del detaljer gällande hur de olika falangerna är beskrivna och representerade kan jämföras med klassism tack vare signifikanta liknelser, såsom socialt beteende och prioriteringar inom olika grupper.
8
Garvey, Brian T. "Literature of utopia and dystopia. Technological influences shaping the form and content of utopian visions." Thesis, University of Bradford, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/5026.
Full textAbstract:
We live in an age of rapid change. The advance of science and
technology, throughout history, has culminated in periods of transition
when social values have had to adapt to a changed environment. Such
times have proved fertile ground for the expansion of the imagination.
Utopian literature offers a vast archive of information concerning the
relationship between scientific and technological progress and social
change.
Alterations in the most basic machinery of society inspired utopian
authors to write of distant and future worlds which had achieved a state
of harmony and plenty. The dilemmas which writers faced were particular
to their era, but there also emerged certain universal themes and
questions: What is the best organisation of society? What tools would
be adequate to the task? What does it mean to be human?
The dividing line on these issues revolves around two opposed
beliefs. Some perceived the power inherent in technology to effect the
greatest improvement in the human condition. Others were convinced that
the organisation of the social order must come first so as to create an
environment sympathetic to perceived human needs. There are,
necessarily, contradictions in such a division. They can be seen plainly
in More's Utopia itself. More wanted to see new science and technique
developed. But he also condemned the social consequences which
inevitably flowed from the process of discovery. These consequences led
More to create a utopia based on social reorganisation. In the main,
the utopias of Francis Bacon, Edward Bellamy and the later H. G. Wells
accepted science, while the work of William Morris, Aldous Huxley and
Kurt Vonnegut rejected science in preference for a different social order.
More's Utopia and Bacon's New Atlantis were written at a time when
feudal, agricultural society was being transformed by new discoveries
and techniques. In a later age, Bellamy's Looking Backward and Morris's
News From Nowhere offer contrary responses to society at the height of
the Industrial evolution. These four authors serve as a prelude to the
main area of the thesis which centres on the twentieth century. Wells,
though his first novel appeared in 1895, produced the vast bulk of his
work in the current century. Huxley acts as an appropriate balance to
Wells and also exemplifies the shift from utopia to dystopia. The last
section of the thesis deals with the work of Kurt Vonnegut and includes
an interview with that author.
The twentieth century has seen the proliferation of dystopias,
portraits of the disastrous consequences of the headlong pursuit of
science and technology, unallied to human values. Huxley and Vonnegut
crystallised the fears of a modern generation: that we create a
soulless, mechanised, urban nightmare. The contemporary fascination
with science in literature is merely an extension of a process with a
long tradition and underlying theme. The advance of science and
technology created the physical and intellectual environment for utopian
authors which determined the form and content of their visions.
9
Lee, Sung-Ae. "Utopias, dystopias, and abjection pathways for society's others in George Eliot's major fictions /." Phd thesis, Australia : Macquarie University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/45363.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Humanities, Department of English, 2003.Bibliography: p. 250-270.
Introduction -- Female subjectivity, abjection, and agency in Scenes of clerical life -- A questionable Utopia: Adam Bede -- Dystopia and the frustration of agency in the double Bildungsroman of The mill on the floss -- Abjection and exile in Silas Marner -- Justice and feminist Utopia in Romola -- Radicalism as Utopianism in Felix Holt, the radical -- The pursuit of what is good: Utopian impulses in Middlemarch -- Nationalism and multiculturalism: shaping the future as transformative Utopia in Daniel Deronda.
Within a framework based on Mikhail Bakhtin's dialogism and Julia Kristeva's theory of abjection, this thesis investigates how Utopian impulses are manifested in George Eliot's novels. Eliot's utopianism is presented first by a critique of dystopian elements in society and later by placing such elements in a dialogic relationship with utopian ideas articulated by leading characters. Each novel includes characters who are abjected because they have different ideas from the social norms, and such characters are silenced and expelled because society evaluates these differences in terms of its gender, class and racial prejudices. Dystopia is thus constituted as a resolution of the conflict between individual and society by the imposition of monologic values. Dialogic possibilities are explored by patterned character configurations and by the cultivation of ironical narrators' voices which enfold character focalization within strategic deployment of free indirect discourse. -- Eliot's early works, from Scenes of Clerical Life to Silas Marner, focus their dystopian elements as a critique of a monologic British society intolerant of multiple consciousnesses, and which consigns "other" voices to abjection and thereby precludes social progress by rejecting these "other" voices. In her later novels, from Romola to Daniel Deronda, Eliot presents concrete model utopian societies that foreshadow progressive changes to the depicted, existing society. Such an imagined society incorporates different consciousnesses and hence admits abject characters, who otherwise would have been regarded as merely transgressive, and thus silenced or eliminated. Abjected characters in Eliot's fiction tend also to be utopists, and hence have potential for positively transforming the world. Where they are depicted as gaining agency, they also in actuality or by implication bring about change in society, the nation and the wider world. -- An underlying assumption is that history can be changed for the better, so that utopian ideals can be actualized by means of human agency rather than by attributing teleological processes to supernatural forces. When a protagonist's utopian impulses fail, it is both because of dystopian elements of society and because of individual human weaknesses. In arguably her most utopian works, Romola and Daniel Deronda, Eliot creates ideal protagonists, one of whom remains in the domestic sphere because of gender, and another who is (albeit voluntarily) removed from British society because of his race/class. However, Romola can be seen as envisaging a basis for female advancement to public life, while Daniel Deronda suggests a new world order through a nationalism grounded in multiculturalism and a global utopianism.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
v, 270 p
10
Forsberg, Daniel. "The Future Societies of Ira Levin and William Gibson." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Avdelningen för humaniora, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-7776.
Full textAbstract:
The meaning of this essay is to look at how the narrative strategies, description of character and society differ between the two novels "This Perfect Day" and "Neuromancer". By looking at the different narrative techniques used by the authors and the results we can see why some of these strategies work very well in one novel but would not suit the other because of the contrasts in style it would produce.
Books on the topic "Dystopian society"
2
The dystopian impulse in modern literature: Fiction as social criticism. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1994.
Find full text
4
Willke, Helmut. Dystopia: Studien zur Krisis des Wissens in der modernen Gesellschaft. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 2002.
Find full text
5
Madrid (Spain). Consejería de Cultura y Deportes, ed. UN. Y. BM. Madrid]: Consejería de Cultura y Deportes, Comunidad de Madrid, 2006.
Find full text
6
Vohra, S. K. Negative Utopian fiction: Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, commitment and fabulation. Meerut: Shalabh Prakashan, 1987.
Find full text
7
Mundus alter: Utopie e distopie nella commedia greca antica. Milano: Vita e Pensiero, 2001.
Find full text
8
Wojtczak, Dariusz. Siódmy krąg piekła: Antyutopia w literaturze i filmie. Poznań: REBIS, 1994.
Find full text
9
Lee, Jun Young. History and utopian disillusion: The dialectical politics in the novels of John Dos Passos. New York: Peter Lang, 2008.
Find full text
10
The post-utopian imagination: American culture in the long 1950s. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2002.
Find full textBook chapters on the topic "Dystopian society"
1
Sartor, Giovanni. "Human Rights in the Information Society: Utopias, Dystopias and Human Values." In Philosophical Dimensions of Human Rights, 293–307. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2376-4_15.
Full text
2
Lee, Sung-Ae. "Society Is a Family: Social Exclusion and Social Dystopia in South Korean Films." In Asian Children’s Literature and Film in a Global Age, 71–88. Singapore: Springer Singapore, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2631-2_4.
Full text
3
Ng, Mee Kam. "Dystopian utopia? Utopian dystopia?" In The Routledge Handbook of Henri Lefebvre, The City and Urban Society, 502–11. Routledge, 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315266589-52.
Full text
4
McQueen, Sean. "Remote-Control Society." In Deleuze and Baudrillard. Edinburgh University Press, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474414371.003.0005.
Full textAbstract:
This chapter examines Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (1953). This novel imagines a society where minority pressure groups and mass communications technology have evolved into a concordance between masses and the State. Culturally and historically depthless, the fragile texture of a society governed by technology and simulacra is regulated not by an authoritarian State, but by the public themselves — what Baudrillard calls the simulation pact. With that in mind, this chapter argues that Fahrenheit 451's vision of the future has traversed the dystopian model, particularly that of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, to become an inversive utopia, and that its forms of subjectivity can be explained through Deleuze and Guattari's account of fascism.
5
Bernardoni, Rodja. "Mañana, las ratas de José B. Adolph." In America: il racconto di un continente | América: el relato de un continente. Venice: Edizioni Ca' Foscari, 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-319-9/042.
Full textAbstract:
This paper aims to analyse the novel Mañana, las ratas by German-Peruvian writer José Bernardo Adolph. Written in 1977 and published in 1984 the text is a dystopian novel set in a distant future, that nevertheless is a vivid representation of the dynamics and the conflicts of the Peruvian society of the 70s and 80s. This study intends to investigate the structure of the novel in order to point out how the author succeeds in blending together two different literary genres such as dystopian fiction and realism, creating a new version of the classic paradigm of dystopic narrative. To do so, the research will concentrate on the study of some significant example of the Adolph’s previous books, and on the intertextual connections of Mañana, las ratas with both classic dystopian novels such as 1984, We or Brand New World and writers such as José Diez-Canseco, Sebastián Salazar Bondy, Julio Ramón Ribeyro, Alfredo Bryce Echenique y Mario Vargas Llosa, whose texts explore through different mode of realism social and political issues of their time.
6
"Hope in Dark Times: Climate Change and the World Risk Society in Saci Lloyd’s The Carbon Diaries 2015 and 2017." In Contemporary Dystopian Fiction for Young Adults, 81–96. Routledge, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203084939-13.
Full text
7
Searle, Rick. "Algorithms vs. Hive Minds." In The Changing Scope of Technoethics in Contemporary Society, 275–88. IGI Global, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-5094-5.ch015.
Full textAbstract:
From the time of its emergence onto the public scene, the internet has been understood in light of both its dystopian potential for total surveillance and control and its utopian possibilities to enable enhanced forms of freedom. The reality has proven far more complicated with the internet having both helped to weaken institutions and strengthened new forms of authoritarian populism. This chapter argues that these two potentials are deeply interconnected and that the long-term sustainability of democracy requires that we understand and address the connections between our fears and hopes regarding the internet's future.
8
Fitzsimmons, Rebekah. "Exploring the Genre Conventions of the YA Dystopian Trilogy as Twenty-First-Century Utopian Dreaming." In Beyond the Blockbusters, 3–19. University Press of Mississippi, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.14325/mississippi/9781496827135.003.0001.
Full textAbstract:
This chapter examines the popular format of the YA dystopian trilogy and, by considering the trilogy as a unified text, outlines the plot patterns and other genre conventions apparent in this popular form. Through a distant comparative reading of multiple trilogies, this essay argues that their pedagogical nature utilizes the liminal position of teens in society to advocate for rebellion and institutional overthrow in the pursuit of a utopian hope for a better future.
9
Baecker, Ronald M. "Privacy." In Computers and Society. Oxford University Press, 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198827085.003.0015.
Full textAbstract:
Fears about loss of privacy in computerized societies have been central to dystopian literature. The issue has also concerned thoughtful computer scientists and lawyers since the 1960s. By then, the scope of the computer revolution was making clear that governments and corporations could keep records about almost every aspect of our lives. As data storage became virtually limitless at trivial cost, effective uses of data grew, as did risks to personal privacy. We shall define privacy, look at its manifestations and roles, and discuss current and future threats to it. We shall introduce concepts that are key to understanding privacy, such as informed consent. A major concern is the threats to information privacy or data privacy, in which a person’s confidential information has errors or becomes exposed to people who should not be able to see or use it. We shall examine situations in which privacy can be invaded by governments, organizations, and individuals. Governments amass vast stores of personal data during the everyday course of administration and regulation. Government surveillance in many nations captures information that should be private, a topic we discussed in Chapter 6. Search engines, credit rating organizations, and insurance companies also gather huge amounts of data on consumers. When data is incorrect, or is hacked, there are serious implications for information privacy. Criminals seek to gain leverage by ferreting out computer-based data about personal financial transactions. Health information is a particularly sensitive area in which many people feel especially vulnerable. These are all ‘classical’ privacy concerns, the dangers of which were evident in the 1960s. New technologies have raised more concerns. Social media holds vast quantities of personal data that we have willingly disclosed, including information that could prove embarrassing later in life. A vivid example of a privacy breech was the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal of 2018. New technologies raise new privacy concerns. Chips use GPS to track our location and movements. Recent advances in computer vision and the widespread deployment of video cameras enable face recognition. Chips located in the environment and embedded as sensors and prostheses in our bodies make our activities and even our moods accessible by others.
10
Lombardo, Silvia. "The Bad, the Good, and the Rebellious Bots." In Analyzing Future Applications of AI, Sensors, and Robotics in Society, 221–37. IGI Global, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-3499-1.ch013.
Full textAbstract:
The researcher explores the world's first use of AI. In the “Bad Bot” section, the authors look at the negative impact of AI in politics with the first elections won in history through the use of AI's bots and trolls propaganda, and how it could bring to a more dystopian future with deepfakes. In the “Good Bot” section, they focus on positive case studies; starting with the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and health, they explore AI techniques applied from the infinitive small, Higgs Boson, to the infinitely large, dark matter; we'll meet Cimon at the Space Station; AI in climate change and pioneer UN projects such as “Earth” and “Humanitarian” AI; in education, they look at the latest use of AI helping schools and EU project “Time Machine.” They also see examples done to tackle the “Bad Bots” section looking at what is being implemented. This chapter will finally look at the world's first rebellious behaviour in bots with funny examples that will make you think.
Conference papers on the topic "Dystopian society"
1
Alimuradov, Oleg. "Category Of Time In Modern English Works Of The Dystopian Genre." In International Scientific and Practical Conference «MAN. SOCIETY. COMMUNICATION». European Publisher, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.05.02.2.
Full text
2
Moura, Ana S., João Barreiros, and M. Natália D. S. Cordeiro. "Drugs, Achievements and Educational Systems: Predictive Models for Society and Education through Speculative Data." In Sixth International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Valencia: Universitat Politècnica de València, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/head20.2020.11156.
Full textAbstract:
Higher Education Student burnout is an increasingly educational and social concern. The problem is complex and multilayered, demanding new approaches in predicting hazardous situations that can lead to the demise of the mental and physical well-being of the students. This work proposes a new model that can be used to predict and prevent such educational and/or social scenarios, resourcing to new tools, as the Reductio ad dystopia and speculative data. It departs from recent social quantum-based models and selected speculative literature works while introducing the use of social network theory to add the time variable to the model. The results clearly indicate that speculative and real scenarios can be juxtaposed in such a model, and concludes that a time interval for predicting the occurrence of the problem can be one of its advantages.
3
Drozenová, Wendy. "Technika, autonomie a etika: ke stému výročí Čapkova dramatu R. U. R." In 100 let R. U. R. Brno: Masaryk University Press, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.5817/cz.muni.p210-9688-2020-1.
Full textAbstract:
Čapek’s drama R. U. R., which is rather a social dystopia than a science fi ction (the principle of functioning of robots is not suggested, the drama is focused on the impact on humanity), shows the double face of technology: Th e dream about the “liberation of work” easily takes a turn for its opposite, and for destruction of humanity in consequence of ruthless utilization of the technological achievement for selfi sh economical and militaristic interests. „Autonomous technology“, which is not controlled by human aims any more, but by the rules of its own development, became an important subject of philosophy and ethics of technology (e.g. in works by J. Ellul, H. Jonas), and has a warning eff ect. Today, Industry 4.0 and the process of robotization bring new promises, but also new problems. Th e legacy of Karel Čapek includes values of humanism and understanding for other people’s views and needs, which is valuable for developing ethics of technology in democratic society.